Gabbard: Obama Directed Creation of 'False Assessment'

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard made headlines Wednesday by declassifying documents she claims reveal senior Obama-era intelligence officials misled the public on Russian interference in the 2016 election. The 44-page report, created by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee in 2017, re-examines how US spy agencies under the Obama administration drew their conclusions in the months after President Trump's victory over Hillary Clinton, Politico reports.

In a surprise appearance at a White House press conference, Gabbard alleged the documents contain "irrefutable evidence" that the Obama administration directed the creation of a "false" intelligence assessment, a charge congressional Democrats quickly condemned. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, labeled the report's release "just another reckless act by a Director of National Intelligence so desperate to please Donald Trump that she is willing to risk classified sources, betray our allies, and politicize the very intelligence she has been entrusted to protect."

While Gabbard and other Republicans have characterized the findings in dramatic terms, the House Intelligence Committee's review did not challenge the core assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered operations to undermine Clinton and US democracy. Instead, the report's main critique centers on the methods used to determine that Putin wanted Trump to win, noting the conclusion hinged on what it described as a single, unverifiable source. The report also criticizes then-CIA Director John Brennan for pushing to include the assessment of Putin's preference, reportedly overruling some analysts.

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"The evidence that we have found and that we have released directly point to President Obama leading the manufacturing of this intelligence assessment," Gabbard said. Earlier this week, Gabbard said the Obama administration's actions were a "treasonous conspiracy," but she dodged the question Wednesday when asked what the former president could be charged with, the Hill reports. "I'm leaving the criminal charges to the DOJ. I'm not an attorney," she said. The department later said it had created a "strike force" to investigate "potential next legal steps," the AP reports. On Tuesday, Obama's office issued a rare response to Trump's treason claims.