Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard doubled down at a White House press briefing Wednesday, alleging the Obama administration promoted a ‘contrived narrative’ that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.
‘There is irrefutable evidence that details how President Obama and his national security team directed the creation of an intelligence community assessment that they knew was false,’ Gabbard said. ‘They knew it would promote this contrived narrative that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help President Trump win, selling it to the American people as though it were true. It wasn’t.’
Gabbard’s comments come amid the declassification of a trove of documents from the U.S. intelligence community that allege the Obama administration politicized intelligence, and that U.S. intelligence organizations did not have direct information that Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to support Trump’s election in 2016.
‘All come back to and confirm the same report: There was a gross politicization and manipulation of intelligence by the Obama administration intended to delegitimize President Trump even before he was inaugurated, ultimately usurping the will of the American people,’ Gabbard said.
Gabbard also said that the declassified documents have been shared with the Department of Justice and the FBI so those agencies can evaluate if any criminal implications stemming from the materials are warranted.
‘We have referred and will continue to refer all of these documents to the Department of Justice and the FBI, to investigate the criminal implications of this for the evidence,’ Gabbard said. ‘Correct. The evidence that we have found, and that we have released, directly point to President Obama leading the manufacturing of this intelligence assessment. There are multiple pieces of evidence and intelligence that confirm that fact.’
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump accused former President Barack Obama of being the ‘ringleader’ of investigations into whether his campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 election.
In response, a spokesperson for Obama labeled the accusations ‘bizarre’ and said the new documents do not alter the conclusions of previous intelligence assessments, including a 2020 report from the Senate Intelligence Committee that was chaired by now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
‘Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response,’ Obama spokesman Patrick Rodenbush said in a statement. ‘But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one.’
‘These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction,’ Rodenbush said. ‘Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes.’
A spokesperson for Obama did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital Wednesday.
The newly declassified documents name Obama, in addition to other administration officials, including Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan, National Security Advisor Susan Rice, Secretary of State John Kerry, Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe.
Fox News Digital previously reported that Gabbard sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department pertaining to the newly declassified material, but the agency did not disclose specifics regarding whom the criminal referral targeted.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital on Wednesday.
Gabbard’s appearance before reporters at the White House came just hours after she released a 2020 report from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which said the intelligence community published ‘potentially biased’ or ‘implausible’ intelligence suggesting Putin sought to help Trump win the election, per the ‘unusual’ orders of Obama.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Mike Emanuel contributed to this report.