Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, is calling for legal action against Barack Obama and former high-ranking US security officials. She accuses them of committing a “treasonous conspiracy”, with the intent of showing that US president Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential election win was due to Russian influences.
She alleged that Obama and top members of his administration had set the stage for a long-term effort to undermine Trump’s presidency following his win over Hillary Clinton. According to her, this involved creating misleading intelligence to imply Russian interference in the election—relying in part on a dossier compiled by British analyst Christopher Steele, which she claimed they were aware was unreliable.
In her remarks, she claimed that top officials had aimed to undermine the democratic choice of the American electorate by orchestrating a prolonged effort to remove the President and block him from carrying out the responsibilities entrusted to him.
Former Democratic congresswoman Gabbard said she was sending the justice department supporting documentation. It apparently contains several previously classified documents, including from the office of James Clapper, Obama's director of national intelligence, and a partially redacted intelligence community assessment from the Obama administration on cyberthreats at the time of 2016 election.
Gabbard names a number of officials, including Clapper, who allegedly were involved in the scheme. Those named include Obama himself, former CIA director John Brennan, then–secretary of State John Kerry, National security advisor at the time Susan Rice, and Andrew McCabe, the former Deputy FBI Director who later became a vocal critic of Trump, among others.
The claims of Russian interference have resurfaced at a time when Trump is neck-deep in the ongoing scandal surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein files.
