Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said on Wednesday that she was referring former President Barack Obama for criminal charges to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Gabbard released a declassified file on Friday that she said consists of “overwhelming evidence” that Obama and his national security team “manufactured and politicized intelligence” after President Donald Trump’s 2016 win. At a White House press briefing, UnHerd Washington correspondent Emily Jashinsky asked Gabbard if she thinks the documents she has released criminally implicate Obama.
WATCH:
“We have referred and will continue to refer all these documents to the Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate the criminal implications of this,” Gabbard said.
Jashinsky sought clarification.
“For even former president Obama?” she asked.
“Correct,” Gabbard responded.
“The evidence that we have found and that we have released directly point to President Obama leading the manufacturing of this intelligence assessment,” she continued. “There are multiple pieces of evidence and intelligence that confirm that fact.”
Trump on Tuesday called for his DOJ to target Obama over the documents Gabbard released, accusing the former president of being “guilty” of “treason” at an Oval Office press conference.
Following Trump’s comments, Obama’s spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush responded on Tuesday to the Trump administration’s allegations.
“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,” Rodenbush wrote. “But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.”
“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,” he added. “These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio.”
The file Gabbard released shows that there was no evidence to find Trump was acting as a Russian asset and no evidence Russia planned to “use cyber means” or “directly manipulate the actual vote count” to manipulate the election.
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