Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Friday announced that she was presenting "overwhelming evidence" to the Department of Justice showing that after President Donald Trump won his first election in 2016 against Hillary Clinton, then-President Barack Obama and his national security team laid the groundwork for a "yearslong" Russia-connected "coup" against Trump.
"The issue I am raising is not a partisan issue," Gabbard said in her announcement, backed up by a highly redacted, declassified report posted online. "It is one that concerns every American. The information we are releasing today clearly shows there was a treasonous conspiracy in 2016 committed by officials at the highest level of our government … As such, I am providing all documents to the Department of Justice to deliver the accountability that President Trump, his family, and the American people deserve."
The goal, she added, was to "usurp the President" from fulfilling the "mandate bestowed upon him" by American voters.
The report shows documentation outlining how, in the months leading up to the November 2016 election, the intelligence community assessed that Russia was "probably not trying … to influence the election by using cyber means" but changed its tune after Trump was elected.
Gabbard said the documentation shows that on Dec. 7, 2016, "talking points were prepared for DNI James Clapper stating [that 'Foreign adversaries did not use cyberattacks on election infrastructure to alter the U.S. Presidential election outcome.'"
Two days later, on Dec. 9, Obama's White House called in several top National Security Council principals, including Clapper, John Brennan, Susan Rice, John Kerry, Loretta Lynch, Andrew McCabe, and others to discuss Russia.
The documentation, Gabbard reported, shows that after the meeting, Clapper's executive assistant sent an email to intelligence community leaders to task them to create a new assessment "per the President's request" to detail "the tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election."
The email added that "ODNI will lead this effort with participation from CIA, FBI, NSA, and DHS," the information released Friday said.
Gabbard further alleged that Obama officials leaked false statements to The Washington Post claiming that "Russia has attempted through cyber means to interfere in, if not actively influence, the outcome of an election."
Then, on Jan. 6, 2017, shortly before Trump's inauguration, "a new Intelligence Community Assessment was released that directly contradicted the IC assessments that were made throughout the previous six months," Gabbard said in the report.
However, she added, "the facts reveal" that the assessment had been based on information "known by those involved to be manufactured," such as the discredited Steele Dossier.
"This was politicized intelligence that was used as the basis for countless smears seeking to delegitimize President Trump's victory, the yearslong Mueller investigation, two Congressional impeachments, high-level officials being investigated, arrested, and thrown in jail, heightened U.S.-Russia tensions, and more," said Gabbard.
She labeled the efforts as an "egregious abuse of power and blatant rejection of our Constitution" that threatened the republic.
"No matter how powerful, every person involved in this conspiracy must be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law to ensure nothing like this ever happens again," said Gabbard. "The American people's faith and trust in our democratic republic, and therefore the future of our nation depends on it."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.