DNI Gabbard Sparks Controversy with Declassified Russia Probe Documents, Alleges ‘Treasonous Conspiracy’
DNI Gabbard Sparks Controversy with Declassified Russia Probe Documents, Alleges ‘Treasonous Conspiracy’
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has ignited a fresh political firestorm by declassifying and releasing new intelligence documents, claiming they expose a “treasonous conspiracy” by former Obama administration officials to fabricate the narrative of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
The allegations, made public this past Friday, assert that the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) on Russian meddling was misleading and potentially based on flawed information. However, a swift review of the documents and interviews with congressional sources familiar with the 2020 GOP-led Senate investigation suggest that Gabbard’s claims conflate and misrepresent the intelligence community’s actual conclusions. Sources indicate the newly unsealed documents do not undermine the government’s core finding that Russia launched an influence and hacking campaign to aid Donald Trump’s presidential bid against Hillary Clinton.
Gabbard’s contentions appear to lean on earlier assessments that Russian cyberattacks did not alter election results by infiltrating voting systems. Critics argue she is misrepresenting this point to falsely imply that no Russian influence or cyber campaign occurred at all. A former senior congressional source emphasized, “These are two different things — cyberattacks on infrastructure and hacking the DNC — which they’re conflating in an attempt to make a political point. It’s just wildly misleading on its face.” The bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee review in 2020 had previously affirmed the intelligence community’s findings on Russia’s interference and President Vladimir Putin’s direct role.
The declassification follows a trend of Trump administration officials seeking to reframe the history of the Russia investigation. Last month, former CIA Director John Ratcliffe also released a critical review of the intelligence community’s conclusions regarding Putin’s intent to help Trump. Former President Donald Trump has publicly embraced Gabbard’s findings, sharing her statements and critical memes of Obama-era officials on social media.
A key point of contention in Gabbard’s memo is the alleged reliance of the 2017 ICA on the controversial Steele dossier. Her memo states an “ODNI whistleblower” claimed the dossier was a “factor” in the assessment. However, congressional sources familiar with the original Senate review firmly dispute this, stating that analysts who drafted the ICA confirmed the Steele dossier did not inform their analysis, as it was unverified information. Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, strongly condemned Gabbard’s actions, calling it “another example of the DNI trying to cook the books, rewrite history, and erode trust in the intelligence agencies she’s supposed to be leading.”
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