On Tuesday afternoon, the spokesperson for former President Barack Obama released a statement pushing back against U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, whose office recently sent a criminal referral to the Department of Justice targeting Obama-era officials. Gabbard’s referral claimed that officials within the Obama administration deliberately “manufactured and politicized intelligence” following the 2016 presidential election to promote a narrative that Russia had attempted to influence the race in Donald Trump’s favor.
To support her allegations, Gabbard on Friday released over 100 pages of declassified files. She also published a memorandum claiming that the files contained evidence that Obama’s intelligence community engaged in the “suppression” and manipulation of information that was cited in a January 2017 community-wide assessment of Russia’s attempts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
Obama’s spokesperson, Patrick Rodenbush, denounced Gabbard’s allegations. “Out of respect for the office of the presidency,” he said, “our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response. But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.”
The statement continues, “Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 election but did not successfully manipulate any votes. These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio.”
Gabbard had claimed on social media that the intelligence materials she published, which were marked declassified on July 17 of this year, contained evidence of a “treasonous conspiracy” and “years-long coup” orchestrated by Obama administration officials against Trump. In subsequent media appearances, she claimed that more declassified materials on the subject would soon be released.
“Their goal was to usurp President Trump and subvert the will of the American people,” Gabbard posted to X on Friday, referring to Obama-era officials. “No matter how powerful, every person involved in this conspiracy must be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The integrity of our democratic republic depends on it. We are turning over all documents to the DOJ for criminal referral.”
The 2017 intelligence committee report that Gabbard criticizes as based on manipulated information, which was compiled in the months after the 2016 election, concluded that “Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election. Russia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency.” It further assessed that “Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump.” The report expressed “high confidence” in these judgments.
A separate assessment by the Senate Intelligence Community completed in 2020, which Obama’s spokesperson cited in his statement, arrived at a similar finding. Although heavily redacted, it concluded that “the Russian government directed extensive activity, beginning in at least 2014 and carrying into at least 2017, against U.S. election infrastructure at the state and local level.” However, the committee also found “no evidence that any votes were changed or that any voting machines were manipulated.”