Recently declassified documents reveal that top Obama administration officials manipulated and politicized intelligence assessments to frame Russia as attempting to interfere in the 2016 election, despite the intelligence community’s own reports indicating otherwise.
The documents were released Friday by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
🧵 Americans will finally learn the truth about how in 2016, intelligence was politicized and weaponized by the most powerful people in the Obama Administration to lay the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup against President @realDonaldTrump, subverting the… pic.twitter.com/UQKKZ5c4Op
— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) July 18, 2025
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The disclosures show that months before the 2016 presidential election, the intelligence community repeatedly assessed that Russia was “probably not trying…to influence the election by using cyber means.”
Nevertheless, after Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton, top officials in the Obama administration moved forward with claims of Russian interference, ultimately leading to the yearslong Trump–Russia investigation.
For months preceding the 2016 election, the Intelligence Community shared a consensus view: Russia lacked the intent and capability to hack U.S. elections.
But weeks after President Trump’s historic 2016 victory defeating Hillary Clinton, everything changed. pic.twitter.com/ss6A20yZ7k
— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) July 18, 2025
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One key document, a December 8, 2016, Presidential Daily Brief (PDB) prepared for President Obama, stated: “We assess that Russian and criminal actors did not impact recent US election results by conducting malicious cyber activities against election infrastructure.”
On Dec 8, 2016, IC officials prepared an assessment for the President’s Daily Brief, finding that Russia “did not impact recent U.S. election results” by conducting cyber attacks on infrastructure.
Before it could reach the President, it was abruptly pulled “based on new… pic.twitter.com/XBmqnMmcC8
— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) July 18, 2025
The report was compiled by the Department of Homeland Security with contributions from the CIA, FBI, NSA, DIA, State Department, and other agencies.
It further noted that Russian government-affiliated actors had compromised a voter registration database in Illinois and unsuccessfully attempted similar actions in other states.
However, the brief stated it was “highly unlikely” those actions would have altered any state’s vote count and concluded that “criminal activity also failed to reach the scale and sophistication necessary to change election outcomes.”
The intelligence community’s assessment also concluded that any Russian efforts were likely aimed at psychological disruption rather than direct interference.
“Cyber criminals tried to steal data and to interrupt election processes by targeting election infrastructure, but these actions did not achieve a notable disruptive effect,” the brief stated.
Despite the content of the PDB, FBI internal communications show that agency leadership objected to the brief’s conclusions and prepared a “dissent.”
Communications obtained by Fox News Digital show the FBI pushed to delay publication, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence ultimately postponed its release.
On December 9, 2016, senior Obama officials, including James Clapper, John Brennan, Susan Rice, John Kerry, Loretta Lynch, and Andrew McCabe, met at the White House to discuss Russian cyber activity.
The next day, top national security officials including FBI Dir James Comey, CIA Dir John Brennan and DNI James Clapper gathered at the Obama White House to discuss Russia. Obama directed the IC to create a new intelligence assessment that detailed Russian election meddling, even… pic.twitter.com/b7ly73h12t
— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) July 18, 2025
The declassified record of that meeting shows officials agreed to recommend sanctions against Russian intelligence officials under an existing executive order related to cyber operations.
Following the meeting, Clapper’s office instructed intelligence agencies to produce a new assessment “per the president’s request,” focused on “tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election.”
That new Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) was published January 6, 2017, and contradicted months of prior assessments.
On January 6, 2017, just days before President Trump took office, DNI Clapper unveiled the Obama-directed politicized assessment, a gross weaponization of intelligence that laid the groundwork for a years-long coup intended to subvert President Trump’s entire presidency.… pic.twitter.com/hlSjnLGnsy
— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) July 18, 2025
According to intelligence officials who spoke to Fox News Digital, the ICA was “politicized,” omitting key evidence and downplaying dissent within agencies.
“The unpublished December PDB stated clearly that Russia ‘did not impact’ the election through cyber hacks on the election,” one official said.
Officials also said the ICA attributed leaked emails from the DNC and DCCC to Russia but omitted that both the FBI and NSA had previously expressed “low confidence” in that assessment.
Director Gabbard, who declassified the documents, stated: “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. Their goal was to subvert the will of the American people and enact what was essentially a years-long coup.”
“This is not a partisan issue,” Gabbard added.
“The egregious abuse of power and blatant rejection of our Constitution threatens the very foundation and integrity of our democratic republic.”
This betrayal concerns every American. The integrity of our democratic republic demands that every person involved be investigated and brought to justice to prevent this from ever happening again.
— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) July 18, 2025
Gabbard said she has provided all documents to the Department of Justice, stating: “No matter how powerful, every person involved in this conspiracy must be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
I am providing all documents to the Department of Justice to deliver the accountability that President Trump, his family, and the American people deserve.
— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) July 18, 2025
The declassifications follow earlier reports that former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey are under criminal investigation.
A criminal referral for Brennan was issued by CIA Director John Ratcliffe after declassified records showed Brennan pushed for inclusion of the discredited Steele dossier in the 2017 ICA, despite its characterization by the CIA as “internet rumor.”
The dossier later served as a foundation for the FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation and was cited in Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant applications against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
Ratcliffe forwarded the referral to FBI Director Kash Patel, who opened a criminal investigation into both Brennan and Comey.
Reacting to news of the investigation, President Trump told Fox News Digital, “I think they’re very dishonest people. I think they’re crooked as hell. And, maybe they have to pay a price for that.”
“I believe they are truly bad people and dishonest people,” Trump added.
“So whatever happens, happens.”
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