Obama Responds to Newly Declassified Intelligence Documents

This article was originally published by The Epoch Times: Obama Responds to Newly Declassified Intelligence Documents

Recently unveiled documents from the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) have put the spotlight back on actions taken by officials during the Obama administration in the wake of the 2016 election.

Former President Barack Obama stands firm on his assertion that Russian interference did indeed attempt to disrupt the 2016 presidential election. This comes after the release of declassified documents that outline the actions of high-ranking officials from that period.

A spokesperson for Obama stated on July 22, “Nothing in the document issued last week undermines the well-established conclusion that Russia sought to influence the 2016 presidential election, though it did not successfully manipulate any votes.”

In a twist, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard claimed last week that the declassified documents indicate “President Obama and his national security cabinet members manufactured and politicized intelligence to lay the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup against President Trump.”

Obama’s spokesperson referenced a 2020 Senate Intelligence Committee report, which corroborated that Russia indeed aimed to influence the election.

The Senate report cited by Obama asserted that Russia conducted an aggressive, multi-faceted campaign to influence the outcome of the election.

In response, Gabbard accused Obama of “the art of deflection,” criticizing him for failing to address the critical issues revealed in over 100 documents released the previous week. “His statement does not actually address the matters disclosed in the documents, which we will continue to release,” she remarked in a Fox News interview on Tuesday.

When asked about Gabbard’s proposed criminal referrals to the Department of Justice stemming from the declassified documents, former President Donald Trump claimed at the White House that Obama is guilty of treason.

“It’s Obama. His orders are documented. The papers are signed and originated from their office,” Trump asserted, referencing findings by the DNI that Obama had requested a new assessment into Russia’s alleged interference after prior intelligence had indicated that no cyberattacks were employed to target the election.

Trump further stated, “They tried to rig the election, and they got caught. There should be very severe consequences for that.”

Newly Released Documents

The documents declassified by Gabbard on July 18 included an intelligence community assessment from before the November 2016 election, which suggested that Russia was unlikely to influence the election “by using cyber means.”

Another document prepared in December 2016 for the then-director of national intelligence indicated that “foreign adversaries did not utilize cyberattacks on election infrastructure to alter the US Presidential election outcome.”

Two days later, Obama convened top officials to discuss Russia and, according to an email from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that Gabbard declassified, requested the creation of a new intelligence assessment detailing “the tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election.”

This new assessment was released in January 2017, stating that Russia employed cyber efforts and other tactics in an attempt to bolster then-President-elect Donald Trump while undermining his opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“After months of investigation into this matter, the facts reveal this new assessment was based on information that was known by those involved to be manufactured—such as the Steele Dossier—or deemed not credible,” Gabbard’s office stated on July 18, referring to a dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele, financed by Clinton’s campaign.

Gabbard also pointed out that this assessment led to the protracted investigation into Trump and Russia by former special counsel Robert Mueller, resulting in “high-level officials being investigated, arrested, and jailed, heightened US-Russia tensions, and more.”

She characterized the actions as “a treasonous conspiracy in 2016 committed by officials at the highest level of our government,” emphasizing that their aim was to undermine the will of the American people and execute what was essentially a coup to prevent the President from fulfilling his mandate.

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