On July 18, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard claimed to have “overwhelming evidence” that President Barack Obama himself, as well as key members of his administration, “manufactured and politicized intelligence to lay the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup against President Trump.”
In other words, the basis for the Russiagate collusion hoax claimed by Democrats after the 2016 presidential election in which President Donald Trump allegedly conspired with Russia to win. After a two-year investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, nothing was found that indicated this.
Gabbard is claiming to have new information and evidence about what was done and who did it. The director shared that in the months before the November 2016 election the Intelligence Community (IC) assessed that Russia was “probably not trying…to influence the election by using cyber means,” and that in early December after the election, DNI James Clapper was given talking points that read “foreign adversaries did not use cyberattacks on election infrastructure to alter the US Presidential election outcome.”
Two days after those talking points were given to Clapper, Gabbard’s DNI press release reads, “On December 9, 2016, President Obama’s White House gathered top National Security Council Principals for a meeting that included James Clapper, John Brennan, Susan Rice, John Kerry, Loretta Lynch, Andrew McCabe and others, to discuss Russia.”
That’s when it appears the White House narrative began to change. Team Obama began to say “per the President’s request” that Russia had been involved.
“After the meeting, DNI Clapper’s Executive Assistant sent an email to IC leaders tasking them with creating a new IC assessment ‘per the President’s request’ that details the ‘tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election,’” the Gabbard DNI release reads. It was further stated that the Office of Director of National Intelligence would “lead this effort with participation from CIA, FBI, NSA, and DHS.”
Sounds like they were gearing up at Obama’s command.
Next, “Obama officials leaked false statements to media outlets, including The Washington Post, claiming, ‘Russia has attempted through cyber means to interfere in, if not actively influence, the outcome of an election.’”
That’s not what the IC said prior. “On January 6, 2017, a new Intelligence Community Assessment was released that directly contradicted the IC assessments that were made throughout the previous six months.”
This is bombshell news. The outgoing administration, up to and including a sitting president, working to undermine the newly elected, incoming administration through a deceptive propaganda campaign.
This should be headline news. Instead it was another reminder that the establishment press serves at the behest of the Democratic Party.
CNN’s Jeff Zeleny informed viewers during Gabbard’s White House press conference, “This is hardly information that we should be repeating…I’m not sure we should spend that much more time on it.”
The exact moment Gabbard began laying out in detail what the Obama administration was being accused of, CNN cut her off by talking all over her.
CNN has been one of the primary promoters of the Russiagate hoax for years, and now that a Republican administration claims to have new info on who was behind the phony story, CNN doesn’t want to hear about it?
“This is CNN.” It sure is.
CNN was by no means alone in wanting nothing to do with this major story. Throughout legacy and establishment media, to the degree that Gabbard’s revelations were even mentioned they were dismissed or diminished.
As The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway put it:
The recent revelations about the origins of the Russia collusion hoax against the American people are the biggest story in America right now. It’s the biggest scandal in our history. And yet look at how most media outlets are handling the news. Ignoring, downplaying…
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) July 22, 2025
Fox News host Jesse Watters said:
“The media spent years obsessed with the Russia Hoax and now that it’s been debunked… they are ducking their heads from the boomerang.”@JesseBWatters cites @BonillaJL on the media’s failed coverage of document drops from @TulsiGabbard pic.twitter.com/vTdVlFIbdn
— MRC NewsBusters (@newsbusters) July 22, 2025
Either the evidence Gabbard claims to have is something that should be taken seriously and reported by the free press in a republican democracy, or the DNI is just a partisan or perhaps mentally unstable person just making this up—in which case she should be relieved of her post immediately.
Yet we can’t know either way because the establishment press really doesn’t want to talk about this. It’s as if ODNI and its current director simply don’t exist.
But it does and she does. Gabbard said at the press conference, “The issue I am raising is not a partisan issue. 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.”
“Their goal was to subvert the will of the American people and enact what was essentially a years-long coup with the objective of trying to usurp the President from fulfilling the mandate bestowed upon him by the American people,” Gabbard continued. “Their egregious abuse of power and blatant rejection of our Constitution threatens the very foundation and integrity of our democratic republic.”
Seems like she means business. “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,” she insisted. “The American people’s faith and trust in our democratic republic and therefore the future of our nation depends on it. 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.”
These are serious accusations. A conventional or ideal, baseline functional, mainstream press that actually challenged power and sought truth might have an interest in it.
The United States doesn’t have one of those. To CNN and their legacy media colleagues, the phrase “Democratic republic” means something entirely different.
And so now the establishment press is acting accordingly. Like they always do.
Serving and protecting Democrats.
