Russia did not favour Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton ahead of the 2016 US presidential election, and the administration of then-President Barack Obama was fully aware of this, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard has said.
Since mid-July, Gabbard has released a series of documents which she claims expose a coordinated effort by senior Obama-era officials to falsely accuse Trump of colluding with Russia and to delegitimise his first election victory.
Speaking on Fox News’ Hannity programme on Tuesday, Gabbard said that “the intelligence community assessed in the months leading up to that 2016 election that, yes, Russia was trying to interfere in our election by sowing discord and chaos, but stating over and over again that Russia did not appear to have any preference for one candidate over the other.”
At the time, Moscow viewed both Trump and Clinton “as equally bad for Russia’s interest,” she added.
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According to Gabbard, the major shift came after the election, with the controversy later known as “Russiagate.”
She alleged that in early December 2016, Obama convened a meeting of his national security council leadership and instructed then-DNI James Clapper and then-CIA Director John Brennan to prepare a new “politicised and weaponised fake intelligence” assessment.
The assessment claimed that “Russia, [President Vladimir] Putin did try to interfere in the election because he wanted Trump to win,” she said.
Gabbard argued that Russiagate was the “real crime” by Obama officials against the American people because it undermined the legitimacy of their votes.
Earlier on Tuesday, Gabbard announced that her office had revoked the security clearances of 37 current and former US intelligence officials, including Clapper, accusing them of politicising and manipulating intelligence.
Trump has previously said that all those behind the Russiagate allegations should pay a “big price” for what he described as a deliberate attempt to sabotage his presidency.
Moscow has repeatedly denied interfering in the 2016 election, with Russian officials calling the US accusations a product of domestic partisan infighting.
The Russiagate scandal severely strained relations between Washington and Moscow, resulting in sanctions, asset seizures, and a breakdown in diplomatic engagement.
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