New Russiagate evidence 'directly point to' Obama, DOJ will decide 'criminal implications': Gabbard
"There is irrefutable evidence that details how President Obama and his national security team directed the creation of an intelligence community assessment that they knew was false," Gabbard said. "They knew it would promote this contrived narrative that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help President Trump win, selling it to the American people as though it were true it wasn't."
Gabbard's comments come amid the declassification of a trove of documents from the U.S. intelligence community that claim the Obama administration politicized intelligence, and that U.S. intelligence organizations did not have direct information that Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to support Trump's election in 2016.
"All come back to and confirm the same report: There was a gross politicization and manipulation of intelligence by the Obama administration intended to delegitimize President Trump even before he was inaugurated, ultimately usurping the will of the American people," Gabbard said Wednesday at a White House press briefing.
Gabbard also said that the declassified documents have been shared with the Department of Justice and the FBI so they can evaluate if any criminal implications stemming from the materials are warranted.
"We have referred and will continue to refer all of these documents to the Department of Justice and the FBI, to investigate the criminal implications of this for the evidence," Gabbard said. "Correct. The evidence that we have found, and that we have released, directly point to President Obama leading the manufacturing of this intelligence assessment. There are multiple pieces of evidence and intelligence that confirm that fact."
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
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