
Tulsi Gabbard calls for Obama to be prosecuted over 2016 election claims
She said Obama and senior officials in his administration had '[laid] the groundwork for … a years-long coup' against Trump after his victory over Hillary Clinton by 'manufacturing intelligence' to suggest that Russia had tried to influence the election. That included using a dossier prepared by a British intelligence analyst, Christopher Steele, that they knew to be unreliable, Gabbard claimed.
The post-election intelligence estimates contrasted with findings reached before the election, which indicated that Russia probably was not trying to interfere.
In extraordinary comments calling for prosecutions, she added: '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.
'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. The American people's faith and trust in our democratic republic and therefore the future of our nation depends on it.'
Gabbard, a former Democratic member of Congress, said she was passing documents supporting her case to the justice department. They included a partially redacted intelligence community assessment from the Obama administration on cyber threats to the 2016 election and a series of previously classified memos, including some from the office of James Clapper, who served as Obama's director of national intelligence.
Clapper is one of several officials named by Gabbard as apparently implicated in the supposed conspiracy. Others include John Brennan, the former CIA director, John Kerry, the then secretary of state, Susan Rice, the national security adviser at the time, Andrew McCabe, the then deputy FBI director, who later fell foul of Trump, and Obama himself.
The attempt to return the spotlight back to the Russia investigation – long derided by Trump as a 'hoax' – comes as the US president finds himself in the maelstrom of the lingering scandal over the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead in his prison cell in 2019 while awaiting prosecution on sex-trafficking charges.
The Trump administration has come under mounting pressure from the president's make America great again (Maga) base to release files on the case, including a supposed list of Epstein's influential clients.
Trump, in response, has variously dismissed the existence of such files or said they were invented by Obama and members of his administration, including James Comey, the former FBI director, and Joe Biden, vice-president in the Obama administration.
Commentary accompanying a series of Obama-era memos published by Gabbard's office uses terms characteristic of Trump and his most ardent supporters to paint an alleged conspiracy to discredit his 2016 win.
Following a meeting on 9 December 2016 of Obama's most senior national security team, the document – entitled the Russia Hoax – says: 'Deep State officials in the IC [intelligence community] begin leaking blatantly false intelligence to the Washington Post … claiming that Russia used 'cyber means' to influence 'the outcome of the election.
'Later that evening, another leak to the Washington Post falsely alleges that the CIA 'concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened' in the election to help President Trump.'
On 6 January the following year, the document continues: 'The Obama administration shares the unclassified ICA [intelligence community assessment] with the public. It falsely alleges, based in part on 'further information' that had 'come to light' since the election, that Putin directed an effort to help President Trump defeat Hillary Clinton. This 'further information' is later confirmed to be the Steele dossier.'
The assessment 'suppressed' previous pre-election assessments that Russia lacked the intent or means to successfully hack the poll, Gabbard's report alleges.
The Steele dossier, which contained salacious details of 'kompromat' allegedly held by Russian intelligence on Trump, formed part of the basis for a lengthy investigation conducted by Robert Mueller, who was appointed as special counsel into the Russia affair. Mueller's subsequent report concluded that Russia interfered 'in sweeping and systematic fashion' in the election campaign but 'did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated' with the Russian government's activities.
Gabbard's nomination as national intelligence director was one of Trump's most contentious. It drew criticism because of her lack of previous intelligence experience, having never even served on a congressional committee on the subject, and a track record of supportive comments about Russia's President Vladimir Putin and repeating Kremlin talking points on the war with Ukraine.
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The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
Tulsi Gabbard becomes ‘weapon of mass distraction' as Trump White House grapples with Epstein fallout
Critics have accused Tulsi Gabbard of trying to shield Donald Trump's administration from scrutiny through her recent claims that top Obama administration officials should be prosecuted for leading a 'coup' against the president in 2016 by investigating Russian efforts to help his campaign. The allegations and conspiracy theories 'would be sad if they weren't so dangerous,' Democratic Rep. Jason Crow told Fox News on Sunday. 'She has turned herself into a weapon of mass distraction, is what I've been calling it." Crow accused Trump's national intelligence director of 'trying to curry and get back into favor with Donald Trump and has concocted these theories to do so,' an apparent reference to Gabbard and Trump's public disagreement over the state of Iran's nuclear program. This month, Gabbard spearheaded the release of materials regarding the then-outgoing Obama administration's attempts to probe Russian influence operations during the 2016 election. Critics saw the release as an attempt to distract from continued criticism of the Trump administration for its handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and the president's ties to the late financier, who died in prison while awaiting a federal sex trafficking trial. 'Nothing in this partisan, previously scuttled document changes that,' Senator Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told The Hill after the disclosures. 'Releasing this so-called report is just another reckless act by a Director of National Intelligence so desperate to please Donald Trump that she is willing to risk classified sources, betray our allies, and politicize the very intelligence she has been entrusted to protect,' he said. Gabbard claims the Obama materials, including a declassified 2020 Republican report from the House intelligence committee, reveal his 'years long coup' against Trump. She claims that top Obama officials pushed to override past intelligence findings to allege that Russians specifically wanted to boost the Trump campaign, rather than undermine faith in the U.S. election system more generally, and has called for Obama and others to face criminal charges. Trump has echoed such claims, sharing a fake, AI- generated video of Obama being arrested and thrown in jail on his Truth Social account. As evidence of the alleged coup, Gabbard honed in on past conclusions that Russian actors did not successfully hack digital voting infrastructure or change vote counts, suggesting these findings clashed with intelligence officials' later assessments that Russia sought to help Trump. Susan Miller, a former CIA officer who helped oversee the 2017 intelligence assessment, said Gabbard was 'lying.' 'We definitely had the intel to show with high probability that the specific goal of the Russians was to get Trump elected,' Miller told NBC News, adding that intelligence officials had briefed Trump on their findings and he had thanked them. 'At the same time, we found no two-way collusion between Trump or his team with the Russians at that time,' she said. Obama's office issued a rare public statement denouncing Gabbard's allegations. 'These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction. Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes,' a spokesperson said. The White House has pushed back against the argument that Gabbard's investigation is a partisan play. 'The only people who are suggesting that the director of national intelligence would release evidence to try to boost her standing with the president are the people in this room who constantly try to sow distrust and chaos among the president's Cabinet,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a Wednesday briefing. 'And it's not working,' she said. Multiple assessments have backed up the intelligence community's original findings of a general, one-way Russian influence operation that sought to boost Trump through tactics like hacking Democratic party materials and spreading disinformation online, even though the Trump campaign itself wasn't shown to have collaborated on the effort. Special counsels have investigated both the underlying 'Russiagate' claims and the origins of the FBI investigation into the Trump campaign without uncovering any intentional 'coup' by the Obama administration. A bipartisan 2020 report by the Senate Intelligence Committee — which Marco Rubio was leading at the time — concluded intelligence officials put together a 'coherent and well-constructed intelligence basis for the case of unprecedented Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.' During the 2024 election, Trump and his allies campaigned on a promise to rid the federal government, and in particular U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies, of politicization, arguing he had been a victim of partisan backlash — with two impeachments, two federal indictments and several criminal and civil cases, including a felony conviction on 34 counts. Since taking office, however, Trump has faced criticism that he is in fact driving politicization of those same entities, through actions like sanctioning law firms that worked with political opponents and calling for the prosecution of his various real and perceived critics. Over the weekend, the president ranted on social media and threatened to prosecute Kamala Harris, Oprah Winfrey and Beyonce while lashing out at news networks whose 'licenses could, and should, be revoked,' claiming without evidence that Democrats spent millions 'probably illegally' seeking high-profile celebrity endorsements during the 2024 campaign.


Daily Mail
26 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Former MSNBC anchor makes startling admission about Trump despite recent polling
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And I think that's what all voters look for,' he said. 'They want a president who is a strong figure. And he's got it. It's just there. And half the country buys it.' He also praised what Trump has done on immigration, as well as his foreign policy with regard to the drone strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. Matthews did dampen ideas of Trump running for a third term but noted that the president was easily more popular and influential than Elon Musk, dismissing any idea of Musk's America Party succeeding. '[Musk] plays the same role as Ross Perot,' he said, referencing the infamous third party candidate who hurt Republicans in the 1992 and 1996 elections and consider those who vote for his party unserious. While some polls have shown Trump on a downward slope, the president improved a hair with voters according to a new exclusive Daily Mail/J.L. Partners poll, even as they give him failing grades for his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. 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His ratings with the base is holding up too, unchanged on 91 percent with Republicans,' Johnson continued. But Trump's strong job approval ratings does not carry over to his handling of the Epstein files. Forty-two percent of voters disapprove of his handling of the issue while just 27 percent approve. A significant number of voters, 20 percent, did not appear to care about the case as they neither approved nor disapproved Trump's handling of the issue. In the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump referred to the ongoing saga as a 'witch hunt' indicating he was tired of answering questions from the media about it. Despite the president's best efforts to put the issue behind him, few voters believe in the administration's assessment of the case. 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The poll was conducted as Trump furiously contested a Wall Street Journal report that he had signed a letter to Epstein for his 50th birthday which concluded: 'Happy Birthday - and may every day be another wonderful secret,' and featured a hand-drawn image of a naked woman as well as his signature. Trump decried the news article as 'fake' and filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the company. 'They are judging Trump on other issues - such as the economy, the southern border, and how he is actually running the country. Their grumbles on the Epstein handling are not enough for them to turn on their man,' Johnson said. While the majority of Republicans, 52 percent, give Trump a passing grade on his handling of the Epstein files, just 13 percent of Independent voters feel the same way. Fifty percent of independent voters in the survey said they disapproved of the way the Trump administration has handled the Epstein files case.


South Wales Guardian
an hour ago
- South Wales Guardian
Irish premier welcomes trade deal between EU and US
The deal was reached during a meeting between Donald Trump and the president of the European Commission on Sunday. The US president met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to hammer out the final details on the trading relationship between Europe and the US. Reacting to the deal, Taoiseach Micheal Martin said the agreement was very welcome. I welcome the outcome of trade talks today between the European Commission and the US. — Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) July 27, 2025 'It brings clarity and predictability to the trading relationship between the EU and the US – the biggest in the world,' the Fianna Fail leader said. 'That is good for businesses, investors and consumers. It will help protect many jobs in Ireland. 'The negotiations to get us to this point have been long and complex, and I would like to thank both teams for their patient work. 'We will now study the detail of what has been agreed, including its implications for businesses exporting from Ireland to the US, and for different sectors operating here. 'The agreement is a framework and there will be more detail to be fleshed out in the weeks and months ahead.' Mr Martin said the higher tariffs will have an impact on trade between the EU and the US, which will make it more expensive and more challenging. 'However, it also creates a new era of stability that can hopefully contribute to a growing and deepening relationship between the EU and the US, which is important not just for the EU and the US, but for the global economy,' he added. 'Given the very real risk that existed for escalation and for the imposition of punitively high tariffs, this news will be welcomed by many.' The deal was also welcomed by deputy Irish premier and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Simon Harris, who said it brings clarity to businesses. 'While we have yet to see the detail, I welcome that an agreement has been announced by Commission President von der Leyen and US President Trump,' Mr Harris said in a statement. 'A deal provides a measure of much-needed certainty for Irish, European and American businesses who together represent the most integrated trading relationship in the world. Ireland makes a key contribution to this with the Ireland-US economic relationship valued at more than one trillion euros. 'The US had made clear, and this has been replicated in other recent agreements, which the US has reached with other countries, that a baseline tariff was always going to be part of the outcome. 'I have always stressed that tariffs are damaging and will have a negative impact on companies exporting to the US. 'While Ireland regrets that the baseline tariff of 15% is included in the agreement, it is important that we now have more certainty on the foundations for the EU-US trade relationship, which is essential for jobs, growth and investment. 'President von der Leyen described this as 15% tariffs across the board, all-inclusive.' He said further detail is needed around pharma, aviation and other sectors. Mr Harris said he will examine the details of the agreement over the coming days to establish the effect on Irish businesses and the economy. Earlier, EU commissioner Michael McGrath said the meeting was a 'significant and decisive moment'. Mr McGrath, EU Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, said it would involve substantive negotiations between both sides. 'It's a significant moment, we hope a decisive moment, and it builds on an enormous amount of work that has been done over quite a period of time,' Mr McGrath said ahead of the meeting. 'President Trump invited President von der Leyen to Scotland for a meeting. 'This follows on the back of intensive negotiations over a number of months. He added: 'It is not a case of turning up and signing on the dotted line. There will be a real discussion that will happen, and it will take on a dynamic of its own, and let's see what happens over the course of the afternoon. 'But from the EU's point of view, we are determined to do all that we can to get a deal for European businesses, because we recognise the cost of uncertainty. 'It manifests in trade and in investment decisions and ultimately in employment and of course tariffs can cost consumers at the end of the day. 'We want a good deal. We have negotiated hard, and we're at a point now where hopefully the two leaders can today bring it to a concluding phase.'