Tulsi Gabbard scrambles to appease MAGA by declassifying MORE Obama docs showing he 'ordered' Russia 'hoax'
Gabbard ordered the release of a 2020 report by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on the Intelligence Community's assessment on Russia during the 2016 presidential election.
That is an election Trump won, but the president has long railed against what he calls the Russia 'hoax' – and this week has been calling for investigations of top security officials at the time while referring to Obama as the leader of a 'gang.'
The report by the Intelligence panel, then chaired by Trump ally Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) found the nation's spies reached 'credible' assessments that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered 'conventional and cyber influence operations' by leaking hacked emails.
But it also disputed the Intel assessment, released in 2017, that Putin 'developed a clear preference' for Trump and 'aspired to help his chances of victory.' That conclusion has long infuriated Trump.
It said these conclusions did not 'adhere to the tenets' of intelligence tradecraft.
The House Intel panel's report put the onus on Obama and dismissed its composition, calling it a 'high-profile product ordered by the President, directed by senior IC agency heads, and created by just five CIA analysts, using one principal drafter.'
Gabbard on Friday released a report and accused Obama of overseeing a 'treasonous conspiracy' against Trump.
On Tuesday night at a meeting at the White House with House Republicans, Trump called Gabbard the 'hottest' person in the room. That comes despite indications of a split over the attack Trump ordered on Iran's nuclear facilities.
'She's like, hotter than everybody. She's the hottest one in the room right now because she found out. ... I think we knew it before, in all fairness, Tulsi, but now you have certainty. She has all the documents. She has everything that you need. And she found out that Barack Hussein Obama led a group of people, and they cheated in the elections, and they cheated without question,' Trump told his allies.
Gabbard, an anti-interventionist, had testified in March that the intelligence community 'continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon' despite its big stockpiled of enriched Uranium.
Gabbard appeared on the conservative Newsmax network Tuesday night, and contested a scathing statement by Obama, who had called the resurfaced allegations 'bizarre' and a 'distraction.'
'We will be releasing further documents tomorrow that will refute that statement,' Gabbard said.
The backdrop for the throwback drama over the 2016 election – rather than the 2020 race Trump repeatedly calls 'rigged' – are the series of stunning disclosures about the Jeffrey Epstein case that have rocked the White House and divided the MAGA movement.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
a few seconds ago
- Daily Mail
Clue that Karoline Leavitt is closer than ever to Trump as he comes out swinging on Scotland trip
President Donald Trump was ready to apply some extra spin as he hit the links at his Turnberry golf course, bringing White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt to join him on his golf outing. It was just the latest demonstration that Leavitt has carved out a place inside Trump's close inner circle. Trump stood alongside Leavitt as he addressed reporters outside the White House on a recent trip – something he usually does solo. Now, he has his White House spin-master at his disposal should another shoe drop in the Jeffrey Epstein case – after top DOJ official and former Trump lawyer Todd Blanche spent two days meeting with Epstein's former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. Leavitt has been fielding increasingly pointed questions from the press on Trump's behalf about the Jeffrey Epstein matter. This week, she accused the press of trying to 'sow distrust and chaos' – the same terms U.S. intelligence applied to Russian election interference in reports Trump's DNI Tulsi Gabbard declassified. The president blocked off his Saturday for golf at his treasured course, with no planned public events on what the White House is calling a five-day 'working visit.' He hit the course early on a crisp day with temperatures in the 60s, sporting a white USA baseball hat after a massive law enforcement effort to secure the course. (An eagle eyed Secret Service agent spotted a shooter in September 2024 when Trump was playing at his West Palm Beach, Florida course). He was joined Saturday by son Eric Trump, who Trump says 'is going to cut a ribbon' when Trump inaugurates his new course in Aberdeenshire. Also on the course with Trump at Turnberry was U.S. Ambassador Warren Stephens and his son, according to the White House. Stephens is a former CEO of a family investment fund who was an exec at Tyson Foods. 'He's a very, very successful man,' Trump told reporters Friday. A White House official wasn't sure if Leavitt got any swings in, but she was pictured riding in a golf cart and walking around in Trump's pack. Trump, 79, an experienced golfer, won't be needing Leavitt's advice on the greens. But his White House has been in crisis communications mode amid the evolving Jeffrey Epstein saga. Trump addressed Epstein as soon as he landed, accusing reporters of 'making a very big thing over something that's not a big thing,' he said. He threw out plenty of other issues to get people talking, telling Europeans to 'get your act together' on immigration and pleading to 'stop the windmills – you're ruining your countries.' There are accumulating signs that Trump is not here to pick a fight with his British hosts, however, after inking a trade deal with Starmer at G7 meetings in Canada this summer. Trump landed in Scotland Friday night sounding upbeat about British PM Keir Starmer, who he will meet on Monday. 'I like your prime minister – slightly more liberal than I am, as you probably heard, but he's a good man. He got a trade deal done,' Trump told reporters after landing in Glasgow. The fate of a trade deal with the European Union is less certain. Trump puts the chance of success at 50-50 – with bruising tariffs on autos and other products set to take effect August 1 if there is no deal. 'I don't want to tell you what the sticking points are, but the sticking points are having to do with maybe 20 different things,' Trump said. Trump's White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Communications Director Steven Cheung remained home during the trip, where officials are contending not only with the Epstein matter but with a looming August 1 deadline for tariffs Trump has said he'll impose. Also top of mind for Trump is pitching his Turnberry golf course to host a future British Open. 'The best course anywhere in the world, is Turnberry. The players all want to be a Turnberry. Everybody wants to be a Turnberry,' Trump said, even bragging about electrical infrastructure the Royal & Ancient Golf Club has put down in the past.
Daily Mail
a few seconds ago
- Daily Mail
Man screams 'do you know who the f*** I am?' as he is held for trying to drown dog in Miami Beach surf
Distressing bodycam footage caught the moment a Florida man was tackled by police after trying to drown a dog. The 37-year-old, identified as Yerko Mendoza-Patino, was detained after dunking the canine's head into the surf at South Pointe Beach 'several times,' cops said. Video obtained by NBC6 shows lifeguards rushing to the scene around 7.15pm on February 28 as the man screams: 'Stop f***ing touching me! Do you know who the f*** I am?!' The man was seen gripping his dog by the collar and submerging its head while wading deeper into the ocean - all as furious onlookers screamed at him to stop. Miami Beach Ocean Rescue struggled to free the dog as the individual resisted, at one point kicking water at those trying to help. Once officers arrived, the situation escalated as the suspect flailed and shouted profanities as police forced him face-down into the sand and slapped on handcuffs. Bodycam footage showed officers carrying him off the beach by his hands and feet as the crowd erupted in applause. Several witnesses told police they had seen Mendoza-Patino kick the dog in the head while dragging it into the surf. According to arrest documents, he initially gave police a false name and date of birth. Officers also noted he 'actively resisted by tensing his body, pulling his arms away, and refusing verbal commands.' The visibly shaken dog was gently led away by police officers, who comforted the pup before placing it in the back of a patrol cruiser. Authorities said the dog was taken into protective custody and is now safe. Mendoza-Patino was charged with animal cruelty, resisting an officer without violence, disorderly conduct, and providing false identification to law enforcement, WFOR reported. Safe: Officers comfort the soaked dog before placing it gently into the back of a police cruiser If convicted, Mendoza-Patino faces up to seven years in jail and $12,000 in fines, with the most serious charge, animal cruelty, carrying a maximum sentence of five years behind bars. The footage emerged a month after a Florida pediatrician avoided jail for abandoning in a dumpster a dog that was forced to eat its own feces to avoid starvation. Anita Damodaran, 38, pleaded guilty June 12 and was sentenced to two years of probation, after which her crimes may be expunged from her record.
The Independent
30 minutes ago
- The Independent
Michigan led on safe water after Flint, but mobile home parks are stubborn rough spot
After the Flint water crisis, Michigan became a national leader on safe drinking water, requiring the removal of lead pipes and the reduction of harmful 'forever chemicals' years before the federal government acted. But the state has a blind spot when it comes to the hundreds of thousands of people who live in its mobile home parks. Regulators say they have little power to enforce the rules in the state's estimated 100 or more unlicensed parks when owners fail to provide safe water. The problem is compounded by private equity firms that have been buying up parks over the past two decades and now control about 1 in every 6 parks in Michigan — among the highest rates in the country, according to the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, a group that advocates against such purchases. Officials say it can be a struggle to even contact those park owners, let alone get them to comply with regulations. 'With private equity moving into this space, the goal these companies seem to have is to return the absolute highest return they can to investors even if that means providing inadequate service or engaging in exploitative practices, or unsafe practices for the residents,' said state Sen. John Cherry, a Democrat who sponsored legislation to strengthen enforcement in the communities. But the state doesn't attempt to track unlicensed parks. And an industry spokesperson said Michigan officials — particularly law enforcement — have the power to do more if they choose. Rare pursuit of an unlicensed mobile home park At North Morris Estates where Theo Gantos lives outside Flint, conditions got so bad that the state refused to renew the park's license to operate. Water often flowed weakly from the tap because the wells that service the park didn't produce enough, Gantos said. Sometimes the water was discolored. It could stain laundry and destroy appliances. He installed a multistage filter system just to be able to use it. Eventually, local law enforcement investigated. In March, the owner pleaded guilty to a criminal charge for operating without a license, agreeing to pay a fine and sell the park. That might not have happened if Gantos had not been so pugnacious. He spent years battling Homes of America, an affiliate of private equity group Alden Global Capital that local prosecutors said owns North Morris. That included filing a public records request for emails on officials' handling of problems at his park, pushing regulators to enforce rules and speaking out to media over what he calls blight conditions. 'These guys, they don't care,' Gantos said about complying with the rules. Representatives of North Morris and Homes of America, including an attorney who appeared for the park in legal proceedings, did not respond to messages seeking comment. The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, called LARA, has the authority to inspect and investigate complaints at licensed mobile home parks. But it's typically fallen to law enforcement to pursue criminal charges against unlicensed parks. The North Morris conviction for operating without a license is likely the first such under the state's mobile home law that has been on the books since 1987, the county prosecutor said. John Lindley, president and CEO of the industry group Michigan Manufactured Housing Association, said the rarity of such cases is evidence that state and local law enforcement are choosing not to enforce the rules. 'This whole notion that, 'There's nothing we can do about this.' Clearly there is, or that prosecution wouldn't have taken place,' Lindley said. 'Not having the authority to go after communities that don't have a license is completely different from choosing not to go after those. And what we've seen so far with both the state and local units of government is they've elected not to.' Shutting down a park is a bad option Mobile home parks without a license are 'essentially operating unregulated,' Cherry said. One of the state's few options is to shut down a park, a rarely used last resort that can mean throwing people out of their homes. Mobile home parks have long been an important affordable housing option. But that affordability is fading. A study by Lending Tree, a lending marketplace, found new mobile home sale prices rose more than 50% nationally from 2018 to 2023 — new single-family home price averages, by contrast, rose 38% over that period. Last year, LARA supported legislation that would have given the department more power to penalize unlicensed parks, force parks to provide owner contact information and limit rent increases. That failed. This year, Democratic Sen. Jeff Irwin has proposed a narrower law that would give state drinking water officials more power to make sure water in all mobile home parks is drinkable. Right now, they only have direct authority over parks that provide their own water. But it's common for parks to take city water from a pipe connecting to the nearby town. That water is usually safe when it reaches the park, but if the park's water pipes crack or fail, water protections won't apply on the private property. That keeps officials from stepping in and forcing change except in limited situations when there's a public health threat. It can leave residents unsure where to turn when the owner refuses to fix problems. 'We take those issues very seriously,' said Eric Oswald, director of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy's drinking water and environmental health division. He said they try to work with licensing officials to ensure water is safe, though 'the problem is, I'm not resourced for that.' The Michigan Manufactured Housing Association opposed last year's legislation, arguing it would make mobile homes less affordable. The group says it supports extending water protections to within parks, as called for in this year's legislation. It passed the state Senate in late June and is now in the GOP-controlled House. ___ The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP's environmental coverage, visit
