Latest news with #electioninterference
The Guardian
a day ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Tulsi Gabbard calls for Obama to be prosecuted over 2016 election claims
Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, has called for Barack Obama and former senior US national security officials to be prosecuted after accusing them of a 'treasonous conspiracy' intended to show that Donald Trump's 2016 presidential election win was due to Russian interference. 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.
The Guardian
a day ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Tulsi Gabbard calls for Obama to be prosecuted over 2016 election claims
Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, has called for Barack Obama and former senior US national security officials to be prosecuted after accusing them of a 'treasonous conspiracy' intended to show that Donald Trump's 2016 presidential election win was due to Russian interference. 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.
Russia Today
3 days ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
UK secretly paid YouTube influencers for propaganda
The UK Foreign Office gave millions of pounds to a media contractor to secretly shape public opinion in foreign countries, Declassified UK has reported. The agency, Zinc Network, is believed to have received nearly £10 million ($13 million) to recruit influencers across Europe. Zinc is a London-based company that pays YouTubers and internet personalities in Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltics to produce political content. While the company says it is committed to transparency, the creators it employs are bound by strict non-disclosure agreements not to disclose ties to the British government. Former employees have described the operation as 'state propaganda.' One told Declassified that the relationship between Zinc and the influencers was 'extremely exploitative.' Another claimed that Zinc had interfered in Slovakia's 2023 elections by targeting young voters with influencer content designed to boost turnout for Progressive Slovakia, a pro-European party. The vote was ultimately won by Robert Fico's Smer party, which has advocated maintaining friendly relations with Russia and draws support from older voters. Zinc had previously been exposed for running covert Muslim news platforms. In 2021, it was also reportedly looking to recruit comedians and YouTubers to run psyop campaigns in the Baltics to shift the opinions of Russian-speaking communities. Aside from the UK government, the company has also received millions in funding from the US, as well as from the Belgian government, according to public documents. The full scale of Zinc's operations is unclear as the Foreign Office has only partially disclosed its contracts with the company, despite repeatedly being ordered to do so by the UK's Information Commissioner. The UK government has defended the operation as a way to 'counter disinformation' and 'champion truth and democratic values.' Meanwhile, Russia's security services have recently accused several British institutions, including the British Council and Oxford Russia Fund, of running covert campaigns to destabilize Russian society and promote Western agendas.
Fox News
4 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
Colbert slams Paramount for settling with Trump, accuses his parent company of offering a 'big fat bribe'
Late-night host Stephen Colbert unleashed on Paramount, his employer, for settling with President Donald Trump in his election interference lawsuit against the company over a "60 Minutes" interview. Both that program and "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" air on Paramount-owned CBS. "I believe this kind of complicated financial sentiment with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles. It's 'big fat bribe,' because it all comes as Paramount's owners are trying to get the Trump administration to approve the sale of our network to a new owner, Skydance!" Colbert said. Paramount, CBS' parent company, agreed on July 1 to pay the president a sum that could reach north of $30 million to settle Trump's election interference lawsuit against the network. Colbert joked that Paramount issued a statement that read, "You may take our money, but you will never take our dignity. You may, however, purchase our dignity for the low, low price of $16 million. We need the cash." "Some of the TV typers out there are blogging that once Skydance gets CBS, the new owners' desire to please Trump will 'put pressure on late-night host and frequent Trump critic Stephen Colbert,'" he said, stroking his mustache. "Okay, but how are they going to put pressure on Stephen Colbert… if they can't find him?" Trump was seeking $20 billion in his lawsuit against CBS over its handling of a "60 Minutes" interview last year with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing the network of election interference leading up to the 2024 contest. CBS is not acknowledging any journalistic wrongdoing with the settlement. The lawsuit alleged CBS News deceitfully edited an exchange Harris had with "60 Minutes" correspondent Bill Whitaker, who asked her why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn't "listening" to the Biden administration. Harris was widely mocked for the "word salad" answer that aired in a preview clip of the interview on CBS' "Face the Nation," but the edited response that aired during a "60 Minutes" primetime special depicted Harris giving a more concise and direct answer. Fox News Digital reached out to Paramount and CBS for comment, but did not immediately hear back. Colbert also called out his Paramount bosses in May over reports that controlling shareholder Shari Redstone put pressure on "60 Minutes" to avoid critical coverage of the president amid the lawsuit. CBS staffers were outraged over the settlement, which also prompted extensive backlash from media watchdogs, journalism advocacy groups, liberal journalists and even Democratic lawmakers. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., issued a scathing statement that said the settlement sets an "extremely dangerous precedent in terms of both the First Amendment and government extortion," while Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., accused Paramount of taking a "bribe" and threatened future federal charges.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Fox News Trump Interview Resurfaces With Edited Answer on Epstein Files: ‘Kamala Should Sue'
A resurfaced clip from a Fox News interview with President Trump in 2024 has social media users calling for former Vice President Kamala Harris to follow Trump's lead and sue over election interference. The Trump administration has come under heavy fire over the last week, following the Justice Department's announcement that it does not have a 'client list' in its Jeffrey Epstein files. The announcement contradicted comments made by Trump attorney general Pam Bondi, who told Fox News in February that she had the long-rumored Epstein list sitting on her desk. MAGA supporters have called out Trump for failing to follow through on a campaign promise to release the files. More from TheWrap Fox News Trump Interview Resurfaces With Edited Answer on Epstein Files: 'Kamala Should Sue' 'Morning Joe' Says Trump's 1,000-Word Truth Social Plea to Stop Talking About Epstein Backfired: 'There's Real Anger Here' | Video Melissa Gilbert and Ellen DeGeneres Support Rosie O'Donnell After Trump Threat: 'Good For You, Rosie' JD Vance Met With Protestors, Boos and Some Cheers During Disneyland Vacation | Video Now, a clip from a Fox News interview with Trump last year has resurfaced. In the edited version, shared by both Fox News and Trump's supporters online, Trump is asked whether he would declassify the Epstein files and succinctly replies, 'Yeah, yeah, I would.' However, in the unedited version, which is going viral on social media, Trump says, 'Yeah, yeah, I would. I guess I would. I think that less so, because you don't know — you don't want to affect people's lives if it's phony stuff in there, because it's a lot of phony stuff with that whole world. But I think I would.' You can check out the clip yourself in the video below. The resurfaced, unedited version has sparked cries hypocrisy, as Trump successfully sued CBS for airing an edited version of an interview with his 2024 presidential opponent. Last year, CBS shared a version of an interview with Harris that edited down one of the Vice President's rambling answers into a succinct, confident response to the question. Trump sued CBS for election interference, which led to an early July settlement with CBS News parent company Paramount for $16 million. Now, the unedited version of Fox News' Trump interview has social media users online proclaiming, 'Kamala should sue.' Semafor political reporter David Weigel reshared the clip and wrote on X, 'As edits for broadcast go, this clearly did more good for Trump than the '60 Minutes' cut did for Harris.' The clip comes as Trump continues to receive massive pushback over his administration's handling of the Epstein files. On Monday, 'Morning Joe' co-host Jonathan Lemire told viewers, 'This is a rare moment, a very rare moment, where there is a real fracture in the president's base.' The post Fox News Trump Interview Resurfaces With Edited Answer on Epstein Files: 'Kamala Should Sue' appeared first on TheWrap.
