Gabbard Accuses Obama Aides of a 'Treasonous Conspiracy'

In a new attempt to discredit the findings that Russia wanted Donald Trump to win the 2016 presidential election, the US director of national intelligence has accused several officials in Barack Obama's administration of participating in a "treasonous conspiracy." Tulsi Gabbard said she'll provide her newly declassified information to the Justice Department so the former officials can face criminal prosecution, Politico reports, "to ensure nothing like this ever happens again." Democrats responded that it didn't happen at all, per the New York Times, saying the new report is full of mistakes and contradicts previous intelligence assessments of Russia's actions.

• The accused: The intelligence office says former Intelligence Director James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan, and former FBI Director James Comey were among those involved in the White House review of possible election interference.
• The accusations: Gabbard said Obama officials "manipulated and withheld" critical intelligence from Americans about Russian activities. The report confuses previous findings and suggests that the Obama administration forced intelligence agencies to alter their conclusions, per the Times. Several reviews have endorsed US agency findings that Russia was trying to hurt Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and help Trump's, though there's no evidence that votes were changed. The Senate Intelligence Committee that supported those findings included Marco Rubio, now Trump's secretary of state.

• Democrats' response: "Every legitimate investigation, including the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee investigation, found no evidence of politicization and endorsed the findings of the 2016 Intelligence Community Assessment," said Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, in a statement, per CNN. The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee said that the bipartisan, unanimous conclusion is that Russia meddled in the election to help Trump. "This is just another example of the DNI trying to cook the books, rewrite history, and erode trust in the intelligence agencies she's supposed to be leading," Sen. Mark Warner said in a statement.
• Critique: Earlier Friday, Warner had offered his thoughts about the job Gabbard is doing at Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. "Tulsi Gabbard is not competent to be the director of national intelligence," he said, per the Hill. "I believe she is trying to politicize the workforce and work product, and that makes America less safe."