Investigation launched by Pam Bondi into Obama administration for scrutinizing the 2016 election review
In a significant turn of events, Attorney General Pam Bondi has directed federal prosecutors to launch a grand jury investigation into allegations of misconduct by Obama administration officials regarding intelligence about Russia's interference in the 2016 election.
The investigation, which was authorized and launched in early August 2025, follows a criminal referral from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. The referral, made in July 2025, declassified documents alleging that the Obama administration manufactured intelligence to undermine Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. The referral accuses Democratic officials of conspiring to falsely accuse Trump of colluding with Russia to influence the election outcome.
The grand jury, empowered to issue subpoenas and consider indictments if the Justice Department decides to pursue criminal charges, has not yet announced any specific charges or targets. The Justice Department has confirmed receipt of the referral and begun legal proceedings, but details about the investigation remain scarce.
The investigation is politically contentious, with critics disputing the motivations behind it. Some argue that the investigation is a politically motivated move aimed at distracting attention from other issues, such as the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Meanwhile, former FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan, who have been accused by Trump and his supporters of damaging Trump through investigations related to the 2016 election, have both denied wrongdoing. Trump-appointed special counsel John Durham's three-year investigation also found no criminal conspiracy among Obama administration officials to fabricate intelligence about Russia's actions in 2016.
The intelligence community's analysis of the 2016 election and subsequent government investigations failed to satisfy the far-right and far-left sides of the American political divide. The 2020 bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee review contradicted the idea that there was a conspiracy by Obama administration officials against Trump, finding significant evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Trump has depicted former President Barack Obama and other former administration officials in prison garb and called for their imprisonments. However, Durham, who oversaw a 2017 assessment that found Russia had tried to skew the election outcome in Trump's favor, did not file charges against the intelligence officers involved.
As the grand jury investigation proceeds, updates are expected. It remains to be seen how this development will impact the political landscape in the United States.
[1] Fox News [2] The New York Times [3] The Washington Post
- The politically charged grand jury investigation, launched in early August 2025, involving allegations of Obama administration officials' misconduct andmansufactured intelligence during the 2016 election, is being closely followed by general-news outlets such as Fox News, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.
- This high-profile investigation, sparked by a criminal referral from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in July 2025, focusing on crime-and-justice issues such as allegations of conspiracy to falsely accuse Trump of colluding with Russia, has escalated into a politically divisive issue in the United States.
