Obama administration officials acknowledge that the Russiagate investigation was a smear tactic initiated against Trump
In a series of recent developments, there have been significant allegations levelled against the Obama administration, particularly its intelligence officials, for manipulating or politicizing intelligence to support the narrative that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win.
Key points include:
- Initially, the Intelligence Community (IC) assessment indicated that Russia was "probably not trying … to influence the election by using cyber means." A Presidential Daily Brief (PDB) for President Obama on December 8, 2016, also stated that Russian and criminal actors did not impact the election results via cyberattacks.
- However, on December 9, 2016, after a meeting with Obama and his national security principals, DNI James Clapper halted the publication of the December 8 PDB and tasked intelligence agencies to produce a new assessment detailing Russian interference methods, prompted by the President's request.
- Critics, such as House Intelligence transcripts and Senators Lindsey Graham and John Cornyn, have called for investigations and special counsels to examine this alleged manipulation, viewing the "Russia collusion" narrative as a "hoax" created by the Obama administration.
- Intelligence officials, including Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan, and political figures in the Obama administration, are accused of manufacturing and politicizing intelligence to build a narrative of Russian interference influencing the election outcome, despite the absence of direct intelligence evidence that Russian president Vladimir Putin intended to aid Trump’s victory.
- John Brennan, the former CIA Director, reportedly ran roughshod over the objections of the CIA's top Russia experts by insisting the Steele dossier be included in the main body of the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA), not just in an appendix. The ICA, which was released on January 6, 2017, used the discredited Steele dossier to underpin its findings.
- James Clapper, the former DNI, instructed Mike Rogers, the former Director of the National Security Agency, to support the ICA that Clapper and Brennan were preparing.
- Mike Davis, founder and president of the Article III Project, has called Russiagate the biggest scandal in American history and predicts indictments for Obama, Biden, Hillary, Brennan, Clapper, and others. Davis advises anyone involved in Russiagate to "lawyer up" as justice is coming, and nobody is above the law.
- Other potential charges for the coup plotters could include being engaged in a criminal conspiracy and covering it up, which has no statute-of-limitations obstacle for prosecutors. Davis suggests that the classified material leaked to harm Trump could lead to espionage charges for the leakers, as the Espionage Act has a 10-year statute of limitations.
- Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, has declassified documents from the Obama administration that support these allegations.
While there are documents and political assertions accusing Obama-era officials—including Clapper, Comey, and Brennan—of manipulating intelligence to support the Russia collusion narrative, interpretations of that evidence vary. Independent experts emphasize the complexity and nuance in the intelligence community’s evolving understanding of Russian interference.
This ongoing controversy raises questions about the integrity of the intelligence community during the Obama administration and the motives behind the creation and dissemination of the Russia collusion narrative. As investigations continue, it remains to be seen whether these allegations will lead to legal consequences for those involved.
- The ongoing controversy over the allegations against Obama-administration officials, such as Clapper and Brennan, involves accusations of manipulating intelligence to support the Russia collusion narrative, raising questions about the integrity of policy-and-legislation regarding war-and-conflicts.
- Critics, including Senators Lindsey Graham and John Cornyn, have called for investigations and special counsels to examine this alleged manipulation, viewing the Russia collusion narrative as part of general-news related to crime-and-justice.
- John Brennan, the former CIA Director, and James Clapper, the former DNI, are accused of using policymaking, policy-and-legislation, to politicize intelligence and manipulate the narrative of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
- The declassified documents from the Obama administration, provided by Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, offer evidence supporting the allegations of manipulation and politicization of intelligence during war-and-conflicts, but their interpretations remain a subject of ongoing debates among independent experts.
