America’s new Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, just pulled a power move. She is seeking the prosecution of former President Barack Obama and other senior U.S. national security officials and publicly calling for it. Gabbard is going after the establishment so boldly as to accuse them of orchestrating a “treasonous conspiracy.” She alleges their purpose was to sabotage Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential election by misrepresenting that Russian interference significantly affected the outcome.
In her recent statements, Gabbard contends that Obama and his administration manipulated intelligence to suggest that Russia had influenced the election outcome. She alleges a bevy of famous names as principal players in this supposed plot and conspiracy. That’s right — James Clapper, John Brennan, John Kerry, Susan Rice, and Andrew McCabe. Gabbard’s accusations add to the ongoing debate over the integrity of the intelligence community’s assessments during and after the election.
Gabbard’s nomination as director of national intelligence has proven to be the most controversial Trump appointment. Her critics point out her previous complimentary statements, now well-documented, on Russian President Vladimir Putin. They criticize her repeated amplification of Kremlin talking points when it comes to the war in Ukraine. Controversial as her remarks may be, she has attracted praise for her readiness to shake up conventional wisdom in U.S. intelligence.
In order to make her case, Gabbard has released federal financial records to support her allegations. They are a string of Obama administration-era enforced-with-a-smile memos, plus one titled “The Russia Hoax.” She claims that these papers demonstrate a coordinated plot by the top-ranking members of the executive branch to sabotage Trump’s presidency.
“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.” – Tulsi Gabbard
Of course, Gabbard is right to hammer the FBI’s over-reliance on Christopher Steele’s dossier. She reminds us of the multitude of individuals that doubted its dependability. She makes the case that the dossier was central to the justification of Russian interference. Nevertheless, even with the knowledge that its contents were indeed spurious, officials decided to leverage it to prop up their claims.
In her own words, Gabbard has stressed that her purpose in doing so is not just to attack but to hold them accountable. Expanding upon her position, she has advocated for a wide-ranging investigation of actions taken by anyone involved with the people or groups named in her accusations.
“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.” – Tulsi Gabbard
Her office has described how “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.’” This story, Gabbard claims, led to the creation of the unclassified Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) that was issued by the Obama administration. She avers that this analysis wrongly claimed that Putin personally orchestrated attempts to ensure Trump could beat Hillary Clinton.
Gabbard claims that the overarching goal of this alleged conspiracy 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.”
Gabbard has no prior experience on intelligence and has never been appointed to any congressional committee with jurisdiction over intelligence. In light of this ongoing situation, her initial claims have led to skepticism among many political reporters and commentators. Critics instead claim that her history discredits the legitimacy of her allegations. At the same time, critics argue she is igniting important discussions over government accountability and institutional inertia.
As long as Gabbard is still making her case. She argues that her allegations warrant serious investigation by the justice department, and the public agrees.
“The American people’s faith and trust in our democratic republic and therefore the future of our nation depends on it.” – Tulsi Gabbard