Obama Admin Suppressed Intel Showing Russia Didn’t Impact 2016 Election, Tulsi Reveals

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified documents Friday revealing that the Obama administration changed intelligence assessments after the 2016 election to create a narrative of Russian interference, despite earlier intelligence community findings that Russia “did not impact” the election through cyber activities.

The intelligence community concluded before the election that Russia was “probably not trying … to influence the election by using cyber means,” according to the declassified records obtained by Fox News. However, following Trump’s unexpected victory over Hillary Clinton, their tone appeared to have changed.

“On Dec 8, 2016, IC officials prepared an assessment for the President’s Daily Brief, finding that Russia ‘did not impact recent U.S. election results’ by conducting cyber attacks on infrastructure,” Gabbard wrote in a thread on X. “Before it could reach the President, it was abruptly pulled ‘based on new guidance.’ This key intelligence assessment was never published.”

???? Americans will finally learn the truth about how in 2016, intelligence was politicized and weaponized by the most powerful people in the Obama Administration to lay the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup against President @realDonaldTrump, subverting the… pic.twitter.com/UQKKZ5c4Op

— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) July 18, 2025

The presidential brief prepared for President Obama on December 8, 2016, stated: “We assess that Russian and criminal actors did not impact recent US election results by conducting malicious cyber activities against election infrastructure,” noting that any Russian activities “probably were intended to cause psychological effects, such as undermining the credibility of the election process and candidates.”

The brief concluded that it was “highly unlikely” Russian interference “would have resulted in altering any state’s official vote result.”

“Criminal activity also failed to reach the scale and sophistication necessary to change election outcomes,” it stated.

The FBI raised immediate objections to the brief and requested that its publication be delayed until the bureau could address its concerns. Under then-Director James Comey, the FBI drafted a formal “dissent” to the original briefing.

Subsequently, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence postponed internal publication of the Presidential Daily Brief, citing “new guidance” as the reason for the delay.

Just one day later, on December 9, a meeting was called in the White House Situation Room to discuss Russian election interference with top officials, including then-CIA Director John Brennan, then-National Security Advisor Susan Rice, then-Secretary of State John Kerry, and then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

Following this meeting, then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper threw out the old analysis and tasked intelligence leaders with crafting a new assessment “per the president’s request,” detailing “tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election.”

Gabbard revealed: “According to whistleblower emails shared with us today, we know Clapper and Brennan used the baseless discredited Steele Dossier as a source to push this false narrative in the intelligence assessment.”

Intelligence sources told Fox News the new report “was based on information that was known by those involved to be manufactured i.e. the Steele Dossier or deemed as not credible,” and the CIA had previously dismissed it as filled with “internet rumor[s].”

By January 6, 2017, a new Intelligence Community Assessment was released that “directly contradicted the IC assessments that were made throughout the previous six months,” the ODNI office told Fox News.

Intelligence officials told Fox News they consider the assessment to have been blatantly “politicized” after it “suppressed intelligence from before and after the election showing Russia lacked intent and capability to hack the 2016 election.”

“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,” Gabbard told Fox News. “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,” Gabbard said. “The American people’s faith and trust in our democratic republic and therefore the future of our nation depends on it.”

Gabbard concluded: “As such, I am providing all documents to the Department of Justice to deliver the accountability that President Trump, his family, and the American people deserve.”