Fox News published a sharply critical op-ed by former Biden official Ned Price, accusing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard of spreading misinformation in a bid to deflect attention from controversies surrounding the Trump administration. Price warns that Gabbard’s claims amount to an “effort to rewrite history.”
In his piece, Price—who has served as spokesperson for the State Department, deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and senior adviser to the Secretary of State—takes aim at Gabbard’s assertion that top Obama-era officials conspired to falsely blame Russia for interfering in the 2016 election.
Gabbard has argued that newly declassified intelligence documents support her view that federal agencies were “weaponized” to harm then-candidate Donald Trump. But Price calls this framing deceptive, accusing her of manipulating the facts for political ends.
He contends that Gabbard conflates two very different issues: cyberattacks aimed at voting infrastructure, and broader influence efforts like Russian disinformation campaigns on social media. While Price acknowledges that Russia did not tamper with vote tallies, he underscores that both the Obama and Trump administrations confirmed Moscow sought to sway the election in Trump’s favor.
Price further argues that this isn’t Gabbard’s first attempt to reshape the narrative surrounding 2016. Her recent statements, he writes, mirror already discredited claims—claims rejected by bipartisan Senate reports and by intelligence officials who served under President Trump himself.
He also criticizes Gabbard for focusing on what he describes as fabricated partisan controversies while more urgent matters, such as ongoing scrutiny around Trump’s connection to Jeffrey Epstein, remain unresolved.
Price concludes his argument with a warning: “It would be a cheap ploy if undertaken by just about any other U.S. official.” Coming from the nation’s top intelligence chief, however, he suggests the implications are far more serious.
