WASHINGTON (AP) — Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard recently released declassified documents that she said proved a “treasonous conspiracy” by the Obama administration to undermine Donald Trump’s 2016 election win.
Gabbard pointed to newly declassified emails and a House report from five years ago as evidence. She argued that intelligence officials under President Barack Obama tried to make Trump’s victory seem illegitimate by blaming Russian interference.
But reviews of those documents — along with earlier investigations — show her claims do not match the record. Multiple Republican-led and bipartisan investigations have already found that Russia worked to influence the 2016 election, mostly through hacking Democratic emails and spreading misinformation online.
Investigations into Russia’s role
Russia’s interference in the 2016 election has been studied more than almost any other modern political event. At least five major investigations — including by the Republican-led House and Senate intelligence committees, two special counsels, and the Justice Department’s inspector general — confirmed Russia’s efforts to disrupt the election.
Some reports said the Kremlin aimed to help Trump, while others said the goal was simply to create chaos. Still, none of the reports back Gabbard’s claim of a secret Obama plot.
Breaking down Gabbard’s claims
Russian election interference
Claim: Gabbard told Fox News that U.S. intelligence agencies first said Russia had no intention of impacting the outcome of the 2016 election.
Fact check: The emails she released show only that officials found no evidence Russia tried to hack vote counts. The Obama administration never claimed vote tallies were changed. Instead, Russia hacked Democratic emails and spread them online, while also running fake social media accounts. Over two dozen Russians were later indicted for these actions.
Shift in assessment?
Claim: Gabbard said there was a “180-degree shift” between pre-election intelligence and the January 2017 assessment ordered by Obama.
Fact check: There was no shift. Both before and after the election, U.S. intelligence concluded Russia did not alter vote counts. The 2017 assessment simply added that Russia did interfere through hacking and disinformation — not by tampering with ballots.
Putin’s intent
Claim: Gabbard argued that Obama officials “manufactured” the 2017 intelligence report to push the idea that Putin helped Trump win.
Fact check: The declassified documents show debate inside the intelligence community over whether Putin favored Trump or just wanted to weaken the U.S. Political disagreements among analysts are common. The Senate Intelligence Committee later confirmed analysts were free to debate findings without political pressure.
In 2018, Putin himself admitted he preferred Trump, saying: “Because he talked about bringing the U.S.-Russia relationship back to normal.”
Steele dossier
Claim: Gabbard said the Obama administration used the Steele dossier even though it was “discredited.”
Fact check: The Steele dossier — a collection of unverified opposition research — was not the reason the FBI opened its investigation in 2016. The FBI only got the dossier weeks later. Instead, a CIA source close to the Kremlin provided key information suggesting Putin favored Trump.
Still, the FBI did use parts of the dossier to apply for surveillance warrants, which has since been criticized. Some claims in the dossier have been discredited, but it was only a small piece of the overall investigation
The documents Gabbard declassified do not prove an Obama-led conspiracy against Trump. Instead, they largely support earlier findings that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, even if analysts sometimes disagreed on Putin’s motives.
