Gabbard Accuses Obama Officials of a 'Treasonous Conspiracy' and Refers Them to the Justice Department

On July 18, 2025, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released declassified documents and a memo asserting that Obama administration officials had engaged in a "treasonous conspiracy" and a "years-long coup" by manufacturing the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment on Russian election interference, and said she was referring the material to the Justice Department and FBI. On July 23 she declassified a 2020 House Intelligence Committee Republican report, calling it irrefutable proof the narrative was fabricated. Trump said on July 22 that Gabbard had "caught President Obama absolutely cold" and that "it's time to go after people."

Analysts who reviewed the material found it did not establish the claim. The August 2016 assessment Gabbard cited said Russia was probably not trying to manipulate vote-counting infrastructure by cyber means, a different question from the 2017 assessment's finding that Russia ran an influence campaign through hacked emails and social media. The report she released itself acknowledged Russian cyber operations, and a bipartisan 2020 Senate review had found the 2017 assessment reflected strong tradecraft. Obama's office said the documents did not undercut the conclusion that Russia sought to influence the election without manipulating any votes.

Bondi subsequently announced that a federal prosecutor had been assigned to present evidence to a grand jury. No charges had been brought against the officials Gabbard named.