Tulsi Gabbard Drops Bombshell: Alleges Obama Orchestrated Intelligence ‘Coup’ to Undermine Trump’s Presidency

Washington, D.C. — In a stunning and unprecedented press conference, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard unveiled what she called “irrefutable evidence” that former President Barack Obama and his top national security aides orchestrated a campaign to delegitimize Donald Trump’s 2016 electoral victory—a campaign Gabbard described as “a years-long coup” against the will of the American people.

The revelations, drawn from a newly declassified House Intelligence Committee report and a trove of previously secret documents, have sent shockwaves through Washington. Gabbard, flanked by White House officials and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford, laid out a detailed timeline and summary of what she called “the most serious abuse of intelligence power in modern American history.”

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Manufactured Intelligence, Suppressed Evidence

“The report that we released today shows in great detail how they carried this out,” Gabbard began, addressing a packed briefing room. “They manufactured findings from shoddy sources. They suppressed evidence and credible intelligence that disproved their false claims. They disobeyed traditional intelligence community standards and withheld the truth from the American people.”

According to Gabbard, the Obama administration, in its final months, directed senior intelligence officials to produce an “Intelligence Community Assessment” (ICA) that would justify ongoing investigations into President-elect Trump and provide the media and Democratic leaders with ammunition to challenge his legitimacy.

Gabbard’s declassified documents allege that this assessment was not the product of the usual broad-based intelligence analysis, but rather the work of a handpicked group of five analysts, overseen directly by then-CIA Director John Brennan.

The Russia Narrative: Contradicted by Intelligence

A central claim of the Obama-era ICA, published in January 2017, was that Russian President Vladimir Putin had a “clear preference” for Donald Trump and sought to help him win the election. But Gabbard said the newly released evidence “completely contradicts” this assertion.

“In fact, this report shows Putin held back from leaking compromising material on Hillary Clinton prior to the election, instead planning to release it after the election to weaken what Moscow viewed as an inevitable Clinton presidency,” Gabbard stated.

She cited multiple intelligence assessments from the months leading up to the election, which she said concluded that Russia had neither the intent nor the capability to affect the outcome of the U.S. election. A December 8, 2016, Presidential Daily Brief, which Gabbard says was pulled at the last minute, explicitly stated that “no Russian or criminal actors impacted vote counts.”

The Steele Dossier and Intelligence Manipulation

Perhaps most explosively, Gabbard accused former CIA Director John Brennan of knowingly incorporating the now-debunked Steele dossier into the intelligence assessment—despite its unverified and partisan origins.

“The dossier was referenced in the intelligence assessment’s main body text and further detailed in a two-page assessment annex,” Gabbard explained. “John Brennan lied and denied using this dossier in this intelligence assessment that President Obama ordered because he knew it was discredited. It was a politically motivated manufactured document.”

She quoted CIA officers who testified that Brennan refused to remove the dossier, even when confronted with its flaws, responding, “Yes, but doesn’t it ring true?”

Media Collusion and Public Deception

Gabbard also alleged that the Obama administration “worked with their partners in the media to promote this lie, ultimately to undermine the legitimacy of President Trump and launch what would be a years-long coup against him and his administration.”

She criticized mainstream outlets such as The New York Times and The Washington Post for what she called “propagating political disinformation in service of the Democrat party,” and called for Pulitzer Prizes awarded for coverage of Russian interference to be revoked.

The Fallout: Division and Distrust

According to Gabbard, the consequences of this campaign were far-reaching. She blamed the intelligence manipulation for years of political division, ruined reputations, and a collapse in public trust in American institutions.

She cited polling data showing that two-thirds of Democrats believed Trump was a Russian agent, and pointed to Gallup and Pew surveys showing trust in the FBI and Justice Department plummeting by double digits.

“The implications of this are far-reaching and have to do with the integrity of our democratic republic,” Gabbard said. “It has to do with an outgoing president taking action to manufacture intelligence to undermine and usurp the will of the American people in that election and launch what would be a years-long coup against the incoming president of the United States, Donald Trump.”

Questions of Criminality and Accountability

Pressed by reporters on whether she believed President Obama’s actions were criminal, Gabbard responded, “We have referred and will continue to refer all of these documents to the Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate the criminal implications of this. The evidence that we have found and that we have released directly point to President Obama leading the manufacturing of this intelligence assessment.”

When asked if she believed Obama was guilty of treason, Gabbard demurred, saying, “I’m leaving the criminal charges to the Department of Justice. I am not an attorney, but when you look at the intent behind creating a fake manufactured intelligence document that directly contradicts multiple assessments that were created by the intelligence community, the expressed intent and what followed afterward can only be described as a years-long coup and a treasonous conspiracy against the American people, our republic, and an attempt to undermine President Trump’s administration.”

Pushback and Deepening Partisan Divide

Obama’s office issued a statement earlier this week saying, “Nothing in the documents issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 election but did not successfully manipulate any votes.” Gabbard dismissed this as “deflection” and accused Obama’s defenders of “trying to deflect away from their culpability in what is a historic scandal and negative action towards the American people and our democratic republic.”

She also pushed back on criticism that her actions represented a new form of government “weaponization,” calling such claims “a very disrespectful attack on the American people who deserve the truth.”

The Path Forward: Demands for Justice

Gabbard concluded her remarks by calling for accountability and transparency. “The American people deserve the truth. They deserve accountability and they deserve justice,” she said, urging journalists and citizens alike to review the nearly 200 pages of declassified documents.

As the press conference ended, the White House made clear that President Trump wants to see all those involved “thoroughly investigated and held accountable,” and that “nearly 80 million Americans who reelected him agree with that.”

A Nation at a Crossroads

The revelations, if substantiated, mark a dramatic escalation in the ongoing battle over the legacy of the 2016 election and the legitimacy of the Trump presidency. With both sides digging in, and new evidence continuing to emerge, the country faces a reckoning over the politicization of intelligence, the role of the media, and the durability of American democracy itself.

For now, Tulsi Gabbard’s explosive allegations have set Washington abuzz—and left Americans once again questioning just how much of what they’ve been told over the past decade was ever true.