Former President Barack Obama has issued a brief response to the explosive allegations made by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who last week accused his administration of orchestrating what she called a “years-long coup” against Donald Trump using the Russia collusion narrative.
“These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction,” Obama’s spokesperson said in a statement, adding that the new disclosures do not undermine “the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes.”
BREAKING: DNI Tulsi Gabbard declassifies reports showing Intel had no proof President Putin backed President Trump in 2016, but under Obama’s “unusual” orders, released false intel suggesting he did.
“Brennan ordered the post-election publication of 15 reports containing… pic.twitter.com/LRTpos6J3I
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 23, 2025
Gabbard quickly fired back, calling Obama’s statement “the art of deflection” and accusing him of sidestepping the central issue: the documents she declassified. “The intelligence community had one assessment — that Russia did not have the intent or capability to try to impact the outcome of the U.S. election leading up to election day,” Gabbard said on Fox News. “The same assessment was made after Donald Trump was elected … President Obama then directed his DNI James Clapper to lead the effort to create this new intelligence community assessment that detailed not if, but how Moscow attempted to influence the outcome.”
According to Gabbard, this amounted to a “180-degree” reversal from the intelligence community’s original findings — a shift that she argues was politically motivated.
Gabbard followed up her remarks with an appearance on Newsmax, telling host Rob Schmitt that more evidence is coming. “We will be releasing further documents tomorrow that will refute that statement,” she said, referring to Obama’s dismissal of her claims. She added that the next release will include a wide array of statements from Obama administration officials, Hillary Clinton, congressional Democrats, and members of the media who repeatedly advanced the narrative crafted by the January 2017 intelligence assessment.
Reading through the new ODNI release now. It’s an oversight report from the House Intel committee on the Intelligence Community Assessment Obama rushed out before he left office. It was produced in Sept 2020 BUT it’s never been released until now. The question is… WHY?!
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) July 23, 2025
“There is a vast body of evidence and intelligence that debunks and refutes this statement you just read, and others coming from some of the Democratic leaders in Congress today,” Gabbard said.
The fact that Obama chose to respond at all, she suggested, signals how seriously he views the growing controversy. Gabbard also revealed that whistleblowers have come forward, hinting that additional disclosures could deepen the fallout.
