President Donald Trump gave the green light for his spy chief to release a highly classified document on the so-called Russia “hoax” despite CIA concerns that it should remain a secret to protect intelligence sources and methods.
Last month, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified a report that she said showed Obama officials engaged in a “treasonous conspiracy” to undermine Trump’s first-term agenda by linking him to Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Now, two days after the administration ordered a grand jury investigation into the case, the Washington Post reports that Gabbard, with Trump’s blessing, overrode attempts by the CIA and other intelligence agencies to keep the material classified. Instead, a lightly redacted version was released.
Trump’s green light is likely to give weight to critics’ claims that releasing the material was an attempt to distract from the political saga surrounding sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Gabbard had declassified the information last month as the firestorm over the Epstein files escalated, using the material to claim that Obama officials tried to manufacture an alternative assessment of a Russian influence campaign on American voters.
“Their goal was to usurp President Trump and subvert the will of the American people,” she wrote on social media. “No matter how powerful, every person involved in this conspiracy must be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Trump, who has claimed for years that the investigation into Russian interference was a “hoax”, embraced the findings and even posted an AI-generated video of Obama being arrested in the Oval Office.
However, Obama clapped back, saying in a statement: “The bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction. Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and Gabbard’s office for comment.
According to the Washington Post’s report, the material Gabbard was released after a behind-the-scenes struggle, in which CIA officials raised concerns the disclosure could reveal top-secret spying techniques and sources.
This is because the document in question contains numerous references to CIA human sources reporting on plans invoked at the time by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Such sources are meant to be highly guarded by the agency.
On the back of Gabbard’s claims, Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday ordered a federal prosecutor to present evidence to a federal grand jury about the case.
This paves the way for a potential indictment against key officials who served under former President Obama, including former FBI Director James Comey, former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
However, Obama himself is likely to avoid any prosecution attempts, thanks to a Supreme Court ruling giving presidents immunity for acts committed in office.
The same ruling allowed Trump to avoid punishment last year after he was convicted by a New York jury for falsifying business documents to cover up a sex scandal with porn star Stormy Daniels.
