Trump’s Treason Allegations Shake Politics | Obama Fires Back

Russian Interference in the 2016 US Election?

The Original Intelligence Community Assessment (2017) serves as a foundational finding. It concluded that Russia broadly interfered in the 2016 US election. This interference included a massive hack-and-leak operation targeting Democratic emails by intelligence operatives working with WikiLeaks, as well as a covert influence campaign designed to sway public opinion and sow discord through fake social media posts.

Crucially, the Obama administration, while exposing these methods, had already concluded that Russia had not hacked state election systems to manipulate votes in Donald Trump's favour.

The findings of this 2017 assessment were subsequently endorsed by every legitimate investigation, including the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee probe, which found no evidence of politicisation.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Report

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report further substantiated Russian interference, concluding that the Trump campaign welcomed the Kremlin's help in 2016. However, Mueller's investigation found insufficient evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy between the campaign and Russia.

Congressional Investigations

Concurrently, both the House Intelligence Committee and the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee also documented Russia's meddling.

The Senate Intelligence Committee concluded its work in 2020, under the leadership of Republican Sen. Marco Rubio at the time. Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, affirmed that every legitimate investigation, including the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee probe, "found no evidence of politicisation and endorsed the findings" of the 2017 intelligence community assessment.

Investigations Initiated Under the Trump Administration

In contrast, investigations initiated under the Trump administration have approached the issue differently. Special Counsel John Durham's investigation, appointed by the Trump Justice Department to look into the origins of the Russia investigation, did find flaws, but these were not related to the manipulation of state election systems.

This distinguishes his findings from the specific aspect that the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard's report later emphasised.

Review by Former CIA Director John Ratcliffe

Furthermore, former CIA Director John Ratcliffe ordered a new review of the 2017 intelligence community assessment. This review did not dispute Russia's interference but suggested officials were rushed in their original assessment.

Ratcliffe subsequently referred former CIA Director John Brennan to the Justice Department for investigation, and the Justice Department appeared to acknowledge open investigations into both Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey.

These actions are seen as part of the administration's broader effort to "harness the machinery of the federal government to investigate his perceived targets".

DNI Tulsi Gabbard's Report (2025)

The most recent and notable contrasting effort is DNI Tulsi Gabbard's new report, released on July 22, 2025. This report is described as the Trump administration's "latest attempt to rewrite the history of the Russia investigation".

It aimed to downplay the extent of Russian interference by highlighting Obama administration emails that concluded Russia had not hacked state election systems to manipulate votes in Donald Trump's favour. However, Democrats, including Sen.

Mark Warner and Rep. Jim Himes, swiftly criticised Gabbard's report as "factually flawed and politically motivated," arguing that the Obama administration never claimed vote manipulation and instead focused on the hack-and-leak operations and covert influence campaigns. President Trump, however, praised Gabbard for her work, indicating it recovered her standing within his administration.

Conclusion

In essence, while multiple independent and bipartisan investigations consistently established a broad scope of Russian interference through hacking and influence operations, the current administration's actions, particularly through DNI Gabbard's report, seek to narrow the definition of interference by focusing on the absence of direct vote manipulation in state systems, a point not disputed by previous findings, and to pursue investigations into the origins of the original inquiries.