Gabbard releases new documents targeting Obama administration, as Justice Dept. forms task force

Washington: The Justice Department announced on Wednesday the formation of a task force to look into unsubstantiated allegations by President Donald Trump that President Barack Obama and his aides ordered an investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign’s connections to Russia to destroy Trump.

The announcement, which came in an ambiguous, bare-bones statement on the department’s website, was a continuation of Trump’s campaign of retribution. It also represented yet another Trump pivot away from the political morass of the Jeffrey Epstein files in targeting Obama, whose presidency set off a wave of reactionary anger that helped propel Trump from a punchline to political dominance.

The move came hours after Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, ramped up her attacks on Obama, releasing a document that she said undermined the conclusion of his intelligence agencies that Russia favored the election of Trump in 2016.

Gabbard said that after Trump’s first election, Obama ordered an intelligence analysis that was subject to “unusual directives” from him. She criticized that assessment as using unclear or unknown sources.

Under questions from reporters, she said Obama administration officials had led to a “yearslong coup and treasonous conspiracy” against Trump.

Asked if she thought Obama was implicated in criminal behavior, Gabbard said she had referred documents to the FBI.

“The evidence that we have found and that we have released directly point to President Obama leading the manufacturing of this intelligence assessment,” she said.

The documents Gabbard has produced, both Wednesday and last week, show that Obama administration officials wanted to complete a review before they left office and put pressure on the intelligence agencies to work quickly, but there is no evidence of criminal behavior.

The document released Wednesday was a report that the House Intelligence Committee originally drafted in 2017, when Republicans led the panel. The report took issue with the conclusion reached in December 2016 that President Vladimir Putin of Russia had favored Trump.

Only Republicans on the committee participated in the drafting of the 2017 report and revisions in 2020.

The new material provides some interesting insights into the development of the review of Russian activity by American spy agencies and the debate over their assessment. But none of the new information changes the fundamental view that Russia meddled in the election and that Putin hoped to damage Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee.