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Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard just released a trove of apparently once-classified documents — with promises of much more to follow.
The new material describes the role of the Obama administration’s intelligence and investigatory directors — purportedly along with former President Barack Obama himself — in undermining the 2016 Trump presidential campaign. In addition, their efforts extended to sabotaging the 2016-2017 presidential transition and, by extension, the first three years of the Trump presidency.
The released documents add some new details to what over the last decade has become accepted knowledge.
Congressional committees, special prosecutors, and the inspectors general had all previously issued reports that largely confirmed the general outlines of the skullduggery that began in 2015-16.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign, later aided by the top echelon of the FBI, CIA, and the Director of National Intelligence, sought — falsely — to seed a narrative that Trump had colluded directly with Russia to win unfairly the 2016 election.
When that campaign gambit failed to alter the 2016 results, the Obama administration doubled down during the transition to undermine the incoming Trump presidency.
Next, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s “all-star” legal team found no evidence of direct Trump-Putin collusion to hijack the election. But his investigation did sabotage 22 months of Trump’s first term, marked by constant leaks and hysterical rumors that Trump was soon to be convicted and jailed as a “Russian asset.”
By 2020, the frustrated intelligence agencies and former “authorities” now absurdly further lied that Hunter Biden’s incriminating laptop had “all the earmarks” — once again — of Russian interference.
So, what could be new about Gabbard’s latest release?
One, after the 2016 election of Donald Trump but before his inauguration, Obama convened a strange meeting with his outgoing intelligence and investigatory heads — CIA Director John Brennan, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, FBI Director James Comey, National Security Advisor Susan Rice, and a few others.
Contrary to a four-year Democratic Party narrative that “18 intelligence agencies” had long claimed Russian collusion, the top directors apprised Obama that their expert colleagues had found no such evidence of Trump-Putin collusion.
Yet outgoing President Obama allegedly directed them to ignore such an assessment. Instead, they began spreading narratives that President-elect Trump had been colluding with the Russians.
Leaks followed. Media hysteria crested. And soon Mueller and his left-wing “dream team” of lawyers targeted President Trump.
Further new information may confirm that Brennan’s CIA — and those he briefed in the Oval Office — had known for some time that the Russians themselves were confused about why they were falsely being accused of colluding with Trump to rig the election.
Of course, Russian operatives, like their Chinese counterparts, often seek to cause havoc in American institutions, such as hacking emails or spreading online disinformation. But they may have been nevertheless curious why Hillary Clinton was making such false accusations that they were working directly with Trump, and why the Obama administration was acting upon them.
Obama has now claimed these new charges are outrageous and beneath the dignity of the presidency.
He did not, however, flatly contradict the new information. He should have issued an unambiguous denial that he had never ordered his intelligence chiefs in December 2016 to ignore their associates’ assessments and instead to assume Trump’s collusion with Putin.
These sustained efforts of the Clinton campaign, Obama appointees, and ex-intelligence chiefs and their media counterparts between 2015 and 2020 severely undermined the 2016 Trump campaign.
They bushwhacked the 2017 presidential transition.
They hamstrung the Trump presidency.
And they may well have hurt Trump’s 2020 election bid.
Summed up, here is the damage caused by the Trump-Putin collusion lies:
1. They emboldened “experts” in 2020 to again lie blatantly and shamelessly to the American people that the incriminating Hunter Biden laptop was yet another fake product of Russian interference to help reelect Trump.
2. The media were equally guilty. Journalists partnered with current and ex-Obama appointees by disseminating fake documents like the Steele dossier and working with giants like Twitter and Facebook. During the 2020 campaign, the FBI and social media sought to censor accurate news stories that the laptop was indeed authentic and already verified as such by the FBI.
3. These operations may have had serious consequences for U.S. foreign policy. Dictatorial Russia is an adversary of the U.S.
But by needlessly and falsely claiming that Russia had intervened in two elections directly to partner with Trump, Obama-era officials and Clinton campaign activists destroyed President Trump’s own credibility to sustain a workable relationship with a nuclear Russia.
In addition, the lying and extra-legal operations of the FBI and CIA only further convinced the paranoid Russians that they could not trust the U.S. government — given it had been engaging in the very conspiracy lies that were more akin to its own than America’s.
Obama, Brennan, Clapper, Comey, and others will likely never face legal consequences for the damage they’ve done to our institutions and foreign policy.
But that does not mean they should be exempt from an ongoing and disinterested effort to find and finally expose the whole truth.

obambi brought very little dignity to the presidency.
A lot of scam and corruption, but very little dignity.
FWIW – You hold the man in much greater esteem than do I.
Please enlighten me about the dignity he brought to the presidency.
Amen! Obama brought nothing but Muslim thuggery long with him. He disgraced our nation!
I can imagine the reaction from Liberals and the Left if Obama was to be indited for Crimes like spying on Trump or Treason their Might God Obama brought down for Treason
Obama, Brennan, Clapper and Comey should all be executed. They’re the scum of the Earth.
But justice never gets served I America.
Agreed. Hanson says “Obama, Brennan, Clapper, Comey, and others will likely never face legal consequences for the damage they’ve done to our institutions and foreign policy.” Why the hell not?
What definition of “treason” is not completely comprehended by the actions taken by these men? The harm to our country is incalculable.
Some difficult choices must be made if ever the U.S. is to retain any semblance of its former glories. A successful prosecution for treason, together with public execution or at least a recision of citizenship and permanent banishment would be a strong step in the right direction and would restore public trust.
He left out Hillary Clinton.
so you think killery should get off with NO punishment?
They should ALL be TRIED FOR TREASON!
Another dumb statement. Did you contribute to the fund for Mangione?
Whenever they are asked about the files Giffords is releasing, the common refrain is always, “She’s lying!” Maybe she is. Maybe she’s not. And if this had been a one-time release, I might have been a little more skeptical. But this?
Three weeks later and it still keeps getting worse and worse. Burn bags full of documents hidden in secret rooms at the FBI Headquarters. Even John LeCarre or Robert Ludlum would blush if they wrote this as fiction.
The media, as usual, has embargoed any discussion of this other than to either claim it was sooooo long ago and why bother or only mention it in passing to get another Democrat to claim it is all lies. But they never actually refute what Obunghole’s meeting on December 7, 2016 was actually about.
I am confident that no one will ever be held accountable for their actions. Comey, Brennan, Clapper, Rice, Hillary, and Obunghole all belong in prison, but I fear that they will simply skate away scot-free.
They’ll skate – until they face God’s final judgment of them. It won’t be pretty.
Afraid you are right. Even if there is public shaming, it will not be suitable or sufficient. It is treason. It is more than moral failure. It is betrayal at its highest level.
We write about these things, listen and hope for justice BUT we are often distracted when things get too close to the execution of any kind of court, and so in the courts of our minds and hearts, which is more evil, the one who does some bad deed or the one who does not bring that evil deed to justice?
We end up discouraged, dismayed, caught in a whirl of emotions. and then we understand that this is theater. ALL THEATER.
Then, finally, when we turn off the news and watch our little relaxing shows, maybe “The Waltons” or “The Andy Griffith Show,” our minds relax.
We have had discussions about this for the last five years on this forum, we knew it was happening and we knew why.
The difference now is very dangerous for president Trump, the legacy media will portray this as Trump using law fare against his opponents and millions will believe it
And millions won’t! Now what?
This brings up a simple question in my mind. Why do these people always say “will release”? Why not dump them on the table immediately? Attention? Test the waters? Extend the attention?
Protect the innocent and the victims.
That’s most of it. The other large part is some may have to be withheld if it is for use as evidence in a civil or criminal trial. It may also have to be withheld for the time being it it’s to be used as evidence before a federal grand jury.
Justice IS revenge.
Yes it is. Justice, to be worthy of the name, should avenge those who have been injured.
No justice, no peace.
You have a memory❗
Revenge or justice?
How about a little of both. Along with a dash of bigtime payback for all of the misery these amateurs cost us.
These are not normal people. They are servile swine….especially Obama and Hillary, followed by Brennan and Comey. Prison is not good enough for them.
They all should spend their entire life sentence cleaning toilets for the workers putting the new face on Mt Rushmore,
NO to cleaning toilets. The only CORRECT sentence for treason is execution. Means/method not specified.
Obama and his thugs deserve a life sentence at best.
Indeed. A very short life sentence.
Barack Hussein Osama will readily adapt to prison since he is already a Muslim (many conversions take place in prison), he has a throughly criminal mindset, and he is already used to playing the “bitch” to a much more masculine partner.
No one. I repeat. No one involved in the Russian hoax and conspiracy to destroy Trump will ever be prosecuted or even be inconvenienced. They will all walk away and laugh. Justice is dead in this country we just have not accepted that grim reality.
The main perpetrators of this treasonous hoax crime should be sentenced to community service and that community service should be carving President Trump on Mt Rushmore.
I can imagine seeing Obama, Comey, Brenan, Hellary Klingon, and others hanging from Mt Rushmore chiseling President Trump into Mt. Rushmore.
NO NO NO!! The correct sentence for treason is execution. I would only hold that justice has been performed when I can go to a certain place, a pauper’s graveyard open to the public, and find a grave marker with the following upon it: Barack Hussain Obama, executed for the crime of treason against the People of the United States of America on XX YY 2026
I would ALSO very much want to see some form of justice meted out to those responsible for vetting the candidates for national offoce that year. They utterly failed to act on the part of the US Cinstitution laying out the requirements/qualifications for President. The LAW (Cnstitution plainly declares the PREIDEN (and he alone) MUST be a Natural Born Citizen.. at the time of writing that was plainly and universally understood to mean the offspring of TWO parents who are BOTH CITIZENS (not residents… or visitors.. or tourists… or lawfully resident aliens, but CITIZENS) of the United States. Those persons utterly failed to DO THEIR JOB.
The Obama Unit is the offspring of one Yank US Citizen (his Mother) and one foreign born non US ciizen as he was born and raised in what was then the British Colony of Kenya (later an independent nation) and thus a British Subject. . Thus, had the LAW been implemented he never could have put his hat in the ring for President. We had he same thing being perperated upon us las cycle when the Harris creature, daughter of an Eas Indiam mother and a Jamaican (Brit subject, again) ather. Where she was born is irrelevant, as she was doubly NOT a Natural Born citizen, as neither of her parents were citiezend when she was born.
I have often found myysel wondering at the high level of collusion and “assistance” rendered by the Brits in connexion with the Kinyyun “president”.. MI6, Steele, etc. Almost as if George Three were back from his grave of 1780 or so still bent upon destroying the independence of those rebellions Colonials “over there”.
The only things any of them could chisel are the American people.
I’ll bite: Revenge or justice? Justice is revenge with state modified punishment. But a lot of people hate state interference in revenge.
You might enjoy an episode by John Harris’ “Conversations that Matter” podcast called “Communal Violence in Early America through the Present.” It features Mr. Harris’ interview with Nicole Williams, who wrote a doctoral dissertation on the topic.
You can find it on every podcast platform and Youtube. The discussion is largely about early American local justice before state and federal laws controlled.
Mob justice is horrible, of course, but early Americans were steeped in Christianity and their forms of local justice reflected that faith. Their justice was very effective at either getting rid of a problem through banishment (“riding out of town on a rail”) or restoring the wrongdoer to productive life and family through shame and punishment.
I used to break windows when I was a kid. When my dad came home the neighbor would knock
on the door and to tell him about the window. My dad called me to the door and asked if I broke it. I said yes. Immediately it’s to the laundry room on my knees next to the cat box. No dinner and before my dad went to bed it’s off to my room where he puts the piano bench out and says pull down your pants. My dad was full blooded Russian six two and 245 lbs . You felt it. But I still broke windows. My dad joked with his bookkeeper that each time he called me to the front door to ask if I broke a window I could at least say no. He paid for those windows and my butt with his belt. The investigation into the Trump hoax cost 40 to 100 million dollars, that’s allot of windows. Someone needs to be spanked and I mean GOOD. Or I’m never voting again.
Excellent analogy.
When the conspiracy theories become fact it’s time to hold the culprits accountable with incarceration. Alcatraz Island would be a suitable destination.
Obama also intervened in the 2015 Israeli elections!
I would further suggest that the ‘success’ of their vendetta against President Trump emboldened them to inflict the virus situation on the world, probably believing they were the untouchables.
Tulsi Gabbard’s release of this “treasure trove” of declassified documents was a great service to the nation, but don’t get your hopes up for justice to be realized. If course, Obama is going to get a pass based upon executive privilege. The remaining major players, in this criminal attempt to affect the outcome of an election and the treasonous undermining of the Trump residency, will lawyer up, and the DOJ will make deals, and most will never see the inside of a prison cell which is what justice would bring. I say this because since viewing the multiple discoveries of criminal conduct by federal employees uncovered by DOGE we have not seen any arrests or indictments. These crimes were massive (i.e. millions of illegals having been issued Social Security cards). Pam Bondi needs to get on the stick and start prosecuting or it will damage Trump’s mid-term elections agenda next year.
2020 election fraud is overdue for a proper investigation, which needs ro address the relevant actions and inactions of all levels of government. Even the dismissal of lawsuits by courts on up to SCOTUS for no good reason.