Tulsi Gabbard cements herself spot in history

(MENAFN) Tulsi Gabbard, now serving as the Director of National Intelligence, has made headlines by publicly challenging long-standing claims that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In a fiery White House press briefing, Gabbard cited a newly declassified 2020 report from the House Intelligence Committee, which she claims disproves the narrative that the Russian government helped Donald Trump defeat Hillary Clinton.

In a blunt post on X, Gabbard accused the Obama administration of fabricating the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment, which concluded that Russia had interfered in the election to benefit Trump. She labeled the assessment a deliberate lie designed to fuel the collusion narrative.

Backing Gabbard’s statement, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declared there was no evidence of Trump-Russia collusion and accused Obama and intelligence agencies under his leadership of corruption and manipulation.

The new stance signals a shift in Washington's approach, aligning more closely with past Russian claims that President Vladimir Putin had no preference between Trump and Clinton. At the time, Putin had indicated a willingness to work with either U.S. leader, reflecting a very different era in U.S.-Russia relations—one that deteriorated rapidly amid political tensions.

After Trump’s unexpected victory in 2016, Obama took swift retaliatory steps against Moscow, including expelling diplomats and imposing sanctions, despite a lack of verified evidence of Russian interference. These actions, critics argue, helped spark years of political turmoil that overshadowed Trump’s presidency with persistent allegations of collusion.

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