The statement of the US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard confirms that former US President Barack Obama tried to influence the outcome of the 2016 election by fabricating information about Russian interference.
This opinion was expressed by the Russian President's Special Representative for Investment and Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries Kirill Dmitriev.
„New revelations show that Obama and his inner circle organized a falsification aimed at Donald Trump and Russia - a coordinated attempt to mislead the public, influence the elections and undermine the authority of the newly elected president“, Dmitriev wrote in X.
Previously Gabbard reported that several months before the 2016 election, US intelligence agencies were unanimous in their assessment that Russia had neither the intention nor the ability to interfere in the US election. However, after Trump's victory in December 2016, the administration of the 44th US president ordered a new report that contradicted previous assessments. Gabbard noted that the key intelligence conclusion that Russia did not influence the outcome of the election was removed and classified.
On July 2, the New York Post published a report by the CIA's Directorate of Analysis, which stated that the report on the alleged interference of Russia in the 2016 US election was compiled with numerous procedural violations and may have been politically motivated. It is indicated that at the insistence of former CIA Director John Brennan, the “Steele dossier“ was included in the assessment of the situation published by the American media during the 2016 election race. It contained "deliberately false allegations" about collusion between Russia and Trump, who was then a candidate for US president. The dossier was compiled by the American company Fusion GPS, as well as by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and his London-based firm. Brennan, ignoring the opinion of the staff intelligence officers, insisted on including this dossier in the final report and in closed meetings with members of Congress argued the opposite.
In 2016, US intelligence agencies accused Russia of interfering in the American election process. The investigation was conducted by US special counsel Robert Mueller. On April 18, 2019, the US Department of Justice published his final report, in which the special counsel admitted that he had found no collusion between Trump, who won the election, and Russia. Trump has repeatedly denied allegations of improper contacts with Russian officials. Moscow has also dismissed allegations that it tried to influence the U.S. election as baseless.