US President Donald Trump believes that declassified documents by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on the case of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election are evidence of the guilt of intelligence officials who worked under President Barack Obama (2009-2017).
“This is incredible. What we are finding is irrefutable evidence of guilt, we will see what happens next“, Trump said during a conversation with journalists at the White House, calling former FBI Director James Comey and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper criminals.
“This is a group of criminals. These are sick people, criminals, and we need to deal with them,” Trump added.
Gabbard previously published declassified copies of letters from the heads of US intelligence agencies who worked under Obama, the texts of which, according to her, confirm the deliberately false nature of the information about Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
In 2016, US intelligence agencies accused Russia of attempting to interfere in the US presidential election, claiming that Moscow was supporting candidate Donald Trump. At the same time, the “Steele dossier”, compiled by the American company Fusion GPS and former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, was published in the media. The dossier contained unconfirmed allegations of collusion between Trump and Russia.
According to Tulsi Gabbard's report, released on July 18, 2025, US intelligence agencies believed before the election that Russia had neither the intention nor the ability to influence the election. After Trump's victory in November 2016, the Barack Obama administration, according to Gabbard, ordered a new report that contradicted previous assessments. The key conclusion about Russia's non-interference was removed and classified. Former CIA Director John Brennan, ignoring the opinion of analysts, insisted on including the “Steele dossier“ in the final intelligence report, despite its unreliability, which he kept silent about in closed sessions of Congress.
The investigation into the alleged interference is led by special counsel Robert Mueller. On April 18, 2019, the Justice Department released its report, stating that there was no evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia. Trump and Moscow have repeatedly denied allegations of improper contacts or attempts to influence the election.
On July 2, 2025, the New York Post published a report by the CIA's Directorate of Analysis, indicating procedural irregularities in the compilation of the report on "Russian interference" and its possible political motivation. On July 22, Trump called the spread of false information about interference the "crime of the century" that threatens the United States. On August 1, he announced on Truth Social that the allegations of his ties to Russia had been refuted, calling it the biggest scandal in US history and calling for those responsible to be held accountable.