US President Donald Trump accused former President Barack Obama of election fraud in Truth Social in 2016.
Trump praised the US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and the Deputy White House Press Secretary Harrison Fields for their participation in a Fox News broadcast.
According to Trump, they “spoke fantastically about the need to prosecute Obama and the bandits, who are undoubtedly caught in election fraud at the highest level“. The American leader congratulated Gabbard, who a day earlier said that the American intelligence community under the Obama administration was used for political purposes to undermine the Trump presidency.
Earlier, Gabbard said that several months before the 2016 election, American intelligence was unanimous: 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 the creation of a new report that contradicted previous assessments. Gabbard noted that the key intelligence conclusion that Russia did not influence the election results 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.
The report states 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 campaign.
It contains allegations of 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 senior intelligence officers, insisted on including this dossier in the final report and in closed meetings with members of Congress claimed the opposite.
In 2016 US intelligence agencies have accused Russia of interfering in the US election process. The investigation was conducted by US special counsel Robert Mueller. On April 18, 2019, the US Department of Justice published its final report, in which the special counsel admitted that he had found no agreement between Trump, who won the election, and Russia.
Trump has repeatedly denied suspicions of improper contacts with Russian officials. Moscow has also called allegations of attempts to influence the course of the US election unfounded.