The US Justice Department has launched an investigation involving a team of experts to examine allegations related to the case of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, Fox News Digital reported on Monday, citing its sources.
According to the channel, the investigation was launched after receiving a criminal complaint from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. The complaint concerns an alleged conspiracy to link President Donald Trump to Russia during the 2016 election campaign. According to Fox News Digital, Attorney General Pam Bondi instructed her staff to act on the complaint, which led to the convening of a large team of experts.
The US Department of Justice declined to comment on the information reported by Fox News Digital, while the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and special presidential representative for economic cooperation with foreign countries, Kirill Dmitriev, supported the investigation.
“This is important. The charges have finally caught up with the liars behind the disinformation about Russia and who tried to attack both Russia and Trump“, he wrote on X, commenting on the Fox News channel post.
In 2016, US intelligence agencies accused Russia of attempting to interfere in the US presidential election, claiming that Moscow was supporting Trump. At the same time, the “Steele dossier” compiled by the American company Fusion GPS and former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele appeared in the media. The dossier contained unconfirmed allegations of collusion between Trump and Russia.
According to Gabbard’s report, published on July 18, 2025, American intelligence 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 the preparation of 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, insists on the inclusion of the “Steele dossier” in the final intelligence report, despite its unreliability, which he has been 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 published his report, which found 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, which indicated 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 the 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 debunked, calling it the biggest scandal in US history and calling for those responsible to be held accountable.