Gabbard uses surprise White House appearance to attack Trump’s enemies on the Russia investigation

WASHINGTON AP As the national intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard is responsible for guarding America s secrets and discovering threats from overseas But when she made a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room Wednesday her targets were President Donald Trump s political enemies Escalating her attempts to undermine the long-settled conclusion that Russia tried to help Trump beat Hillary Clinton for the presidency nearly a decade ago she unspooled what she called unshakeable proof that then-President Barack Obama and his advisers plotted nothing short of a coup They conspired to subvert the will of the American people she declared claiming they fabricated evidence to taint Trump s conquest Little of what she mentioned was new and much of it was baseless Gabbard stated her review into the former Democratic administration was designed to stop the weaponization of national assurance institutions but it spurred more questions about her own independence atop a spying system intended to provide unvarnished intelligence Gabbard a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii who ran for president herself before joining Trump s idiosyncratic political ecosystem seemed prepared to use her presentation to burnish her own standing She was trailed by her cinematographer husband who held a video camera to capture the moment And Trump who had previously expressed general doubts about Gabbard s analysis of Iran s nuclear operation appeared satisfied He posted a video of her remarks pinning them at the top of his social media feed It was a display that cemented Gabbard s role as one of Trump s chief agents of retribution delivering official recognition of Trump s grievances about the Russia scrutiny that shadowed his first term The focus on a years-old disgrace also served Trump s attempts to shift attention from the Jeffrey Epstein event and questions about the president s own association with an abuser of underage girls Gabbard touts her latest release During her White House remarks Gabbard disclosed she has referred the documents to the Justice Department to consider for a manageable criminal inquiry Obama s post-presidential office declined to comment Wednesday but issued a rare response a day earlier These bizarre accusations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction commented Patrick Rodenbush an Obama spokesman The White House rejected questions about the timing of Gabbard s revelations and whether they were designed to curry favor with Trump or distract attention from the administration s handling of files relating to Epstein Still Trump was quick to reward Gabbard s loyalty this week calling her the hottest person in the room On Wednesday she issued a statement by Republican staff of the House Intelligence Committee during the first Trump administration It does not dispute that Russia interfered in the voting process but cites what it says were tradecraft failings in the assessment reached by the intelligence population that Russian President Vladimir Putin influenced the ballot because he intended for Trump to win Gabbard went beyond particular of the conclusions of the statement in describing its findings from the White House podium She along with the record also seized on the fact that a dossier including uncorroborated tips and salacious gossip about Trump s ties to Russia was referenced in a classified version annex of an intelligence district assessment distributed in that detailed Russia s interference The dossier was not the basis for the FBI s decision to open an examination in July into promising coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia but Trump supporters have seized on the unverified innuendo in the document to try to undercut the broader probe Timing of the reports prompts questions Gabbard commented she didn t know why the documents weren t distributed during Trump s first administration Her office did not respond to questions about the timing of the release Responding to a question from a reporter about Gabbard s motivations White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused journalists of looking for a story where there wasn t one The only people who are suggesting that she would release evidence to boost her standing are the people in this room Leavitt stated Trump however has announced he wants the media and the community to focus on Gabbard s document and not his ties to Epstein We caught Hillary Clinton We caught Barack Hussein Obama you ought take a look at that and stop talking about nonsense Trump revealed Tuesday CIA Director John Ratcliffe served briefly as director of national intelligence during Trump s first term but did not release any of the information declassified by Gabbard The CIA declined to comment on Gabbard s remarks Wednesday Trump and Gabbard s evolving relationship Gabbard reported Congress in April that Iran wasn t actively seeking a nuclear weapon and Trump dismissed her assessment just before U S strikes on Iran I don t care what she commented Trump noted in June on Air Force One when sought about Gabbard s testimony Gabbard in the last few days shared her findings in an Oval Office meeting with Trump according to two administration leaders who requested anonymity to discuss a private conversation Afterward one of the bureaucrats disclosed Trump expressed satisfaction that Gabbard s findings aligned with his own beliefs about the Russia research Other latest releases on the Russia study On Friday Gabbard s office circulated a assessment that downplayed the extent of Russian interference in the vote by highlighting Obama administration emails showing personnel had concluded before and after the presidential race that Moscow had not hacked state poll systems to manipulate votes in Trump s favor But Obama s Democratic administration never suggested otherwise even as it exposed other means by which Russia interfered in the voting including through a massive hack-and-leak operation of Democratic emails by intelligence operatives working with WikiLeaks as well as a covert influence campaign aimed at swaying population opinion and sowing discord through fake social media posts Earlier this month Ratcliffe distributed a record earlier this month criticizing aspects of the intelligence population assessment and suggesting the process had been rushed The record did not address multiple investigations since then including a analysis from the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee in that reached the same conclusion about Russia s influence and motives Democrats call for Gabbard s resignation Lawmakers from both parties have long stressed the need for an independent intelligence facility Democrats stated Gabbard s reports show she has placed partisanship and loyalty to Trump over her duty and several have called for her resignation It seems as though the Trump administration is willing to declassify anything and everything except the Epstein files Sen Mark Warner of Virginia the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee disclosed in a comment Wednesday Warner predicted Gabbard s actions could prompt U S allies to share less information for fear it would be politicized or recklessly declassified But Gabbard enjoys strong patronage among Republicans Rep Rick Crawford chairman of the House Intelligence Committee commented she and Ratcliffe were working to put the intelligence population on the path to regaining the trust of the American people Rep Jim Himes the top Democrat on the House Intelligence panel reported Gabbard hasn t offered any reason to ignore the various earlier investigations into Russia s efforts The Director is free to disagree with the Intelligence Society Assessment s conclusion that Putin favored Donald Trump but her view stands in stark contrast to the verdict rendered by multiple credible investigations Himes declared in a comment Including the bipartisan record distributed by the Senate Intelligence Committee