Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Sunday that whistleblowers were coming forward since the release of documents and a memo detailing the Obama administration’s efforts to undermine President Donald Trump after the 2016 election.
Gabbard released documents and a memo Friday detailing what she called a “years-long coup” against Trump after he defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race. Gabbard described the whistleblowers as people who were “disgusted” with the “treasonous conspiracy” allegedly ordered by then-President Barack Obama in the aftermath of Clinton’s defeat.
“We have whistleblowers … coming forward now, after we released these documents because there are people who were around, who were working within the intelligence community who so disgusted by what happened, we’re starting to see some of them come out of the woodwork here because they, too, like you and I and the American people, want to see justice delivered,” Gabbard told “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo. “So we’re going to provide everything that we have, everything that we will continue to gather to the Department of Justice for that direct intent and that direct purpose.”
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“There must be indictments. Those responsible, no matter how powerful they are or were at that time, no matter who was involved in creating this treasonous conspiracy against the American people, they all must be held accountable,” Gabbard continued.
Special Counsel John Durham secured a guilty plea from Kevin Clinesmith in 2020 on charges relating to applications under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act targeting Carter Page as part of the FBI’s surveillance of people tied to Trump’s 2016 campaign. A federal judge sentenced Clinesmith to probation and 400 hours of community service in January 2021.
Gabbard questioned why Durham, who was responsible for probing the origins of the FBI’s spying on the Trump campaign, failed to uncover those materials or “put together the dots.”
“This is of such historic consequence that it cannot be limited to one or two or three different people. You just outlined the implications and the effects of what actually occurred and I think you’re really putting into a clear picture what we are referring to when we refer to the deep state,” Gabbard told Bartiromo. “It is very far-reaching. These are people who are intent on undermining the will of the American people and trying to ultimately, put themselves above our democracy and this is why it’s so important that we continue down this path, we continue to stay very focused.”
“I question the same things that you’re asking here. I don’t know how it is – yes, I put my team on this, we’ve been working on this over the last few months. I’ve been in this role as director of National Intelligence for just about six months,” Gabbard continued. “I don’t know what excuse there is for those who supposedly investigated this previously, whether it was Durham or others, that they were not able to put together the dots and ultimately show the truth to the American people.”
Durham released a report May 15, 2023, on the origins of the FBI investigation of allegations that Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia that found that the FBI “did not and could not corroborate” the claims from the now-discredited Steele Dossier, which was used to obtain warrants to monitor communications by Page and other associates of Trump.
FBI analyst Brian Auten testified in an October 2022 trial that the FBI offered Christopher Steele $1 million if he could corroborate the claims in the dossier he assembled, but Steele never did.
