The Department of Justice has officially acknowledged receiving a criminal referral from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who alleges top Obama administration officials orchestrated and politicized false intelligence to manufacture the now-discredited Trump-Russia collusion narrative, Fox News reported.

🧵 Americans will finally learn the truth about how in 2016, intelligence was politicized and weaponized by the most powerful people in the Obama Administration to lay the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup against President @realDonaldTrump, subverting the… pic.twitter.com/UQKKZ5c4Op

— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) July 18, 2025

Gabbard, who declassified a trove of documents last week, revealed that then-President Barack Obama and senior national security officials knowingly pushed a fabricated story tying Donald Trump to Russia in an effort to undermine him after his 2016 election victory. Gabbard’s findings point to a coordinated attempt at political sabotage from the highest levels of the previous administration, Fox News reported.

“These documents detail a treasonous conspiracy by officials at the highest levels of the Obama White House to subvert the will of the American people and try to usurp the President from fulfilling his mandate,” Gabbard said.

Among the documents declassified is a presidential briefing from December 2016, in which the Obama administration admitted there was no evidence that foreign adversaries had manipulated the election outcome. The report plainly stated: “We assess that foreign adversaries did not use cyber attacks on election infrastructure to alter the US Presidential election outcome this year. We have no evidence of cyber manipulation of election infrastructure intended to alter results.”

This betrayal concerns every American. The integrity of our democratic republic demands that every person involved be investigated and brought to justice to prevent this from ever happening again.

— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) July 18, 2025

Despite that assessment, Obama-era officials proceeded to push the Trump-Russia collusion storyline—setting the stage for a yearslong investigation that ultimately collapsed under its own lack of evidence. According to Gabbard, this wasn’t just political spin—it was an intentional abuse of intelligence meant to smear and obstruct then-President-elect Trump, who now serves as the current President of the United States.

Gabbard has formally submitted the newly declassified materials to the Department of Justice, demanding prosecutions and accountability for what she described as a calculated effort to deceive the public and cripple Trump’s presidency before it began. On Monday, the DOJ confirmed it received her criminal referral but declined to offer further comment, Fox News reported.

The revelations have sent shockwaves through Washington, reigniting calls from conservatives for a full investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe and possible criminal prosecution of those involved in what they see as a deep-state operation against a duly elected president.

Gabbard’s actions are already being hailed by many as a major victory for advocates of transparency and constitutional accountability. As the sitting Director of National Intelligence, she has used her authority to expose what she believes was a political conspiracy weaponizing the intelligence community against President Trump.

While the Biden-era DOJ has been criticized for selective enforcement and stonewalling investigations into Democratic misconduct, the receipt of Gabbard’s criminal referral now puts the department on the spot. Whether or not it pursues charges could shape public trust in federal law enforcement for years to come, Fox News reported.

With President Trump once again in the White House and the 2024 election behind him, these documents open a new chapter in the fight over what really happened during the chaotic months following his first victory—and who should be held accountable.