US President Donald Trump has publicly praised Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard for her explosive revelations against former President Barack Obama, calling her “the hottest in the room right now” during a meeting with Republican lawmakers.
Gabbard has declassified documents she claims provide “irrefutable proof” that Obama and senior officials conspired to undermine Trump’s 2016 election victory.
“Tulsi, great job. She has all the documents, she has everything that you need. You've found things that nobody thought we'd ever find. Very happy and very honoured to have you with us,” Trump said at a GOP strategy session on Capitol Hill.
Gabbard, seated beside Trump during the event, responded with a sharp tease: “You’ve seen nothing yet.”
She has stunned Washington by publishing a tranche of internal Obama-era emails and intelligence memos suggesting that officials “politicised” and “manipulated” assessments about Russian interference in the 2016 election to cast doubt on Trump’s legitimacy. She has since referred the matter to the Justice Department for criminal review.
Her accusations were widely criticized as they fly in the face of findings by four separate criminal, counterintelligence and watchdog probes between 2019 and 2023 -- all of which concluded that Russia did intervene on Trump's behalf in the 2016 election.
At a later joint appearance with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Trump reiterated his accusations and doubled down on his claims against Obama.
“This is like proof, irrefutable proof, that Obama was seditious, that Obama was trying to lead a coup. Very proud of you, Tulsi,” Trump told reporters.
Trump also singled out Obama's then-vice president Joe Biden, former FBI director James Comey, former DNI director James Clapper and ex-CIA director John Brennan as being part of a conspiracy.
But he said the "leader of the gang" was Obama, accusing him of being guilty of "treason."
Trump has claimed since they were launched that the various probes into Russian interference in the 2016 election -- and his own campaign's involvement -- were a "hoax."
Trump's latest remarks were dismissed by his opponents as an attempt to shift focus away from the mushrooming crisis around the administration's failure to release files connected to the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
