Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Sunday that whistleblowers have begun coming forward following the release of documents and a memo exposing what she described as the Obama administration’s efforts to undermine President Donald Trump after his 2016 election victory.
On Friday, Gabbard released a trove of documents along with a memo outlining what she called a “years-long coup” aimed at destabilizing Trump’s presidency after his defeat of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She said the whistleblowers were individuals “disgusted” by what they viewed as a “treasonous conspiracy” allegedly orchestrated by then-President Barack Obama in response to Clinton’s loss (see video below).
“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,” the intelligence chief added. “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.”
In 2020, Special Counsel John Durham secured a guilty plea from former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith for falsifying information in a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) application targeting Carter Page, a former adviser to Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.
In January 2021, he got a slap on the wrist: A federal judge sentenced Clinesmith to probation and 400 hours of community service. According to federal sentencing guidelines, lying to the FISA court carries a maximum of 5-10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
“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,” she said.
“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,” the DNI noted.
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