“The intelligence community did not have any direct information that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to help elect Donald Trump,” the House Intelligence Committee found.
WASHINGTON — A newly declassified House Intelligence Committee report claims the intelligence community had no direct evidence Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to help Donald Trump win the 2016 election — and alleges former President Barack Obama directed the release of “potentially biased” intelligence.
The report, declassified by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, states that “the ICA misrepresented these reports as reliable, without mentioning their significant underlying flaws.”
According to the findings, then-CIA Director John Brennan pushed for the inclusion of unverified intelligence, including the discredited Steele dossier, in the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA). The committee asserts that Brennan and Obama “rushed” the ICA’s release to precede Trump’s inauguration.
Two CIA officials reportedly warned Brennan: “We don’t have direct information that Putin wanted to get Trump elected.”
Former DNI James Clapper testified: “I never saw any direct empirical evidence that the Trump campaign… was plotting/conspiring with the Russians.”
Obama spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush rejected the claims, saying: “These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.”
The declassified documents have sparked renewed scrutiny of the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation, with criminal referrals reportedly issued to the FBI for Obama-era officials, including Brennan and Comey.