Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard intensified her criticism of the Obama administration during a White House press briefing on Wednesday, accusing former President Barack Obama and his national security team of fabricating the narrative that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win. Gabbard claimed that the intelligence community was directed to produce an assessment based on false premises.

“There is irrefutable evidence that details how President Obama and his national security team directed the creation of an intelligence community assessment that they knew was false,” Gabbard stated. “They knew it would promote this contrived narrative… selling it to the American people as though it were true—it wasn’t.”

Her remarks followed the declassification of a trove of intelligence documents that allegedly show how top Obama-era officials politicized intelligence to target then-candidate Trump. According to Gabbard, the documents show no direct evidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed to aid Trump’s election in 2016, contradicting widely accepted conclusions drawn at the time.

“All of it confirms the same report: There was gross politicization and manipulation of intelligence by the Obama administration, intended to delegitimize President Trump before he was even inaugurated,” she said. Gabbard emphasized that the release of the documents is part of a broader effort to ensure transparency and accountability.

She also revealed that the documents have been referred to the Department of Justice and the FBI for further review. Gabbard concluded by stating that multiple pieces of evidence implicate President Obama as having led the initiative. President Trump echoed those remarks Tuesday, calling Obama the “ringleader” of the Trump–Russia investigation.