By Brooke Singman | Fox News
'There was a treasonous conspiracy in 2016 committed by officials at the highest level of our government," Gabbard said
EXCLUSIVE: The Obama administration “manufactured and politicized intelligence” to create the narrative that Russia was attempting to influence the 2016 presidential election, despite information from the intelligence community stating otherwise, Fox News Digital has learned.
On Friday, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified documents revealing “overwhelming evidence” that demonstrates how, after President Donald Trump won the 2016 election against Hillary Clinton, then-President Barack Obama and his national security team laid the groundwork for what would be the years-long Trump–Russia collusion probe.
Documents revealed that in the months leading up to the November 2016 election, the intelligence community consistently assessed that Russia was “probably not trying…to influence the election by using cyber means.”
One instance was on Dec. 7, 2016, weeks after the election. Then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper’s talking points stated: “Foreign adversaries did not use cyberattacks on election infrastructure to alter the U.S. presidential election outcome.”
Fox News Digital obtained a declassified copy of the Presidential Daily Brief, which was prepared by the Department of Homeland Security, with reporting from the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, FBI, National Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security, State Department and open sources, for Obama, dated Dec. 8, 2016.
“We assess that Russian and criminal actors did not impact recent US election results by conducting malicious cyber activities against election infrastructure,” the Presidential Daily Brief stated. “Russian Government-affiliated actors most likely compromised an Illinois voter registration database and unsuccessfully attempted the same in other states.”
But the brief stated that it was “highly unlikely” the effort “would have resulted in altering any state’s official vote result.”
“Criminal activity also failed to reach the scale and sophistication necessary to change election outcomes,” it stated.
The brief noted that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence assessed that any Russian activities “probably were intended to cause psychological effects, such as undermining the credibility of the election process and candidates.”
The brief stated that cyber criminals “tried to steal data and to interrupt election processes by targeting election infrastructure, but these actions did not achieve a notable disruptive effect.”
Fox News Digital obtained declassified, but redacted, communications from the FBI on the Presidential Daily Brief, stating that it “should not go forward until the FBI” had shared its “concerns.”
Those communications revealed that the FBI drafted a “dissent” to the original Presidential Daily Brief.
The communications revealed that the brief was expected to be published Dec. 9, 2016, the following day, but later communications revealed that Office of the Director of National Intelligence, “based on some new guidance” decided to “push back publication” of the Presidential Daily Brief.
“It will not run tomorrow and is not likely to run until next week,” wrote the deputy director of the Presidential Daily Brief at Office of the Director of National Intelligence, whose name is redacted.
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