A Coup in Plain Sight?” DNI Tulsi Gabbard Drops Chilling Claims of Obama-Era Subversion Plot Against Trump
WASHINGTON — In an explosive and unprecedented disclosure that has sent shockwaves through the intelligence community and political establishment, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard doubled down Wednesday on her bombshell accusations that former President Barack Obama and key members of his national security team orchestrated a calculated effort to sabotage Donald Trump’s presidency before it even began.
Speaking on “Jesse Watters Primetime”, Gabbard alleged that senior Obama-era officials “politicized intelligence” and set in motion what she called a “years-long coup” to delegitimize Trump’s 2016 victory, despite internal consensus that Russia neither intended nor possessed the capability to hack U.S. election systems.
“There are a lot of deep state actors still here within Washington,” Gabbard warned, her voice cold with conviction. “President Trump wants us to find the truth. I want to find that truth. The American people deserve the truth — and accountability.”
In a stunning move, Gabbard recently declassified and released over 100 intelligence documents, some of which appear to contradict the dominant narrative surrounding Russian election interference. According to her, intelligence assessments before and immediately after the 2016 election indicated Russia posed no credible hacking threat. But just weeks after Trump’s win, she alleges, that assessment was abruptly reversed—by directive from the top.
“Obama directed the Intelligence Community to produce a new narrative — one that would feed the public fear of Russian meddling,” Gabbard posted on X last week. “It was an information operation designed not to protect democracy, but to sabotage its outcome.”
Among the figures named: then-CIA Director John Brennan, former DNI James Clapper, and Obama himself. According to Gabbard, they spearheaded an intelligence re-write that created the foundation for the infamous Trump-Russia probe, launched in early 2017 and fueled by what she calls “fabricated political narratives” rather than evidence.
The White House Press Briefing Room was tense Tuesday as Gabbard defended her release, insisting her team faced “deep state obstacles” within the IC and DOJ. That same day, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the formation of a strike force to investigate what she called “historical abuses of intelligence authority and potential constitutional violations.”
The backlash was immediate.
An Obama spokesperson issued a rare rebuke, dismissing the claims as “bizarre and outrageous,” and insisting that Russia did attempt to influence the election — though it failed to alter any votes.
Former Obama aide Ned Price followed with a fiery op-ed, accusing Gabbard of peddling “conspiratorial fiction” and of misleading the public by conflating foreign influence with vote manipulation.
Yet, cracks in the official narrative aren’t new. A 2020 bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report led by now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia — though it did find “irrefutable” attempts by the Kremlin to sow division via disinformation, particularly through WikiLeaks and DNC email hacks.
“We found no vote tampering,” Rubio said at the time. “But what we did find was deeply troubling misuse of intelligence by multiple actors — including reliance on the discredited Steele dossier.”
Now, five years later, Gabbard is calling that just the beginning.
She has formally referred several officials for criminal investigation, citing potential violations of constitutional protections, misuse of classified intelligence, and abuse of power. Trump, unsurprisingly, responded by reposting a viral video — reportedly AI-generated — showing Obama being handcuffed in the Oval Office.
The clip, while clearly fictional, has reignited fierce debate over the boundaries of political warfare, the power of intelligence agencies, and what may be one of the most damning accusations ever leveled by a sitting DNI against a former president.
As Capitol Hill braces for what could become the most politically charged investigation in a generation, one thing is clear: Tulsi Gabbard is not backing down.
“This isn’t about politics,” she said, staring directly into the camera. “It’s about truth. It’s about whether our democracy has been hijacked from within — and whether anyone will be held accountable.”
