Opinion / Politics
Obama Denies Russiagate Involvement but the Evidence is Clear
The evidence is very clear and it leads straight to him. It's possible he may escape many of the charges as the Statute of Limitations has expired but by continuing to deny it he is actively participating in a coverup for which he could, and should, be charged.
Tommy Flynn
July 24, 2025 - Former President Barack Obama is working to distance himself from the Russiagate scandal, but declassified documents and recent revelations place him at the heart of the discredited narrative linking Donald Trump to Russian election interference in 2016. On July 23, 2025, Obama’s spokesperson issued a statement calling claims by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard “ridiculous” and a “weak attempt at distraction.” The statement pointed to a 2020 Senate Intelligence Committee report, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio, as evidence that Russia sought to influence the 2016 election. This defense, however, glosses over a critical fact: Congress lacks its own intelligence agencies and relied on flawed reports from Obama’s administration, which shaped the Senate’s conclusions and perpetuated a misleading narrative.
The Russiagate saga began in 2016, when allegations surfaced that Russia worked to help Trump win the presidential election against Hillary Clinton. Declassified records now show that Obama was briefed in the summer of 2016 on what’s known as the “Clinton Plan intelligence.” This intelligence, detailed in Special Counsel John Durham’s 2023 report, revealed that Clinton’s campaign sought to falsely tie Trump to Russia to distract from her private email server scandal. Despite this knowledge, Obama’s FBI launched the Crossfire Hurricane investigation into Trump’s campaign in July 2016, setting the stage for years of scrutiny.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., underscored Obama’s central role, stating, “He can’t plead ignorance. He was intimately involved in this and authorized it.” Gabbard’s July 2025 report further exposed how Obama and his national security team crafted a false narrative. After Trump’s 2016 victory, Obama ordered a new Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) on Russian meddling, released in January 2017, which claimed Vladimir Putin aimed to secure Trump’s win. This ICA relied in part on the debunked Steele Dossier, a collection of unverified allegations about Trump’s Russia ties, despite dissenting evidence suggesting Putin anticipated a Clinton victory.
Declassified notes from then-CIA Director John Brennan confirm he briefed Obama, Joe Biden, and others in summer 2016 about Clinton’s plan to vilify Trump. A September 2016 CIA memo to FBI Director James Comey and agent Peter Strzok detailed Clinton’s strategy to link Trump with Russian hackers to shift focus from her email controversy, yet the FBI did not pursue this lead. The House report, declassified by Gabbard, also revealed that Russian intelligence possessed Democratic National Committee data on Clinton’s “extraordinarily alarming” health issues, which could have hurt her campaign if released. Contrary to the ICA’s narrative, Russia did not disclose this information before the election, undermining claims of a pro-Trump agenda.
On December 6, 2016, Obama directed a rewrite of intelligence assessments to emphasize Putin’s alleged preference for Trump, a claim absent from earlier reports like the September 2016 ICA, which focused on Russia’s general aim to sow chaos rather than pick a winner. A January 5, 2017, Oval Office meeting, attended by Obama, Biden, Comey, and others, discussed the Crossfire Hurricane investigation and targeted Trump’s national security adviser Mike Flynn. Notes from the meeting show Obama raised concerns about Flynn’s contacts with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, despite Comey later admitting the calls appeared “legit.” This meeting, documented by then-National Security Advisor Susan Rice, emphasized Obama’s insistence on handling the matter “by the book,” though the focus on Flynn fueled further leaks and media frenzy.
Obama’s spokesperson’s reliance on the 2020 Senate report is misleading. That report, produced by a bipartisan committee, drew on intelligence from Obama’s own agencies—FBI, CIA, and others—which were already tainted by the administration’s actions. Congress, lacking independent intelligence capabilities, could only analyze what was provided, making the report an extension of the flawed ICA rather than a neutral assessment. Gabbard’s declassifications, including a recent House report, reveal the ICA ignored evidence of Russia’s knowledge of Clinton’s vulnerabilities and violated Intelligence Community Directive 203 standards by pushing a “high confidence” claim of Putin’s pro-Trump bias without sufficient evidence.
Obama can't escape this one. The evidence is very clear and it leads straight to him. It's possible he may escape many of the charges as the Statute of Limitations has expired but by continuing to deny it he is actively participating in a coverup for which he could, and should, be charged.