In a stunning press briefing on Wednesday, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said the Trump administration is seriously weighing criminal charges against former President Barack Obama.
Asked directly if Obama could be criminally implicated in what she called a “manufactured” intelligence report, Gabbard didn’t back down.
“We have referred and will continue to refer all of these documents to the Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate the criminal implications of this,” Gabbard told UnHerd’s Emily Jashinsky.
When pressed if that includes Obama, she responded clearly: “Correct. The evidence that we have found, and that we released, directly point to President Obama leading the manufacturing of this intelligence assessment. There are multiple pieces of evidence and intelligence that confirm that fact.”
CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe pushed further, asking if Gabbard believes Obama is guilty of treason.
“I’m leaving the criminal charges to the Department of Justice. I am not an attorney,” she said. “But as I’ve said previously, when you look at the intent behind creating a fake manufactured intelligence document that directly contradicts multiple assessments that were created by the intelligence community, the expressed intent and what followed afterward can only be described as a years-long coup and a treasonous conspiracy against the American people, our republic, and an attempt to undermine President [Donald] Trump’s administration.”
This follows Gabbard’s explosive press release accusing Obama and his top national security officials of weaponizing U.S. intelligence to sabotage Trump’s presidency from day one. The headline: “New Evidence of Obama Administration Conspiracy to Subvert President Trump’s 2016 Victory and Presidency.”
According to Gabbard, her office uncovered “overwhelming evidence” that after Trump’s 2016 win, Obama and his inner circle created and politicized intelligence reports to launch what she called “a years-long coup.”
President Trump doubled down Tuesday in the Oval Office.
“It’s time to go after people. Obama’s been caught directly,” Trump said. “If you look at that-, those papers, they have him stone cold, and it was President Obama. It wasn’t lots of people all over the place. It was them, too. But the leader of the gang was President Obama.”
Obama’s office hit back hard.
“Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response. But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one,” said Obama spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush.
“These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction,” Rodenbush continued. “Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes. These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio.”
This comes as the Trump administration tries to shift attention away from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, which has split Trump’s MAGA base and left Republicans on edge heading into the 2026 midterm elections.
Watch the clip below via Fox News.
🚨 BREAKING: Tulsi Gabbard announces she has officially referred Barack Obama to the DOJ for CRIMINAL PROSECUTION
"The evidence that we have found and that we have released directly point to President Obama leading the manufacturing of this intelligence assessment.
There are… pic.twitter.com/RICxmXysoL
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) July 23, 2025
