Tulsi Gabbard has stunned Washington by handing the DOJ explosive documents alleging that the Obama administration knowingly fabricated the Trump–Russia collusion narrative, potentially triggering a historic criminal investigation that could upend the legacy of a former president and reignite America’s most bitter political divide.

In a political bombshell that’s shaking Washington to its core, former congresswoman and current Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has referred over 100 pages of declassified documents to the Department of Justice, alleging that senior Obama administration officials deliberately fabricated the narrative of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

The allegations, publicly revealed between July 17 and July 23, 2025, are already sending shockwaves across Capitol Hill, with calls for immediate investigations and growing division among Republicans and Democrats alike.

Gabbard, who was appointed DNI by President Donald J. Trump earlier this year, announced the referral in a press briefing on July 21. Flanked by DOJ officials and Trump’s legal team, she held up a thick binder of declassified records and declared,

“There is irrefutable evidence that high-ranking officials within the Obama administration knowingly manipulated intelligence to support a false narrative—one that undermined the legitimacy of a sitting president and misled the American people for years.”

The documents reportedly include early drafts of the now-infamous 2017 House Intelligence Committee report, unreleased Presidential Daily Briefings from late 2016, and internal FBI and CIA communications that, according to Gabbard, show key actors ignored contradictory intelligence that debunked any significant Russian cyber operations.

Instead, she claims, they relied heavily on unverified materials—including the discredited Steele dossier—to justify surveillance and investigations against the Trump campaign.

Perhaps most damning is the implication that President Obama himself may have been briefed on the questionable nature of the intelligence but chose to proceed anyway.

“This wasn’t incompetence,” Gabbard insisted. “This was calculated.”

Following Gabbard’s statement, Attorney General Pam Bondi—herself a key Trump ally—confirmed the formation of a DOJ “Strike Force” tasked with reviewing the material.

“We’re not making assumptions,” she said during an interview the next day. “But the seriousness of these allegations requires swift and thorough review. We will follow the facts wherever they lead.”

President Trump, who has long claimed he was the victim of a political witch hunt during and after his first term, wasted no time responding.

During a July 22 joint appearance with Philippine President Bongbong Marcos at the White House, Trump turned to reporters and declared,

“I’ve been saying it for years. They rigged it. They lied. And now we finally have the evidence. They tried to overthrow a sitting president, and they need to face justice.”

Trump later took to Truth Social and X (formerly Twitter), sharing AI-generated memes of Obama behind bars, calling the former president “the real traitor.” In another post, he praised Gabbard as “one of the only patriots left in Washington.”

The backlash from Democrats was immediate. Representative Jason Crow (D-CO), a former Army Ranger and member of the House Intelligence Committee, called the accusations “reckless and dangerous.”

He added, “This is a desperate attempt to rewrite history. The intelligence community, under bipartisan oversight, unanimously concluded that Russia interfered in 2016. Gabbard is playing politics with national security.”

Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, echoed the sentiment, stating,

“This stunt undermines the professionalism and integrity of our intelligence officers. The idea that President Obama orchestrated some kind of deep-state coup is absurd.”

But the reaction on the Republican side has been mixed. While House MAGA firebrands like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar have called for criminal referrals and impeachment proceedings against Obama-era officials, others are more cautious.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told reporters, “I’m not jumping to conclusions, but if there’s credible evidence, we should absolutely investigate. Let’s not forget, a lot of people’s reputations were ruined over this.”

Behind the scenes, intelligence veterans are reportedly furious. A retired senior CIA officer who helped shape the original Russia assessment in 2016 said anonymously,

“This is pure theater. Our conclusions were based on months of cross-agency analysis. Was everything perfect? No. But this idea that it was all fake is nonsense. Gabbard’s claims are dangerous.”

Still, public sentiment appears divided. A new flash poll conducted by PulseView on July 24 showed 49% of likely Republican voters believe Obama should be investigated for his role in the Russia probe, while 41% said they were unsure and 10% said no.

Among independent voters, 27% supported a criminal inquiry.

Tulsi Gabbard, meanwhile, seems unshaken. In a one-on-one interview with Fox anchor Laura Ingraham, she was asked whether she feared retaliation. “I didn’t take this job to be liked,” she said bluntly. “I took it to protect this country—and the truth.”

The political stakes are enormous. If the DOJ chooses to pursue indictments, it would be the first time in U.S. history that a former president or members of his administration could face criminal charges over intelligence abuse.

It would also ignite a constitutional crisis just as Trump prepares his bid for a third term in office.

Adding to the pressure, reports have emerged that Speaker of the House Byron Donalds is preparing to launch a new round of congressional hearings aimed at subpoenaing Obama-era officials.

Sources close to Donalds say he is “personally convinced” of wrongdoing and sees this as “bigger than Watergate.”

Whether this is the beginning of a reckoning or another flashpoint in America’s never-ending partisan war remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: Tulsi Gabbard’s dramatic move has turned the spotlight back on the ghosts of 2016—and they’re not fading quietly.