Declassified Report Reveals Obama-Era Intelligence on Trump-Russia Ties Was Flawed and Politicized
by Emmitt Barry, with reporting from Washington D.C. Bureau Staff
(Worthy News) – A newly declassified House Intelligence Committee report has ignited a political firestorm by revealing that the Obama administration’s 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) claiming Russian President Vladimir Putin supported Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential bid was based on unreliable intelligence and violated established analytical standards.
Released by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, the report outlines a pattern of politicized intelligence gathering and flawed analysis that shaped the now-debunked narrative of Trump-Russia collusion. The ICA, commissioned by President Barack Obama in the waning days of his administration, concluded that Putin had a “clear preference” for Trump. However, House investigators found that this conclusion was based on what they termed “substandard” reports–many vague, unverifiable, or of dubious origin.
“The judgment that Putin developed a preference for candidate Trump and aspired to help his chances did not adhere to the tenets of the Intelligence Community Directive analytical standards,” the report stated.
At the heart of the controversy is former CIA Director John Brennan, who the report says ordered the inclusion of three flawed intelligence reports to support the assertion of Russian favoritism toward Trump. Despite warnings from senior CIA officials that no direct evidence supported that conclusion, Brennan allegedly moved forward with a narrative that painted Trump as the Kremlin’s favored candidate.
According to the declassified findings, the critical claim that Putin “aspired” to help Trump hinged on a single “unclear and unverifiable fragment of a sentence” from one of the three substandard reports. At the same time, other reliable intelligence that contradicted this narrative was excluded or downplayed.
More explosively, the report reveals that Russian operatives may have preferred Hillary Clinton to win. Intelligence suggested that Moscow withheld its most damaging information on Clinton, potentially to maintain leverage over a Clinton presidency–a tactic inconsistent with the idea of Putin favoring Trump.
“By keeping the most damaging material on Clinton in reserve,” the report explains, “Putin was not only demonstrating a clear lack of concern for Trump’s election fate, but conversely, his actions could also indicate that he preferred to see Secretary Clinton elected.”
The ICA’s production was further criticized for its haste and insularity, having been written by just five CIA analysts with limited input from the broader intelligence community. Two senior CIA officers reportedly informed Brennan that the evidence did not support the claim of Putin’s preference, but the warning went unheeded.
The House report was initially compiled in 2020 under then-Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and stored in a secure CIA vault. Gabbard, now Director of National Intelligence, has declassified the document at the direction of President Donald Trump and sent a criminal referral to the Department of Justice. She alleges that Brennan, Obama, and other senior officials participated in a “years-long coup” to delegitimize Trump’s presidency.
“The intelligence community had one assessment before the election–that Russia lacked the intent or capability to impact the outcome,” Gabbard said on Fox News. “But after Trump’s victory, Obama directed a new assessment based on discredited sources like the Steele dossier and unverifiable reports.”
The report also ties in earlier admissions from top Obama-era officials–including James Clapper, Loretta Lynch, Susan Rice, and Andrew McCabe–who testified under oath that they had no empirical evidence of Trump-Russia collusion. Yet many continued to assert otherwise publicly.
President Obama’s spokesperson responded to the revelations by calling the allegations “bizarre” and “a weak attempt at distraction,” reaffirming the consensus that Russia interfered in the 2016 election but without affecting vote tallies.
However, critics argue that the broader narrative–aggressively promoted by media and political operatives–was built on a foundation of politicized intelligence. Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey are now reportedly under federal investigation in connection to the origins of the Russia probe, which included the controversial Steele dossier–funded by Clinton’s campaign–and presented to Trump as credible intelligence despite internal doubts.
Gabbard concluded, “The American people deserve accountability. The integrity of our republic depends on it. We will continue forwarding all related materials to the DOJ to ensure that truth and justice prevail.”
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