The Department of Justice confirmed Monday that it has received Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s criminal referral related to her bombshell claims that Obama-era officials ‘manufactured and politicized intelligence’ to create the narrative that Russia was attempting to influence the 2016 presidential election, Fox News has confirmed.
The Department of Justice declined further comment, but confirmed to Fox News that the department received the referral.
Gabbard released unclassified documents Friday that reportedly show ‘overwhelming evidence’ that then-President Barack Obama and his national security team laid the groundwork for what would be the yearslong Trump–Russia collusion probe after Trump’s election win against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016.
‘Their goal was to usurp President Trump and subvert the will of the American people,’ Gabbard had posted to X of the criminal referral Friday. ‘No matter how powerful, every person involved in this conspiracy must be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The integrity of our democratic republic depends on it. We are turning over all documents to the DOJ for criminal referral.’
Gabbard joined Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo Sunday, where she detailed evidence uncovered in the case, which she said showcases ‘overwhelming’ proof that Obama-era officials laid the groundwork for what would be the yearslong Trump-Russia collusion probe after the 2016 election.
‘The implications of this are frankly nothing short of historic,’ Gabbard said Sunday.
‘Over 100 documents that we released on Friday really detail and provide evidence of how this treasonous conspiracy was directed by President Obama just weeks before he was due to leave office after President Trump had already gotten elected. This is not a Democrat or Republican issue. This is an issue that is so serious it should concern every single American because it has to do with the integrity of our democratic republic,’ she continued.
Following Gabbard’s revelations, Trump shared a video to his Truth Social account showing a handful of Democrats, including Obama, vowing that ‘no one is above the law.’ Later in the clip, an AI-generated video showed Trump and Obama sitting in the Oval Office before Obama is arrested while Trump’s the song ‘YMCA’ plays in the background.
Additionally, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) also will release declassified documents related to a 2018 DOJ Inspector General report on the Justice Department’s handling of the investigations related to the 2016 presidential election, Fox News confirmed Monday. Grassley will specifically declassify the report’s appendix, which Fox learned focuses specifically on the Clinton email investigation.
Hillary Clinton was investigated by the FBI for holding classified information on her private email server at home when she served as secretary of state under the Obama administration. Then-FBI Director James Comey said publicly that Clinton mishandled classified information, but declined to recommend prosecution.
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.