Tulsi Gabbard Asked: Why Weren't 'Russiagate' Documents Declassified During Trump's First Term?

Forbes Breaking News

At a press briefing on Wednesday, DNI Tulsi Gabbard was asked why the "Russiagate" documents weren't declassified during President Trump's first term.

Transcript

00:00Thanks, Director Gabbard. You declassify these documents, if I'm not mistaken, Friday of last week, correct?

00:06We released them on Friday of last week, the first tranche, yes.

00:09This isn't the first time that President Trump has been President of the United States.

00:14He was President from 2017 to 2021.

00:18Couldn't the prior DNI under President Trump have declassified these documents?

00:23And why didn't that DNI do that at that time?

00:26I can't speak to what happened there. There were several DNIs under the first Trump administration.

00:32President Trump faced many challenges from those who were working in the government who sought to undermine his presidency.

00:40That's been clearly detailed.

00:42What I can speak to is the fact that this was one of the first things that we started to investigate here within this Trump administration

00:51and have released the results upon the conclusion of our investigation.

00:55And then my second question has to do with what intelligence agencies around the world have said about Russia,

01:02that they have tried to influence elections in the United States, in France, in Germany, in the U.K.

01:10Do you disagree with that?

01:11Do you believe that Russia is a bad actor as it relates to trying to influence elections?

01:16I'll point back to the intelligence that President Trump has ordered declassified, that we have declassified and released,

01:24that the intelligence reflects Russia's motives were to try to sow discord and chaos within the U.S. election,

01:34which is a clear distinction from showing a preference for or against a specific candidate,

01:40which is what the Obama-manufactured intelligence document alleges,

01:45that Russia preferred Donald Trump and tried to help Donald Trump get elected.

01:50Again, going back to the most important point here,

01:52with the intent to undermine the legitimacy of President Trump's election

01:57and therefore subvert the will of the American people who chose to send him to the White House.

02:02Reagan.

02:02Thanks, Karlyn.

02:03Thanks, Karlyn.

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