WASHINGTON, August 14. /TASS/. Director of US National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard posted copies of declassified emails from former Intelligence Community (IC) chiefs which reveal that the story that Russia meddled in the 2016 election in the United States was all a lie.

"Newly declassified Top Secret emails sent on December 22, 2016 complying with [former] President [Barack] Obama's order to create the manufactured January 2017 ICA (Intelligence Community Assessment - TASS) about Russia expose how [then-] DNI James Clapper demanded the IC fall in line behind the Russia Hoax," she wrote on X.

In a letter to then-Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Brennan, then-Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey, and then-Director of the National Security Agency Michael Rogers, Clapper required "compromise on our 'normal modalities'" and pushed the intel chiefs to rush the ICA about Russia.

US President Donald Trump has previously repeatedly referred to a July 18 report by the Gabbard office. According to it, following Trump’s win in the 2016 election, the Obama administration fabricated intelligence alleging Russia’s interference in the election process. This was done to try and deprive Trump of the presidency, Gabbard insisted.

While months before the election the US intelligence community unanimously assessed that Russia had neither intention nor capability to meddle in the voting process, in December 2016, or soon after Trump’s victory, the Obama administration ordered another report overturning the previous assessment. The key intelligence that Russia had not influenced the outcome of the election was withheld and classified, Gabbard explained.

In 2016, US intelligence agencies accused Russia of interfering in the American electoral process. Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller investigated these alleged attempts at influence. In 2019, the Justice Department released its final report, in which the special prosecutor admitted that he had not revealed collusion between Russia and Trump. Trump has repeatedly denied suspicions of any improper contacts with Russian officials. Moscow also called the allegations about its attempts to influence the course of the US elections groundless.