Whistleblower Alleges Pressure from Obama-Era Intelligence Official on 2016 Election Assessment
Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, unveiled a whistleblower’s testimony on Wednesday that describes the coercive tactics an intelligence official from the Obama administration reportedly used to push a subordinate into endorsing an assessment that stated Russia intervened in the 2016 presidential election to benefit Donald Trump.
The whistleblower, a former senior intelligence analyst, asserted, “I was pressured to change my views,” as detailed in documents Gabbard referenced in her recent report, which accused Obama-era officials of a "treasonous conspiracy" aimed at undermining Trump’s 2016 electoral success.
The analyst, who participated in the 2016 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA), noted that the assessment determined “foreign adversaries did not engage in cyberattacks on election infrastructure to change the outcome of the US Presidential election.” The analyst recounted being asked for their approval to assist [redacted] in influencing the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) for the endorsement of a revised ICA.
The 2017 ICA relied on discredited information from the Steele dossier, claiming that Russia had orchestrated hacks of Democratic National Committee emails to aid Trump during the election.
In early January 2017, the analyst recalled a supervisor insisting, “There are reports you cannot access; if you did, you would agree.” When the analyst sought to review the new information behind the alternative assessment, the supervisor further probed, “Isn’t it conceivable that Putin has leverage over Trump for blackmail?” urging them to “trust me on this.”
When the whistleblower declined to endorse the revised assessment, the visibly agitated supervisor insisted, “I need you to concur with these conclusions so the DIA will accept them!”
The whistleblower later wrote, “I clearly remember this conversation, as it was a challenging situation and I chose my responses carefully.”
They recognized that their refusal to conform to the National Intelligence Office’s directive to misrepresent their views to the DIA reflected a conscious commitment to uphold the standards, principles, and ethics of the Intelligence Community.
Ultimately, the DIA did not join the CIA, FBI, and NSA in endorsing the 2017 ICA.
The documents revealed that the whistleblower made multiple attempts to voice concerns over the data utilized in the 2017 assessment to various officials, including the intelligence community’s inspector general, former Special Counsel John Durham, and Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.), but received no response.
In a statement, Gabbard praised the whistleblower for risking their personal safety to safeguard the integrity of the democratic process, ensuring that the public learned about how the Obama administration allegedly orchestrated an ICA that propagated inaccuracies claiming Russian involvement in Trump’s election.
Gabbard emphasized, “The Obama administration sought to invalidate the 2016 election’s outcome and President Trump’s administration, effectively executing a prolonged coup against both the president and the American populace.” She added, “Thanks to this brave individual and other whistleblowers, citizens are finally uncovering the severe ramifications of politicized intelligence.”
She concluded, “Truth and accountability are vital to prevent such occurrences in the future.”
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