Last month, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard put out a press release which detailed how former President Barack Obama and members of his administration spread false allegations that President Donald Trump colluded with Russia.

This week saw Gabbard drop the hammer by publishing an email exchange that sent Democrats scrambling. 

Intelligence agencies must "compromise on our 'normal' modalities"

As Just the News noted, the messages concerned then-DNI James Clapper and then-National Security Agency (NSA) Director Mike Rogers.

In one email, Rogers expressed concern that the NSA lacked "sufficient access" to information showing that Trump had colluded with the Russian government.

He stressed that his staff was not "fully comfortable saying that they have had enough time to review all the intelligence to be absolutely confident in their assessments."

Although Clapper acknowledged how such worries were reasonable, he stressed that intelligence agencies "compromise on our 'normal' modalities" since "more time is not negotiable."

Gabbard says Obama officials "spent years deceiving the American public"

For her part, Gabbard declared in a subsequent statement that "[t]he leading figures in the Russia Hoax have spent years deceiving the American public by presenting their manufactured and politicized assessments as credible intelligence."

Gabbard declassifies email between James Clapper and Mike Rogers regarding Russiagate https://t.co/OXgDUjD0s9

— Just the News (@JustTheNews) August 13, 2025

"The email released today reinforces what we already exposed: the decision to compromise standards and violate protocols in the creation of the 2017 manufactured intelligence assessment was deliberate and came from the very top," she continued

"Clapper’s own words confirm that complying with the order to manufacture intelligence was a 'team sport,'" the DNI pointed out.

Meanwhile, Gabbard's July press release observed that the "Intelligence Community (IC) consistently assessed that Russia is 'probably not trying … to influence the election by using cyber means.'"

DNI: "Obama officials leaked false statements to media outlets"

"On December 7, 2016, after the election, talking points were prepared for DNI James Clapper stating, 'Foreign adversaries did not use cyberattacks on election infrastructure to alter the US Presidential election outcome,'" it continued.

Despite this, Gabbard's earlier press release recalled how "[on]n December 9, 2016, President Obama’s White House gathered top National Security Council Principals for a meeting...to discuss Russia."

"After the meeting, DNI Clapper’s Executive Assistant sent an email to IC leaders tasking them with creating a new IC assessment 'per the President’s request' that details the 'tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election,'" it stated.

The press release went on to maintain that "Obama officials leaked false statements to media outlets, including The Washington Post, claiming, 'Russia has attempted through cyber means to interfere in, if not actively influence, the outcome of an election.'"