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After reports that top officials from the Obama administration allegedly orchestrated a coordinated attempt to sabotage President Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory, GOP lawmakers are calling for transparency and accountability, while their Democratic colleagues are questioning the timing and credibility of the new claims.
Trump’s director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, released a trove of intelligence documents beginning last week that Gabbard has said show former President Barack Obama and some of his closest advisors promoted a “contrived narrative” that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to sabotage Trump.
However, Democrats have insisted that congressional investigations already prove that Russia did help Trump in the 2016 election, while also questioning the timing of the allegations due to pressure on Trump to release more Epstein files.
“It is profoundly dishonest, and it’s dangerous,” Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told Fox News Digital, in reference to the allegations from Gabbard. “What I have urged the administration to do is engage in radical transparency, make it all public and expose just how much the Obama administration knew what they were doing – that they knew they were lying. I think anybody that violated the law needs to be held accountable.”
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But Democratic California Sen. Adam Schiff told Fox News Digital he thinks the allegations are moot, pointing to former FBI Director Robert Mueller’s 2019 report, which he said “documented Russia’s efforts to help denigrate Hillary Clinton, which gave a boost to the Trump campaign.
“I think what Gabbard and her staff are doing is dishonest,” he added.
However, Republican Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford argued it has “long been established” that the Steele dossier was “clearly a Clinton plant” and that the Clinton campaign was actually “cooperating with the Russians to be able to actually use the Russians to be able to interfere with President Trump’s campaign.”
“What Tulsi Gabbard is pulling out is to say, ‘How deep did this go into the White House that they knew about the Steele Dossier, they knew it was a Clinton document. When did they start pushing this out, and what official resources were they using to try to add validity to this to be able to undercut the election?'” Lankford said.
“We got a long way to go still, but it’s good to be able to get all information out, to be able to pull it out there and to say, ‘Let’s let everybody look at it and let the chips fall where they may.'”
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Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said he believed Gabbard was doing the right thing, also expressing hope for extreme transparency amid the alarming allegations.
“Part of what this election was about, it was about transparency and government accountability. And that’s exactly what [Gabbard] is trying to do, and that’s exactly what the Trump administration is trying to do,” Scott said. “Let’s get the people the facts. Let’s follow where the facts are. If somebody’s done anything, we’ll hold them accountable. So, i think the right process is what’s happening.”
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., a former CIA analyst, questioned the timing of Gabbard’s release of the information, saying even her 10-year-old nephew understood the move as “a dodge and a distraction” to get eyes off the ongoing Epstein controversy. Amid Gabbard’s document release at the beginning of last week, Trump has been facing calls from within the GOP for the release of more documents and information pertaining to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
“President Trump had four years in his first term, and all the time since then, to go after this issue, and he picks the same day that his name appears in the Epstein files to talk about Barack Obama,” Slotkin told Fox News Digital. “American people are not dumb. Like, we get it. Trump wanted to talk about something different. I have to see these reports, and see how they’re sourced. … I like to read and make my own assessment. But the timing can’t be missed. The president is trying to dodge and distract you.”
While partisan affiliation may play a part in how lawmakers and the broader public view the Obama allegations released by Gabbard, Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., said he thinks the issue “transcends” party affiliation.
“Republican, Democrat, I mean, you know, this is something that transcends all that. This is really important,” Boozman told Fox News Digital. “Hopefully we’ll have open transparency so people will understand what’s going on. And whatever it is, I’m sure Congress will be involved, and certainly the Justice Department is involved. So, I think these are all good things.”
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