4t.Tulsi Gabbard, now serving as Director of National Intelligence, escalated her criticism of former President Barack Obama by releasing a document she claims challenges the widely accepted conclusion by Obama-era intelligence agencies that Russia favored Donald Trump in the 2016 election. Gabbard’s investigation into the original findings has drawn praise from Trump himself, who is currently under intense scrutiny over his handling of the Epstein files. Many see Trump’s renewed attacks on the Obama administration as a calculated attempt to shift attention and reframe the narrative.

The director of national intelligence intensified attacks on assessments about Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election.

Tulsi Gabbard, wearing a black suit and white top, walks among a group of people in a hallway. — Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, has contended that the intelligence work in 2016 was not only flawed but also amounted to a conspiracy against President Trump.Credit…Eric Lee for The New York Times

July 23, 2025Updated 8:57 p.m. ET

The Justice Department announced on Wednesday the formation of a task force to look into unsubstantiated allegations by President Trump that President Barack Obama and his aides ordered an investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign’s connections to Russia to destroy Mr. Trump.

The announcement, which came in an ambiguous, bare-bones statement on the department’s website, was a continuation of Mr. Trump’s campaign of retribution. It also represented yet another Trump pivot away from the political morass of the Jeffrey Epstein files in targeting Mr. Obama, whose presidency set off a wave of reactionary anger that helped propel Mr. Trump from a punchline to political dominance.

The move came hours after Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, ramped up her attacks on Mr. Obama, releasing a document that she said undermined the conclusion of his intelligence agencies that Russia favored the election of Mr. Trump in 2016.

Ms. Gabbard said that after Mr. Trump’s first election, Mr. Obama ordered an intelligence analysis that was subject to “unusual directives” from him. She criticized that assessment as using unclear or unknown sources.

Under questions from reporters, she said Obama administration officials had led to a “yearslong coup and treasonous conspiracy” against Mr. Trump.

Asked if she thought Mr. Obama was implicated in criminal behavior, Ms. Gabbard said she had referred documents to the F.B.I.

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Julian E. Barnes covers the U.S. intelligence agencies and international security matters for The Times. He has written about security issues for more than two decades.

Glenn Thrush covers the Department of Justice for The Times and has also written about gun violence, civil rights and conditions in the country’s jails and prisons.

A version of this article appears in print on July 24, 2025, Section A, Page 17 of the New York edition with the headline: Gabbard Releases Report On Obama Administration. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe