ISTANBUL

The US Director of National Intelligence has called for the prosecution of former President Barack Obama and former senior US national security officials, accusing them of engaging in a “treasonous conspiracy” aimed at portraying President Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory as the result of Russian interference.

Obama and his national security officials laid "the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup against" against Trump following his 2016 win over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by allegedly fabricating intelligence to imply that Russia had sought to interfere in the election, Tulsi Gabbard said in a statement on Friday.

"The information we are releasing today clearly shows there was a treasonous conspiracy in 2016 committed by officials at the highest level of our governmen," Gabbard said.

"Their goal was to subvert the will of the American people and enact what was essentially a years-long coup with the objective of trying to usurp the President from fulfilling the mandate bestowed upon him by the American people,” she stated.

"No matter how powerful, every person involved in this conspiracy must be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, to ensure nothing like this ever happens again."

"The American people’s faith and trust in our democratic republic and therefore the future of our nation depends on it," Gabbard said, adding that she was submitting documents to the Justice Department to support her case.

She claimed that several high-ranking Obama-era officials took part in a December 2016 National Security Council meeting at the White House.

After the meeting, the executive assistant to Jame Clapper, then-director of national intelligence, sent an email to intelligence community leaders tasking them with creating a new assessment “per the President’s request” that details the “tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election," said Gabbard.

Obama-era officials reportedly provided misleading information to media outlets such as The Washington Post, alleging that Russia had used cyber tactics to interfere with or influence the outcome of the election, Gabbard claimed.

Agencies including the CIA, FBI, NSA, and the Department of Homeland Security were directed to produce a new assessment, culminating in a controversial intelligence community report released on Jan. 6, 2017, Gabbard claimed, adding that this report conflicted with earlier conclusions and relied, in part, on sources that are "deemed as not credible."