Image Source: Agencies

Aug 5, 2025: According to a source familiar with the situation, on Monday, allegations that members of Democratic former president Barack Obama's administration manufactured intelligence on Russia's interference in the 2016 elections have been directed to federal prosecutors by US Attorney General Pam Bondi to initiate a grand jury investigation.

Late last month, the Justice Department said it was forming a strike force to look into Tulsi Gabbard's claims about the "alleged weaponization of the US intelligence community." Donald Trump, the Republican president of the United States, has jumped on remarks made by Tulsi Gabbard in which she vowed to refer members of the Obama administration to the Justice Department for prosecution in connection with an intelligence assessment of Russian interference.

Fox News first reported that Bondi personally instructed an unidentified federal prosecutor to initiate legal proceedings. The prosecutor is expected to present evidence from the department to a grand jury, which may consider an indictment if the Justice Department pursued a criminal case. A source and Bondi's letter were cited in the report. A spokesperson for the DOJ declined to comment. Referring to the probe in a post on Truth Social, Trump said: “The TRUTH always wins out. This is great news.”

Trump made the accusation of treason against Obama last month, claiming, without providing any evidence, that the Democrat had led an effort to falsely link him to Russia and harm his 2016 campaign. Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton to win the 2016 election. Trump's claims had been criticized by an Obama spokesperson, who stated, "These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction." Gabbard had declassified documents and claimed that the information she released showed a 2016 "treasonous conspiracy" by high-ranking Obama officials to undermine Trump.

Democrats criticized Gabbard's claims as politically motivated and false. The US intelligence community came to the conclusion in a report released in January 2017 that Russia used social media disinformation, hacking, and Russian bot farms to harm Clinton's 2016 campaign and support Trump, who won.

The assessment found that the actual impact was probably small and that there was no evidence that Moscow's efforts actually changed the results of the elections. Russia has denied it attempted to interfere in US elections.