By Molly Claire Goddard
10:23am PDT, Jul 24, 2025
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Kaitlan Collins put
Tulsi Gabbard in the hot seat. During a White House press
briefing, the CNN anchor pressed the Director of National Intelligence about whether or not she was trying to stay in
Donald Trump's good graces by accusing
Barack Obama and other officials of "manufacturing intelligence" to suggest Russia attempted to intervene in the 2016 election.
Keep reading to learn about the tense exchange between the left-leaning journalist and the prominent Republican…MORE:
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During the press briefing, Kaitlan Collins questioned Tulsi Gabbard about her intention in going after Barack Obama and if it had anything to do with pleasing Donald Trump. "You referenced the past intelligence reports and assessments on this, including that 2017 one that was signed off by every Republican on the Senate Intelligence Community including the acting chair of the time: now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said in a statement that they did not find any evidence of Russian collusion, but what they did find, however, is very troubling — they found irrefutable evidence of Russia meddling," the left-wing journalist said. "Secondly, what would you say to people who believe that you're only releasing these documents now to improve your standing with the president after he said that your intelligence assessments were wrong?"
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Tulsi Gabbard tried to reframe Kaitlan Collins' question about why she was accusing Barack Obama of lying about alleged Russia interference in the 2016 election. "I want to correct something that you stated, which was citing the Senate Intelligence Committee's report as being one and the same," the former United States representative said. "I think you said the intelligence community. The Senate Intelligence Committee has a very different function than the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The evidence and the intelligence that has been declassified and released is irrefutable."
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Donald Trump's White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt chimed in on Kaitlan Collins' question for Tulsi Gabbard, asking who was "saying that [Gabbard] would release this to try to boost her standing with the president?" Replied Collins, "Well, the president has publicly undermined her when it came to Iran. … He said she was wrong. He told me that she didn't know what she was talking about. That was on Air Force One, on camera." Leavitt spat back, "I am with the President of the United States every day. He has the utmost confidence in Director Gabbard. He always has. He continues to, and that is true of his entire cabinet, who is all working as one team to deliver on the promises this president made."
