Senate Republicans call on DOJ to appoint special counsel in Obama-Russia investigation

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Obama 'complicit up to his neck' in politicizing intel, but prosecution unlikely: Andy McCarthy

Fox News contributor Andy McCarthy on the chances of former President Barack Obama being prosecuted for the 'Russiagate' scandal and whether information released by DNI Tulsi Gabbard points to his involvement.

FIRST ON FOX: Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, are asking Attorney General Pam Bondi to appoint a special counsel to investigate newly declassified information about the Obama administration’s intelligence assessments about Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Graham and Cornyn’s call for a special counsel, which Fox News Digital learned they are announcing Thursday morning, comes the day after the Department of Justice (DOJ) created a "strike force" to investigate the evidence, which was declassified by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard this month.

Graham and Cornyn, both senior members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, did not address the strike force but indicated in a statement that special counsels, who are outside officials brought in to oversee politically sensitive cases, operate independently of the attorney general.

Fox News reached out to the DOJ for comment on the special counsel request.

DOJ FORMS RUSSIAGATE ‘STRIKE FORCE’ TO INVESTIGATE DECLASSIFIED OBAMA-ERA EVIDENCE

Sens. John Cornyn, left, and Lindsey Graham attend a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled "Special Counsels and the Separation of Powers," on Sept. 26, 2017. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

"As we have supported in the past, appointing an independent special counsel would do the country a tremendous service in this case," Graham and Cornyn said.

Gabbard’s declassified intelligence shed new light on the Obama administration’s determination that Russia sought to help President Donald Trump in the 2016 election. Gabbard alleged Wednesday during a press briefing that Obama and his intelligence officials promoted a "contrived narrative that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help President Trump win, selling it to the American people as though it were true. It wasn't."

Among the declassified material was information about how former President Barack Obama requested his deputies prepare an intelligence assessment in December 2016, after Trump had won the election, that detailed the "tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election," according to a meeting record. The intelligence assessment stressed that Russia's actions did not affect the outcome of the election but rather were intended to sow distrust in the democratic process.

Tulsi Gabbard has alleged that former President Barack Obama's administration promoted "a contrived narrative that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help President Trump win." ("IMO" with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson screenshot)

Gabbard alleged that the assessment overstated Russia's attempts to help Trump win. The assessment "laid the groundwork for a years-long coup intended to subvert President Trump’s entire presidency," Gabbard claimed.

Graham, who previously served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led the Senate's inquiry into the origins of the FBI's investigation into alleged Trump-Russia collusion, which dominated much of Trump's first presidential term.

Graham released a tranche of documents in 2020 suggesting the bureau had a flimsy basis for opening its investigation into Trump and those in his orbit, a finding that was later reinforced by special counsel John Durham's nearly four-year probe into the same matter.

RUSSIA SAT ON INTEL OF HILLARY CLINTON'S ALLEGED ‘HEAVY TRANQUILIZERS’ USE, NEW DOCS CLAIM

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard talks to reporters in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on July 23, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

"With every piece of information that gets released, it becomes more evident that the entire Russia collusion hoax was created by the Obama administration to subvert the will of the American people," Graham and Cornyn said.

Their remarks follow Trump accusing former President Barack Obama of "treason" this week and after the DOJ opened criminal investigations into former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey. 

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Critics say Gabbard's claims have been contradicted by past reviews by both Republican and Democratic lawmakers who had access to classified intelligence materials. Obama, meanwhile, issued a rare statement refuting the wave of headlines suggesting he attempted to tarnish Trump's election win.

"Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response," Obama spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush said. "But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction."