Nicolle: Tulsi Gabbard is 'trying to throw a political lifeline' to Trump with election conspiracies

Political Commentary & Analysis - The report analyzes Tulsi Gabbard's statements, characterizing them as a political lifeline to Donald Trump and a baseless conspiracy theory regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election [1] - The report highlights the contradiction between Gabbard's claims and the conclusions of multiple investigations, including the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Justice Department, which found evidence of Russian interference [2][5][7] - The report emphasizes that Gabbard's statements lack factual support and serve as a distraction from other issues [7][12] - The report suggests that Trump's continued focus on the 2016 election is driven by a desire to deflect attention from his own legal troubles and avoid being the only president with a mug shot [14][15] Factual Disputes & Evidence - The report cites John Durham's $7.5 million investigation, which concluded that Russian interference, including hacking and releasing information, was helpful to the Trump campaign [5][6] - The report quotes Marco Rubio, stating that investigations found Moscow's intent was to harm the Clinton campaign, help the Trump campaign, and undermine the US democratic process [7] - The report clarifies that while there's consensus that Russia didn't directly manipulate votes in 2016, they did hack and release Democratic emails and spread disinformation to help Trump [11] Implications & Concerns - The report expresses concern about the politicization of national intelligence and the potential for misleading the public [9][10] - The report suggests that some believe certain narratives are being pushed because people are considered gullible enough to believe them without factual support [12]