White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt took down CNN’s White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins after the reporter tried to suggest the Director of National Intelligence declassified the report on the Russia collusion hoax to improve her standing with President Donald Trump.
During a White House Press Briefing on Tuesday, the DNI’s Tulsi Gabbard took to the podium to discuss the report, which she said confirms that former President Barack Obama and his national security team had direct involvement in the intelligence that led to the years-long nightmare of Russiagate during Trump’s first term in office.
I am so here for this throwdown between @DNIGabbard and @PressSec @KarolineLeavitt vs. CNN’s @KaitlanCollins pic.twitter.com/fH2YILPwQ0
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 23, 2025
READ MORE: Gabbard at WH: Reveals Obama Is Named in Criminal Referral, Says Evidence ‘Directly Points’ to Him
White House Destroys Legacy Media for Russian Collusion Hoax, Calls for Awards to Be Stripped
“What would you say to people who believe that you are only releasing these documents now to improve your standing with the president after he said that your intelligence assessment of [Iran’s nuclear capabilities, before the successful airstrike] were wrong?” Collins asked Gabbard.
The DNI’s initial reaction to the CNN reporter’s questions was telling as she looked away from the reporter with what appeared to be a clear look of disgust on her face at the mere suggestion.
Leavitt then took the microphone and proceeded to dismantle Collins piece by piece.
She pointed out that what was in the newly declassified information was something we didn’t have before, and that is the fact that the “intelligence community was concocting this narrative that the president colluded with the Russians.”
“That the president’s son was holding secret meetings with the Russians,” she added. “All of these lies that were never true.”
The press secretary then called out the CNN correspondent for her disgusting suggestion about the reason behind the release of the documents.
“Who is saying that? That she [Gabbard] would release this to try to boost her standings with the president. Who has said that?” Leavitt inquired.
When cornered, the CNN reporter said, “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.”
“The only people who are suggesting that the Director of National Intelligence would release evidence to try to boost her standing with the president are the people in this room,” Leavitt shot back. “Who consistently try to sow distrust and chaos among the President’s cabinet.”
EXPOSING RUSSIAGATE: Obama Finally Responds to Russiagate Accusations With Lame Statement, Calls Them ‘Bizarre’
The Receipts Have Dropped: Tulsi Gabbard Posts Russiagate Evidence Obama Had Been Fearing
“And it is not working,” she added. “I will just answer your question directly. 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.”
The fireworks between Leavitt and Collins weren’t the only ones on Wednesday during the briefing of the press. At one point, the White House press secretary excoriated members of the legacy media for their coverage of the Russia scandal.
🔥Karoline Leavitt TEARS INTO THE MEDIA for perpetuating the Russian collusion hoax:
“Reporters at legacy outlets…were ridiculously awarded Pulitzer prizes for their perpetuation of this hoax. It’s well past time for those awards to be stripped from the journalists that… pic.twitter.com/vVIX5tHxDG
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 23, 2025
“This is truly one of the greatest political scandals in American history,” Leavitt told the press. “And reporters at legacy outlets, some of which are sitting in this room today, like The New York Times and The Washington Post, were ridicuously awarded Pulitzer prizes for their perpetuation of this hoax.”
“It’s well past time for those awards to be stripped from the journalist who received them,” she added. “It is not journalism to propagate political disinformation in service of the Democrat Party and those in the intelligence community who hand over out-of-context and fake intelligence to push a false political narrative.”
The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie about President Trump, his administration, and conservatives.
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