Media Tries to Undermine Claim Obama Faked Russia Collusion

PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEF (PDB) — Obama admin’s ‘treasonous conspiracy’ in Trump-Russia probe referred to DOJ by Tulsi Gabbard.

On Friday, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard made public more than 100 pages of records showing efforts by Obama national security officials to bury benign intelligence in the final weeks of the 44th president’s administration — and whip up an alternative assessment of the “boldest yet” Russian influence campaign on the American electorate.

“Their goal was to usurp President Trump and subvert the will of the American people,” Gabbard said in a Friday X post. “No matter how powerful, every person involved in this conspiracy must be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The integrity of our democratic republic depends on it.”

But the media is already trying to undermine Gabbard’s findings. Public record contradicts Russia-gate ‘conspiracy’ accusations. The head of U.S. intelligence may have made misleading claims about what Obama-administration officials said about Russian meddling in the 2016 election, while accusing them of a “conspiracy” to “politicize” intelligence.

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here’s a roundup of today’s other top defense stories ending the week from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.

Not the President’s Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEFING – the PDB:    

NATIONAL SECURITY

Could modular manufacturing solve U.S. weapons stockpile woes? U.S. is facing a reckoning with its ability to build enough weapons to fight a well-stocked, peer adversary while also modernizing its arsenal. The problem can’t be tackled without a major shift in how weapons are developed and manufactured.

Flying boats and AI-run factories pitched at ‘Reindustrialize’ event. It’s a boat! It’s a plane! It’s an electric vehicle! It’s… all three? And it could be used in military missions. 

Why it’s time for the U.S. to go on offense in cyberspace.

HOMELAND SECURITY

Air Force and SkyWest Airlines are trying to learn more about a July 18 incident in which a North Dakota-based B-52 Stratofortress may have had a near miss with a passenger plane. 

DOD ordered 700 Marines to leave Los Angeles, more than a month after President Trump deployed them to the city against the objections of local leaders. 

More than two dozen Afghans who assisted the U.S. military during 20 years of war and were stranded in the UAE while awaiting stateside resettlement now have Trump backing their bid. 

Federal judge in Massachusetts has issued a stay to prevent the government from deporting or moving an Afghan immigrant and former interpreter for the U.S. military detained during a routine visit to an immigration office. 

DEFENSE POLITICS

Defense Secretary Hegseth has announced a review into how officers will be promoted and selected for command to be led by former Marine Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller, who was punished after he criticized senior military leaders for the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal. 

Hegseth’s SECDEF tenure has seen a series of high-profile staff departures, leaving him without a chief of staff and other key advisers. 

Trump will allow one of Hegseth’s top advisers to sidestep legal requirements and retire from the Marines at the Colonel rank he held briefly, setting aside suspicions about the aide’s loyalties raised in conservative media. 

US POWER OVERSEAS

USS Gerald R. Ford now operating in the Mediterranean on a regularly scheduled deployment to U.S. European Command area of responsibility. The last few East Coast-based carrier strike groups deployed to the region before transiting the Suez and into the Red Sea under U.S. Central Command. 

These are the approximate positions of the Navy’s deployed carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups throughout the world as of July 21, 2025.

Marines rehearse remote airfield seizures during massive drills. U.S. Marines and Australian soldiers pushed deep into the Australian Outback to practice seizing remote airstrips, part of preparations for war across the vast Indo-Pacific. 

Air Force is testing a key ‘agile combat’ warfighting concept this month as part of its largest contingency response exercise in the Indo-Pacific, deploying more than 400 aircraft and 12,000 personnel to more than 50 locations across 3,000 miles. 

USAF pilots fly Australian F-35 in Pacific first during the large-scale Talisman Sabre exercise last week. 

IRAN THREAT/MIDDLE EAST

Trump, if you pull this off, you deserve a Nobel prize. I didn’t want Trump to be president. But once he was elected, I wondered if his impulse to smash convention could actually do some good in the Middle East. 

Israeli tanks rolled into a part of central Gaza that has not previously seen ground operations in the 21-month war.

Hamas is facing its worst financial and administrative crisis in its four-decade history, facing stiff challenges in mustering the resources it would need to continue to fight Israel and rule Gaza. 

Iran tested one of its satellite- (or warhead) carrying rockets with a suborbital flight, the first such test since a ceasefire was reached after a 12-day war waged by Israel and a U.S. strike on its nuclear-related facilities. 

U.S. envoy doubles down on support for Syria’s government and criticizes Israel’s intervention, saying there is “no Plan B” to working with it to unite the country. 

CHINA THREAT

Chinese intelligence officers tracked a Commerce Department employee this spring, when he was in southwest China where he has family members, at one point interrogating him about his prior service in the Army.

Satellite imagery of preparations for a major upcoming military parade in China shows that new “loyal wingman” type drones, or at least mockups of them, are set to be revealed. 

RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR

Army deep dive into Russian tactics in Ukraine says ‘global conflict’ with West will persist. The U.S. Army in Europe published a 357-page chronicle of Russian fighting in Ukraine intended to help commanders understand how the Kremlin wages war. 

Days after Trump shifted his tone on Ukraine, Secretary Hegseth participated in a meeting of the roughly 50 nations supporting the embattled country. This, after skipping the last session.

First tranche of donated second-hand Australian M1A1 AIM Abrams main battle tanks reached Ukrainian soil last week.

Expansion of Russia’s production of Shahed-type drones is likely to keep growing, with goal of being able to deploy 2,000 drones in a single strike. 

Ukraine ups domestic arms production, asking allies to pay for it.

Belgium will buy more F-35s, a third frigate and spend billions of euros on air defense as part of an updated strategic plan, seeking to fix capability gaps after decades of being one of NATO’s lowest spenders on defense. 

Why NATO is betting big on the F-35.

NORTH KOREA THREAT

South Korean soldiers who refused to obey unlawful orders during former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law attempt last year could receive early promotions.

SPACE THREAT

Space Force conducted a wargame to test how commercial space companies, and their satellites could augment military capabilities during orbital crises, part of a larger effort to create a space-age equivalent of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet. 

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

Air Force challenge coin provides us with our best indication so far that the U.S. has brought nuclear bombs back to the UK after nearly two decades.

Meanwhile, UK to purchase nuclear-carrying fighter jets.

US MILITARY

Marine Corps recently refined how MV-22B Ospreys can support anti-submarine warfare during an exercise alongside Dutch forces off the East Coast. 

Army video touting grenade dropping drone meant to laud the service’s work on fielding small armed drones instead highlights just how much it and the rest of the U.S. military continue to lag. 

Drones turning tanks into bonfires might make great YouTube content, but the real story of armored warfare’s future is going to be much different than you might think. 

END of PDB