Tensions exploded Thursday on Fox News’ “The Five” as a fiery debate broke out between panel members Kellyanne Conway, Jesse Watters and Jessica Tarlov over newly released declassified documents related to the 2016 Russia-Trump investigation.
The documents, released by Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard, revisit the claims that then-presidential candidate Donald Trump colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election.
Gabbard announced the release earlier this week, including a 44-page report that evaluates prior intelligence assessments made during the final months of the Obama administration and early in Trump’s first term.
Gabbard’s release also included a memo alleging that the Obama-era intelligence community deliberately withheld a joint press release from the FBI and NSA.
That press release, issued just weeks before the 2016 election, expressed only “low confidence” in Russia’s involvement in high-profile data leaks that year.
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and the Department of Homeland Security were responsible for suppressing the release, according to the memo.
During a segment on “The Five,” co-host Jesse Watters raised the issue with Democratic strategist Jessica Tarlov, asking whether she had read the full report released by Gabbard.
Tarlov admitted she had not read “all 200 pages.”
Watters