Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on 13 August released a set of previously classified emails showing that former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper pressed senior officials to accelerate preparation of the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment on Russian election interference, even if it meant relaxing standard vetting procedures. In a 22 December 2016 message to CIA, FBI and NSA leaders, Clapper wrote that the report’s schedule was "not negotiable" and that the agencies might have to "compromise on our normal modalities," insisting the product be unanimous because "this is one project that has to be a team sport." Hours earlier, NSA Director Adm. Michael Rogers had warned in a separate email that his analysts had not had enough time or access to underlying intelligence to be "absolutely confident" in their judgments and threatened to withdraw the NSA’s co-author status unless the process changed. Gabbard said the documents reinforce concerns that the assessment was politicized to meet a deadline set by President Barack Obama. Current Justice Department officials have indicated they plan to present the matter to a grand jury as part of a wider probe into whether senior intelligence figures misrepresented evidence about Russian activities during the 2016 campaign. Clapper has not publicly responded to the newly disclosed correspondence.