In a dramatic exchange, former President Donald Trump has accused Barack Obama of "treason," suggesting that he conspired to undermine Trump's presidency by linking him to alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election. During a press briefing at the White House, Trump declared, "They tried to steal the election" and claimed that Obama sought to derail his victory over Hillary Clinton.
Responding to Trump's accusations, a spokesperson for Obama labeled the remarks as a "weak attempt at distraction." Trump's comments were ignited by a report from the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, which suggested that Obama and his national security team orchestrated a "years-long coup" against him—an assertion that has drawn fierce criticism from Democrats who reject the claims as false.
As questions surfaced regarding the late Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019, Trump shifted the focus towards Obama. "It's time to go after people, Obama's been caught directly," he told reporters, boldly claiming, "He's guilty. This was treason. This was every word you can think of."
On the other side, Obama's spokesman, Patrick Rodenbush, stated, "Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response... These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction."
Friday’s report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence included declassified emails from Obama aides asserting that they suppressed intelligence about Russia's unfruitful hacking attempts against U.S. election infrastructure. A briefing prepared for Obama shortly after the 2016 election determined that while Russian and criminal actors were involved, they did not heavily influence the election's outcomes.
However, Gabbard claimed the emails indicated a "treasonous conspiracy" to harm Trump and even threatened to refer Obama administration officials for prosecution. Yet, Obama's spokesman reiterated that nothing in the report detracted from the widely accepted conclusion that Russia attempted to interfere in the election, albeit without altering the result.
In January 2017, the U.S. intelligence community released a comprehensive assessment declaring that Russia actively sought to weaken Clinton’s campaign while bolstering Trump's. This included tactics like deploying Russian bot farms on social media and hacking Democratic emails. Despite these findings, a bipartisan Senate report in 2020 concluded that although Russia tried to aid Trump's campaign, it ultimately did not change the election outcome.
Throughout Trump's presidency, he faced investigations regarding potential collusion with Russia to influence the election. The subsequent Mueller report found insufficient evidence of any conspiracy between Trump or his campaign with the Kremlin, and no charges were filed as a result. Later inquiries also criticized the original FBI investigation for lacking analytical rigor.
