Trending 
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused Barack Obama, his predecessor, of committing “treason” and called for his prosecution following a report suggesting that officials in Obama’s administration manipulated data regarding Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard has submitted criminal referrals to the Justice Department concerning a report released on Friday, which alleged that Obama officials were involved in a “treasonous conspiracy.”
Gabbard claimed that Obama and his administration fabricated intelligence about Russian election interference to “set the stage for what was effectively years-long coup against President Trump.”
Her findings contradict evidence gathered from four different criminal, counterintelligence, and oversight investigations conducted between 2019 and 2023, all of which determined that Russia did indeed intervene in favour of Trump during the 2016 election.
During an Oval Office press conference with visiting Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos, Trump was asked whom the Justice Department should focus on regarding the report.
“Based on what I read — and I read pretty much what you read — it would be President Obama. He started it,” said Trump, who was criticised on Monday for sharing an AI-generated video of Obama being arrested.
Trump also identified Obama’s former vice president, Joe Biden, former FBI director James Comey, former DNI director James Clapper, and former CIA director John Brennan as being part of a conspiracy.
However, he claimed that Obama was the “leader of the gang,” accusing him of treasonous actions.
Trump has often claimed that the various investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election and his campaign’s involvement are a “hoax.”
A bipartisan report by the Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-acting chairman Marco Rubio, who is now Trump’s secretary of state, revealed in 2020 that the Trump campaign attempted to “maximize the impact” of leaks of Democratic documents acquired by Russian military intelligence.
The intention behind the hack was to support Trump and undermine the Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, in the 2016 election.
