U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday launched a fresh attack on his predecessor, Barack Obama, accusing him of “treason” and calling for his prosecution over an unverified report alleging that Obama-era officials manipulated intelligence on Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Trump made the remarks during a press briefing in the Oval Office while receiving visiting Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. He pointed to a report released last week by Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who alleged a “treasonous conspiracy” by officials in Obama’s administration.
“Based on what I read — and I read pretty much what you read — it would be President Obama. He started it,” Trump said.
The president also named Joe Biden, who served as Obama’s Vice President, as well as former FBI Director James Comey, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and former CIA Director John Brennan as part of the alleged conspiracy. He accused Obama of being the “leader of the gang.”
Trump’s claims, however, run counter to the findings of four major investigations conducted between 2019 and 2023, including reports from U.S. intelligence agencies, the Justice Department, and a bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee probe. All confirmed that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump and damage Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
A 2020 report led by Republican Senator Marco Rubio, now Secretary of State in Trump’s second administration, concluded that the Trump campaign actively sought to exploit Russian hacks and leaks of Democratic documents to its advantage.
“The Russian intelligence services’ assault on the integrity of the 2016 U.S. electoral process, and Trump and his associates’ participation in and enabling of this Russian activity, represents one of the single most
