United States President Donald Trump today accused former US President Barack Obama of "treason", accusing him, without providing evidence, of leading efforts to falsely link him to Russia and undermine his 2016 presidential campaign, Reuters reports.
Although Trump has often attacked Obama by name, the Republican president has not gone this far in directly accusing his Democratic predecessor of alleged crimes since returning to office in January.
Obama's office also said today that a document released last week by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) does not call into question the conclusion that Russia attempted to influence the 2016 US presidential election, but failed to manipulate the votes.
"Nothing in the document released last week calls into question the widely accepted conclusion that Russia attempted to influence the 2016 presidential election, but was unsuccessful in manipulating the vote," Obama's office said in a statement, Reuters reported.
Regarding Trump's accusations, Obama's office said: "These bizarre accusations are ridiculous and a weak attempt to divert attention."
Speaking in the Oval Office today, Trump used statements made by his intelligence director, Tulsi Gabbard, on Friday, when she threatened to refer Obama administration officials to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution over the assessment of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Gabbard declassified the documents and stated that the information she was releasing showed the existence of a "treasonous conspiracy" dating back to 2016 by top Obama administration officials to undermine Trump.
"It's all there, he's guilty. This was treason. They tried to steal the election, they tried to tamper with the election. They did things that no one would even imagine, even in other countries," Trump said today.
A 2017 U.S. intelligence assessment concluded that Russia sought to damage Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign and help Trump by using social media disinformation, hacking, and bots. The assessment said the actual impact was likely limited and there was no evidence that Russia's efforts altered the outcome of the election.
A 2020 bipartisan report by the Senate Intelligence Committee found that Russia used Republican political operative Paul Manafort, the website WikiLeaks, and others to influence the 2016 election in favor of the Trump campaign.
Trump under pressure
Trump has often called those estimates a "hoax." In recent days, on his Truth Social network, he posted a fake video showing Obama being handcuffed in the Oval Office.
Trump is trying to shift his focus to other topics as he is under pressure from his conservative base to release more information about Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Supporters of conspiracy theories regarding Epstein are calling on Trump, who hung out with him during the 1990s and early 2000s, to release investigative files related to the case, according to Reuters.
When asked in the Oval Office about Epstein, Trump quickly moved on to attacking Obama and Clinton.
"The real scam you should be talking about is that they caught President Obama red-handed. What they did to this country, starting in 2016, all the way up to 2020 and the election - they tried to set them up, and they got caught, and there should be very serious consequences for that," Trump said.
Trump has hinted that steps will be taken against Obama and his former officials, calling the Russia investigation an act of treason and accusing the former president of trying to "carry out a coup."
"It's time to take action. After what they did to me, whether it was right or wrong, it's time to go after the people. Obama was caught head-on," Trump said.
Democrats responded to Gabbard's statements on Friday, calling her accusations false and politically motivated.
Democratic Congressman Jim Hymes responded to Trump's accusations by posting on the X network: "This is a lie. And if he's confused, the president should ask Secretary of State Rubio, who helped lead a bipartisan Senate investigation that unanimously concluded there was no evidence of politicization of the intelligence community's work around the 2016 election."
Former Republican Senator Marco Rubio is now Trump's Secretary of State.
Obama has long been a target of Trump's attacks. Back in 2011, Trump accused then-President Obama of not being born in the United States, prompting Obama to release a copy of his birth certificate.
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