President Donald Trump accused former President Barack Obama on Tuesday of committing “treason” after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released documents providing “new evidence” that the Obama administration engaged in a “treasonous conspiracy” to undermine Trump’s first term in office by falsely claiming Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election.
Asked by a reporter in the Oval Office on Tuesday who should be investigated regarding the allegations against the Obama administration, Trump said, “Well, based on what I read, and I read pretty much what you read, it would be President Obama. He started it, and Biden was there with him, and Comey was there, and Clapper, the whole group was there.”
“If you look at those papers, they have him, stone cold, and it was President Obama. It wasn’t lots of people all over the place,” Trump added. “It was them too, but the leader of the gang was President Obama, Barack Hussein Obama. Have you heard of him?”
Trump told the reporter that Obama is “guilty” and that the alleged actions of the officials under his administration amounted to “treason.”
“This was treason. This was every word you can think of,” Trump continued. “They tried to steal the election. They tried to obfuscate the election. They did things that nobody’s ever even imagined, even in other countries.”
Trump was also asked by a reporter regarding the Justice Department’s plan to interview Jeffrey Epstein’s former associate, Ghislaine Maxwell. After Trump described the interest in Epstein as a “continuation” of a “witch hunt,” the president said, “The witch hunt that you should be talking about is they caught President Obama, absolutely cold.”
READ MORE: Fmr. CIA, FBI directors under criminal investigation over Trump-Russia probe: Report
“It’s time to go after people. Obama’s been caught directly,” Trump added. “So people say, oh, you know, a group. It’s not a group. It’s Obama. His orders are on the paper. The papers are signed. The papers came right out of their office. They sent everything to be highly classified. Well, the highly classified’s been released, and what they did in 2016 and in 2020 is very criminal. It’s criminal at the highest level.”
In response to Trump’s claims, Patrick Rodenbush, an Obama spokesperson, released a statement obtained by NBC News, saying, “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. But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.”
“Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes,” the Obama spokesperson added. “These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio.”
