US President Donald Trump accused former President Barack Obama of “treason”, claiming that Mr. Obama was behind a plot to sabotage the 2016 presidential election.
On July 22, US President Donald Trump accused former President Barack Obama of committing “treason,” claiming that Mr. Obama led a campaign to falsely link Mr. Trump to Russia, according to Reuters news agency.
In remarks in the Oval Office, President Trump reiterated the view of US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard that the Obama administration manipulated intelligence information to fabricate accusations that Russia supported Mr. Trump in the 2016 election.
US President Donald Trump (left) and former US President Barack Obama. Photo: THE NEW YORK TIMES
Ms. Gabbard last week released more than 100 pages of emails, memos and internal communications related to the above allegations, and called for Mr. Obama’s criminal prosecution.
Gabbard said there were inconsistencies in intelligence assessments under Obama. Pre-election assessments concluded that Russia did not seek to interfere in the 2016 election, but post-election assessments concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin “wanted” to help Trump win.
“The evidence is there, he [Obama] is guilty. This is treason. They tried to manipulate, they tried to disrupt the election. They did things that nobody could have imagined,” Trump said.
Mr Trump has suggested that action will be taken against Mr Obama and former officials in his administration.
“It’s time to get started. After what they did to me, it’s time to get to the bottom of it. Obama was caught red-handed,” Trump noted.
A spokesman for Mr Obama dismissed Mr Trump’s accusations, saying “these outlandish allegations are ridiculous and a feeble attempt to deflect attention”.
“Nothing in the documents Ms. Gabbard released last week undermines the widely accepted conclusion of the international community that Russia sought to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, but did not manipulate any votes,” said Mr. Obama’s spokesman, Mr. Patrick Rodenbush.
Russia has not commented on the above information.
While Mr. Trump’s son raised questions, Mr. Barack Obama sent his best wishes and praised Mr. Biden’s efforts to fight cancer.
