Former President Barack Obama issued a rare public statement Tuesday night, rejecting what he called President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cbizarre allegations\u201d that Obama orchestrated the Trump\u2013Russia collusion probe. The statement came after Trump publicly demanded a criminal investigation into Obama, citing newly declassified documents released by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. These documents allegedly point to Obama-era officials manipulating intelligence to justify the investigation.<\/p>\n
Trump claimed that Obama acted as the \u201cringleader\u201d in a coordinated effort to fabricate the collusion narrative. In response, Obama spokesman Patrick Rodenbush dismissed the claims as \u201coutrageous,\u201d calling them a \u201cweak attempt at distraction.\u201d He emphasized that the allegations were baseless and unworthy of a serious response but warranted rebuttal due to their severity and public attention.<\/p>\n
Rodenbush cited bipartisan findings, including a 2020 Senate Intelligence Committee report led by Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, which concluded that Russia attempted to interfere in the 2016 election. However, the report also noted that no votes were altered or manipulated. This, Rodenbush argued, affirmed the legitimacy of concerns over Russian interference, despite Trump\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n
The newly declassified documents allege that top Obama-era officials\u2014among them Obama, Joe Biden, John Brennan, James Clapper, and Susan Rice\u2014\u201cmanufactured and politicized\u201d intelligence reports. Gabbard said this manipulation was aimed at launching and sustaining the Trump\u2013Russia investigation. She has since submitted a criminal referral to the Department of Justice based on the findings.<\/p>\n
During a meeting on Tuesday, Trump reiterated his accusations, blaming Obama directly and linking the Steele dossier, funded by the Clinton campaign and DNC, to the origins of the investigation. He called the dossier \u201cfabricated\u201d and \u201cfraudulent,\u201d insisting it was the foundation for a politically motivated attack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former President Barack Obama issued a rare public statement Tuesday night, rejecting what he called President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cbizarre allegations\u201d that Obama orchestrated the Trump\u2013Russia collusion probe…. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n