Former President Barack Obama’s office has responded to new accusations from former President Donald Trump. Trump claimed that Obama and his team committed “treason” by inventing intelligence reports about Russian interference in the 2016 election. Critics say these accusations are an attempt to distract from recent controversy involving the Jeffrey Epstein files.
While meeting with the president of the Philippines in the Oval Office, Trump called Obama “the leader of the gang” in what he described as a plot to undermine his presidency and affect the 2020 election. He also accused Hillary Clinton, former FBI Director James Comey, and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper of being part of it. Despite his repeated use of the word “treason,” no formal charges have been made, and the legal definition of treason in the U.S. is very narrow — it requires either waging war against the country or helping its enemies, proven by confession or testimony from two witnesses.
Trump’s comments came after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released a report that questioned some of the Obama administration’s earlier assessments about Russia’s actions in 2016. The report pointed to internal emails suggesting intelligence officials didn’t believe Russia had directly hacked voting systems to change votes. However, the Obama administration had never claimed that votes were changed — they focused on other ways Russia interfered, such as hacking Democratic emails and working with WikiLeaks.
Obama’s spokesperson, Patrick Rodenbush, dismissed Trump’s statements as “bizarre” and “a weak attempt at distraction.” He said nothing in Gabbard’s report changed the widely accepted finding that Russia tried to influence the 2016 election but didn’t change any votes. That conclusion, he noted, was confirmed in 2020 by a bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee led by Republican Marco Rubio.
House Speaker Mike Johnson sided with Trump, saying that Obama and others had been part of a “scheme” and lied to the public. Gabbard also supported Trump’s framing, accusing Obama and his allies in Congress of using “the art of deflection.”
