'Weak attempt at distraction': Obama offers rare rebuke on Trump's ‘treason' claims; Democrats call it Epstein diversion

Time of India

7 hours ago

Former President
Barack Obama
's office issued a rare public response to President
Donald Trump
's accusations of "treason" and election manipulation in 2016 and 2020.
"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," said Obama spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush, as quoted by NBC News.
This comes as Trump was questioned about Jeffrey Epstein but redirected the conversation alleging "criminality" by Obama. Trump stated that Obama had been directly implicated and claimed the actions in 2016 and 2020 were criminal at the highest level.
Read more:
Trump slams ex-US president; dodges Epstein question
Trump's assertions stemmed from claims by National Intelligence Director
Tulsi Gabbard
and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who suggested Obama administration officials had manipulated intelligence and undermined Trump's 2016 electoral victory.
Gabbard initiated a criminal referral to the Justice Department on Friday. At a subsequent meeting with congressional Republicans, Trump continued his criticism of Obama and others, calling them "vicious, horrible people."
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Rodenbush countered that the administration was misrepresenting information. He noted that recent documents did not contradict the established conclusion about Russian influence in the 2016 election, as confirmed by the 2020 bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report under then-Chairman Marco Rubio.
"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.
These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio," Rodenbush further said.
The controversy extends to various interpretations of a December 8, 2016, intelligence assessment regarding Russian cyber activities. Representative Gabbard alleges that documents demonstrate Russia did not seek to interfere in the 2016 election to benefit Donald Trump, contradicting multiple investigations that indicated otherwise.
'On December 8 2016, IC officials prepared an assessment for the President's Daily Brief, finding that Russia 'did not impact recent U.S. election results' by conducting cyber attacks on infrastructure. Before it could reach the President, it was abruptly pulled 'based on new guidance.' This key intelligence assessment was never published,' Gabbard wrote in a post.
The Obama administration did not assert that Russian cyberattacks affected the election results.
'I can assure the public that there was not the kind of tampering with the voting process that was of concern … the votes that were cast were counted — they were counted appropriately,' President Obama said from the White House, days after receiving the December 2016 brief referred to by Gabbard.
The Obama White House stated that Russia attempted to interfere in the campaign by leaking hacked documents and utilising bots and troll farms to disseminate misinformation about the election—a finding later supported by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation and a Senate report.
Meanwhile, Democratic officials characterised these developments as diversionary tactics. House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar suggested the focus on these matters was intended to deflect attention from the Epstein case.
Recent activities include Trump's social media posts targeting political opponents and the Justice Department's release of files concerning Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, alongside information about James Comey's investigation of Hillary Clinton's handling of classified information.