President Trump has called for Barack Obama to be prosecuted over a conspiracy to undermine America's democracy.
Trump's demand comes after the release of new documents exposing Obama's role in shaping the "Russian collusion" investigation that dominated much of Trump's first term.
“He’s guilty … This was treason, this was every word you could think of. They tried to steal the election. They tried to obfuscate the election," Trump said during a White House meeting Tuesday.
Intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard has accused Obama of weaponizing intelligence analysis in a "treasonous conspiracy" to discredit Trump's stunning win over Hillary Clinton, a close ally of Obama who served as his Secretary of State.
Newly released documents show that Obama ordered the intelligence community to develop a new assessment of Russian interference in the 2016 election that ultimately cast doubt on the legitimacy of Trump's shocking victory. The intelligence agencies' final assessment propelled a years-long investigation into Trump-Russia ties that came up empty.
The FBI started investigating Trump's campaign in July 2016, a shocking intervention by federal law enforcement into domestic politics that was guided by rumors and innuendo contained in a notorious dossier procured by the Clinton camp.
Gabbard's report noted that intelligence analysis before Obama's intervention did not find substantive Russian meddling with election infrastructure. After a White House meeting on December 9, 2016, the intelligence community was directed to form a new assessment "per the President’s request” on "tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election.”
The intelligence community's final assessment in January 2017 found that Vladimir Putin actively boosted Trump against Clinton. The report focused largely on the role of Russian information operations, including internet bots and hacks of the Democratic party.
“It’s criminal at the highest level. It would be President Obama, he started it," Trump said. "And [Joe] Biden was there with him, and [then-FBI Director James] Comey was there, and [then-Director of National Intelligence] James] Clapper — the whole group was there, and [then-CIA Director John] Brennan.”
Gabbard has sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department over the alleged Obama-led conspiracy to subvert Trump's first administration.
It was not until more than halfway through Trump's first term that he received vindication from Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who deflated Democrats' hopes with the finding that Trump did not collude with Russia, although Mueller took the unusual step of refusing to exonerate Trump for obstruction.
While Trump was preoccupied with fighting for his political survival during his first term, Trump has remarked that he feels liberated to pursue his agenda without distraction since January, and he's not holding back from getting even with his foes either.
“After what they did to me, whether it’s right or wrong, it’s time to go after people. Obama has been caught directly,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
“If you look at those papers, they have them stone cold, and it was President Obama… the leader of the gang was President Obama, Barack Hussein Obama. Have you heard of him?”
