President Donald Trump on Tuesday called for the Department of Justice to prosecute former President Barack Obama, alleging that he orchestrated an intelligence assessment suggesting Russian interference in the 2016 election was intended to help Trump win.
“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.
The comments came while he hosted Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
Trump’s Sovereign Wealth Fund: What Could It Mean For Your Money?
Trump asserted that Obama, 63, who served as president from 2009 to 2017, was the key figure behind the 2016 intelligence assessment, saying, “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?”
“It’s criminal at the highest level. It would be President Obama, he started it. 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,” Trump continued.
He added: “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.”
The renewed call for prosecution comes after current Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard submitted a criminal referral to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday, alleging that Obama may have broken the law by ordering an intelligence report intended to undermine the legitimacy of Trump’s 2016 election victory.
This Could Be the Most Important Video Gun Owners Watch All Year
Gabbard released an email indicating that Obama directed the creation of a post-election intelligence assessment, which concluded that Russia interfered in the election to help Trump defeat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
That assessment later fueled widespread speculation and investigations into alleged collusion between Trump and Russia.
According to documents included with Gabbard’s referral, Clapper’s assistant emailed intelligence leaders following a December 9, 2016 White House meeting.
The message stated that, “per the President’s request,” the agencies were assigned to report on “tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election.”
President Trump spent much of his first term under investigation by the FBI and Congress over whether his campaign coordinated with Russia.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s two-year investigation ultimately found no evidence of a criminal conspiracy between Trump and the Russian government.
“Look, he’s guilty. It’s not a question,” Trump said of Obama.
“This is like proof, irrefutable proof that Obama was seditious, that Obama led, was trying to lead a coup — and it was with Hillary Clinton, with all these other people, but Obama headed it up,” he added. “This was treason. This was every word you can think of.”
While discussing the matter in front of Marcos, Trump remarked, “This man has seen some pretty rough countries, but you’ve never seen anything like it.”
President Marcos’ father, Ferdinand Marcos Sr., ruled the Philippines from 1965 to 1986.
Trump also addressed ongoing interest in the case of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
He commented as reporters asked questions about co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently being sought by the Justice Department for an interview following Attorney General Bondi’s recent move to limit further public disclosures in the case.
“You ought to take a look at that and stop talking about nonsense,” Trump said.
Trump further claimed that Gabbard is preparing to release more documentation. “From what Tulsi told me, she’s got thousands of additional documents coming. So President Obama, it was his concept, his idea, but he also got it from crooked Hillary Clinton — crooked as a $3 bill,” Trump said.
“Hillary Clinton and her group, the Democrats, spent $12 million to [ex-MI6 spy] Christopher Steele to write up a report that was a total fake report. Took two years to figure that out, but it came out that it was a total fake report. It was made up fiction, and they used that.”
“Probably the only thing I respect about the press in years,” Trump said, “is the press refused to write it before the election.”
He also noted that he was “very happy” to have declined to pursue charges against Clinton during his first term for allegedly mishandling classified information, but suggested that approach would change.
“We caught Hillary Clinton. We caught Barack Hussein Obama. They’re the ones, and then you have many, many people under them, [former national security adviser] Susan Rice, they’re all there. The names are all there. And I guess they figured they’re going to put this in ‘classified information’ and nobody will ever see it again. But it doesn’t work that way,” he said.
“Obama is the ringleader. Hillary Clinton was right there with him, and so was sleepy Joe Biden, and so were the rest of them. Comey, Clapper, the whole group, and they tried to rig an election, and they got caught.”
WATCH:
Read the full article here