By Muhammad Mamman
Former US President Donald Trump has accused his predecessor, Barack Obama, of committing “treason” and has called for his prosecution. The allegation follows the release of a controversial report which claims senior officials in the Obama administration manipulated intelligence relating to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
The report, published last Friday, alleges that officials under the Obama administration were involved in what it describes as a “treasonous conspiracy” to fabricate evidence of Russian meddling in order to undermine the Trump presidency. Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard, has since issued criminal referrals to the Department of Justice (DOJ) based on the report’s findings.
According to Gabbard, intelligence regarding Russian interference was deliberately altered or fabricated to create a false narrative, ultimately serving as the foundation for what she characterised as “a years-long coup attempt” against President Trump.
However, these claims contradict the conclusions of multiple independent investigations conducted between 2019 and 2023. These included criminal, counterintelligence, and oversight inquiries—none of which found evidence that the intelligence on Russian interference had been manipulated. All concluded that Russia had indeed interfered in the 2016 election with the intent of benefiting Trump’s campaign.
Trump’s latest remarks came during a media availability in the Oval Office, held alongside visiting Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. When asked who should be held accountable, Trump replied: “Based on what I read — and I read pretty much what you read — it would be President Obama. He started it.”
The former president also named other senior figures from the Obama era, including then-Vice President Joe Biden, former FBI Director James Comey, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and former CIA Director John Brennan, accusing them of being part of the alleged conspiracy. Trump described Obama as the “leader of the gang” and reiterated his belief that the former president was guilty of treason.
Trump has long dismissed investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election as politically motivated, frequently referring to them as a “hoax”.
However, a bipartisan report published in 2020 by the Senate Intelligence Committee—then chaired by Republican Senator Marco Rubio, now serving as Trump’s Secretary of State—reached markedly different conclusions. That report found that Russian military intelligence had stolen and leaked Democratic Party documents to damage Hillary Clinton’s campaign and benefit Trump’s. It also concluded that Trump’s campaign sought to capitalise on the leaks.
“Our conclusion is that the Russian intelligence services’ assault on the integrity of the 2016 US electoral process, and the Trump campaign’s participation in and enabling of this activity, represents one of the most significant counterintelligence threats to American national security in the modern era,” the committee’s report stated.
