Obama’s Office Issues Rare Rebuke of Trump’s ‘Outrageous’ Claims of Treason

In a rare statement, a spokesperson for former President Barack Obama criticized President Donald Trump for claiming that his predecessor committed “treason,” calling the accusations a “weak attempt at distraction.”

“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,” spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush said in a statement shared with NOTUS.

Trump said Tuesday that Obama is “guilty” of attempting to rig the election against him in 2016 and that the Justice Department should look into prosecuting him. The comments come just days after Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s director of national intelligence, declassified documents that she claims prove the Obama administration suppressed evidence that showed Russia did not interfere in the 2016 election.

Trump said that Gabbard has “thousands” more pages of documents incriminating Obama and his top officials.

“The leader of the gang was President Obama, Barack Hussein Obama,” Trump said at the White House on Tuesday, referring to what he says was an effort to rig the 2016 election against him.

“They tried to rig the election, and they got caught, and there should be very severe consequences for that,” Trump said.

Rodenbush called the allegations an attempt to deflect attention from Trump’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein, a saga that has dragged on for more than two weeks.

“The bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction,” he continued. “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.”

The president didn’t elaborate on what consequences could be leveled against Obama. An administration official told NOTUS they could not comment further on any investigation or inquiry, saying that’s up to the Justice Department and Congress. But they said they expect the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to release more documents “soon.”

Trump is clearly eager to put focus on Obama.

On Monday, a TikTok was reshared on Trump’s Truth Social depicting Obama being arrested to the tune of “YMCA.”

The intelligence documents Gabbard already released show the communications and findings of Obama administration DHS, DNI, FBI and White House officials as they attempted to assess Russia’s level and methods of involvement in the 2016 presidential election, when Trump was elected to office for the first time.

Many of the officials named in the documents, including former DNI James Clapper, former Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, former FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan are the renewed subject of Trump’s ire.

“This is the biggest scandal in the history of our country, and it really goes on to even the autopen, because it all relates to the same thing,” Trump said. “It all started with the same sick minds.”

The administration has also revived questions about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified documents. In a statement, Attorney General Pam Bondi said she would honor Sen. Chuck Grassley’s request to release more information about Comey’s investigation into Clinton. The administration is also continuing to probe former Biden administration officials over President Joe Biden’s use of the autopen to sign executive orders, pardons and other documents.

“Whether it’s right or wrong, it’s time to go after people,” Trump said Tuesday.