Former President Barack Obama has hit back at Donald Trump’s claim that he engaged in a conspiracy to subvert the 2016 election, branding the allegations a weak attempt to distract from the Epstein files.
In a rare statement, Obama’s office issued a stinging rebuke saying the claim was both ridiculous and bizarre.
“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,” said the statement from Obama’s spokesman, Patrick Rodenbush.
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“The bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction. 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.”
The claim that Obama engaged in a “treasonous conspiracy” to rig Trump’s 2016 election victory emerged over the weekend when Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified emails that she said showed Obama officials had engaged in a “years-long coup” against Trump.
According to Gabbard, officials tried to bury intelligence in the final weeks of the Obama administration and then manufacture an alternative assessment of a Russian influence campaign on American voters.
“Their goal was to usurp President Trump and subvert the will of the American people,” Gabbard wrote on social media. “No matter how powerful, every person involved in this conspiracy must be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Trump, who has claimed for years that the investigation into Russian interference was a “hoax”, embraced the findings, and even posted an AI-generated video of Obama being arrested in the Oval Office.
On Tuesday, during a bilateral meeting with Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., he also launched a lengthy tirade pushing the claims, while taking aim at others too, including 2016 rival Hillary Clinton, former FBI Director James Comey, former CIA Director James Clapper, and former President Joe Biden.
“The witch hunt you should be talking about is they caught President Obama absolutely cold,” Trump told reporters.
“They tried to rig the election, and they got caught. And there should be very severe consequences for that.”
But Democrats agree with Obama that the issue is an attempt to distract from the political firestorm surrounding child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, which has fractured Trump’s MAGA base and caused an ongoing headache for the White House.
Trump came to office promising to release the criminal files on the Epstein case, but then insisted last week that it was a Democratic hoax.
The president was forced to pivot again on Thursday night after the Wall Street Journal published a report claiming Trump gave Epstein a saucy birthday greeting in 2003, featuring a drawing of a naked woman with his name mimicking pubic hair.
Trump, who vehemently denies the note was his, is now suing the Wall Street Journal but has asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to “produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval.”
The Department of Justice has also sought a meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s accomplice and former girlfriend, hoping she may spill further secrets.
But the president remains deeply frustrated that so much attention remains on the Epstein files.
“We had the Greatest Six Months of any President in the History of our Country, and all the Fake News wants to talk about is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax!” he posted on Tuesday.
