The Donald Trump administration has identified former President Barack Obama as the mastermind behind the 'Russia Gate' and has mentioned the possibility of an investigation into him. This is an attempt to shift the focus amid allegations that Trump is connected to the child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein case.
On the 23rd (local time), Tulsi Gabbard, the Director General of the U.S. intelligence community, attended a White House spokesperson media briefing and claimed that the Obama administration manipulated information suggesting that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, which Trump won.
Gabbard mentioned information supporting her claim, saying, "We will hand all this material over to the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to investigate whether it constitutes a crime," adding that "the evidence we discovered and made public points to Obama (former) president leading the evaluation of information related to Russia's interference in the U.S. election."
When asked, "Do you believe former President Obama committed treason?" he replied, "I leave all criminal prosecutions to the Department of Justice," and added that the manipulation of information related to Russia Gate is both a "coup" and, "a conspiracy of treason against the American people and the republic, an attempt to weaken the Trump administration."
Earlier the day before, President Trump also mentioned Obama unexpectedly during a press conference after a summit with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., when questions related to Epstein arose, saying, "The witch hunt continues. Obama led a coup. This is treason and now is the time to pursue them."
'Russia Gate' refers to the allegation that during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to induce Russia's interference in the U.S. election. During Trump's first term, a Senate committee and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) concluded that Russia had the 'intent' to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.