Trump Revives Obama Russiagate Accusations Following Gabbard Claims

Former President Donald Trump has renewed allegations against Barack Obama following claims by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard that the Obama administration politicized intelligence regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Gabbard presented declassified documents she says prove Obama’s team fabricated intelligence to undermine Trump’s victory. She called it a deliberate effort to “usurp the will of the American people.” Trump echoed her accusations, labeling the actions “treason” and calling for accountability.

Obama’s office dismissed the claims as “outrageous” and insisted the evidence does not contradict long-standing findings by bipartisan Senate committees and the intelligence community that Russia sought to influence, but did not alter, the 2016 election.

Gabbard has referred her findings to the Justice Department, whose investigators have yet to corroborate her allegations against Obama.

 

Trump Impeached by House, Faces Trial in Senate

President Donald Trump this month became the third president in US history to be impeached, with a majority of the House of Representatives voting to impeach him on two charges, one for abuse of power regarding his phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the request to investigate Hunter Biden, and one for obstruction of Congress for not providing documents from the White House in the course of the inquiry.

 The vote was near party line, with nearly all Democrats voting for both charges and no Republicans voting for either. Independent Justin Amash of Michigan, who broke from the Republican Party earlier this year after he came out in favor of impeachment even before the Ukrainian issue came forth, voted to impeach on both counts. Notably, Democratic presidential contender Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii voted “present” on both counts, saying she favored censure of the president rather than impeachment. Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey voted against both impeachment charges as a Democrat before switching to the Republican Party days later.

While impeachment articles are usually quickly sent to the Senate to begin the trial phase (two thirds of the Senate must vote to convict the president to remove him, an unlikely scenario given the chamber’s Republican majority), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has withheld sending them over, claiming concerns that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will not conduct a fair trial but seek to have Trump exonerated quickly with as little political damage as possible. McConnell has said  he is working with the White House during the process, something that has been opposed by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), a leading moderate and potential swing vote.