Trump Baselessly Accuses Obama Of ‘Treason’
US President Donald Trump accused former President Barack Obama of “treason” without evidence on Monday, again attempting to recast an investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign’s ties to Russia as an effort by Obama to spy on him.
In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Trump levied specific charges against his predecessor for the first time. There is no evidence that the Obama White House was involved in an FBI investigation into Trump aides’ ties to Russia during the 2016 campaign, which later grew into special counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry.
“Treason. It’s treason,” Trump told CBN’s David Brody. “Look, when I came out a long time ago, I said they’ve been spying on my campaign, I said they’ve been taping...”
“Turns out I was right,” the president continued. “Let’s see what happens to them now.”
EXCLUSIVE: President Trump on what crime President Obama would have been potentially committing regarding the previous administration spying on his campaign: "Treason. It’s treason." Watch the explosive clip from my White House interview with @realDonaldTrump@POTUS@WhiteHousepic.twitter.com/IFui3fNigS
— David Brody (@DavidBrodyCBN) June 22, 2020
Trump said later in the CBN interview that if similar crimes had been committed “100 years ago, or 50 years ago, they would have been executed.”
“We’re in a different time. You understand what I mean by that. They spied on the opposing party’s campaign, and we caught them,” he said. “I just hope I get tremendous evangelical Christian support.”
An independent report by the Justice Department found that, at the end of last year, the FBI’s initial investigation was opened properly and was acted upon without political bias, undercutting the Trump administration’s claims that it was a conspiracy. The report did find that the probe was rushed and had errors in how the agency handled some documents.
