President Donald Trump went on a Monday morning Twitter rant claiming former President Barack Obama “colluded or obstructed” by not acting quicker on Russia’s meddling with the election because of the prevailing belief that Hillary Clinton would win.
Trump continues to tweet about Russian attacks on the 2016 presidential election—something he has repeatedly said he doesn’t think occurred, despite the unanimous conclusion by intelligence officials—echoing the sentiments he had during an interview with Fox & Friends last week where he criticized Obama’s handling of Russian interference.
“The reason that President Obama did NOTHING about Russia after being notified by the CIA of meddling is that he expected Clinton would win,” Trump tweeted, following it with: “…and did not want to “rock the boat.” He didn’t “choke,” he colluded or obstructed, and it did the Dems and Crooked Hillary no good.”
The reason that President Obama did NOTHING about Russia after being notified by the CIA of meddling is that he expected Clinton would win..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2017
…and did not want to “rock the boat.” He didn’t “choke,” he colluded or obstructed, and it did the Dems and Crooked Hillary no good.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2017
He continued on ten minutes later, demanding an apology for the investigation into his administration.
The real story is that President Obama did NOTHING after being informed in August about Russian meddling. With 4 months looking at Russia…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2017
..under a magnifying glass, they have zero “tapes” of T people colluding. There is no collusion & no obstruction. I should be given apology!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2017
Trump presumably is referring to a Washington Post report from late last week that detailed the challenges the Obama administration had in responding to reports of Russia interfering with the election.
The tweets come as Trump continues to be at the center of an ongoing investigation by both houses of Congress and law enforcement into whether Russia meddled in the election, colluded with members of his presidential campaign, and if he obstructed justice in an attempt to squash an FBI investigation into Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
As the investigation continues to grow, it appears that Russia is pulling its U.S. ambassador Sergey Kislyak from his post, according to BuzzFeed News. Kislyak’s meetings with Jared Kushner, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Flynn have been a focus of the investigation.
Meanwhile, it’s not true that the Obama administration did “nothing” about reports of Russian interference in the campaign. Obama imposed sanctions on Russia and took away diplomatic compounds that housed Russian officials in the United States.
All of Obama’s public responses to Russia came after the election was over.
Trump’s stance on whether or not Russia interfered in the campaign seems to shift when it may benefit him. Trump has called the idea of Russia messing with the election a “hoax” concocted by Democrats last week, but now seems to think it did happen, and he has used it as a cudgel to bash Obama and Clinton.
