Obama Denies ‘Bizarre’ Trump Claims Of 2016 Election Hoax

Former President Barack Obama rejected on Tuesday what his office deemed to be “bizarre allegations” that he and his team sought to gin up intelligence to create a narrative of Russian interference to assist President Donald Trump in the 2016 election.

The public statement from Obama comes after the Department of Justice reportedly confirmed receipt of a criminal referral from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard regarding the intelligence assessment released in early 2017 that claimed Moscow sought to help defeat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and boost Trump in their face-off years ago.

“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. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction,” said Obama spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush.

Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe have accused Obama-era national security leaders of manipulating intelligence to undermine Trump in his first term. Trump himself has called for “severe consequences” for those involved.

“Barack Hussein Obama is the ringleader,” Trump said. “Hillary Clinton was right there with him, and so was Sleepy Joe Biden, and so were the rest of them — [former FBI Director Jim] Comey, [former Director of National Intelligence James] Clapper, the whole group. They tried to rig an election, and then they got caught.”

Rodenbush denied that the document, ostensibly the one released by Gabbard, contradicted the findings of the Russia-focused intelligence assessment. He went on to mention the results of an inquiry completed under the supervision of now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio when he was a GOP senator.

“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,” Rodenbush said. “These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio.”

John Brennan, who served as CIA director under Obama and is someone accused by name of manipulating intelligence, also shot back at the claims made by Gabbard and Ratcliffe.

“The specious allegations that both she and Ratcliffe are making, based on the things that they’re putting out, really are quite concerning and quite dangerous,” Brennan said this week on MSNBC.