President Donald Trump escalated his longstanding criticism of former President Barack Obama on Tuesday, leveling unprecedented accusations of “treason” regarding the origins of the Russia probe into Trump’s 2016 campaign. According to Trump, Obama and senior officials orchestrated a covert effort designed to falsely link him with Russia; an allegation which Trump claims constitutes “an attempted coup against my presidency”. [sources: Reuters/DW/Reuters | 19 Jul 2025 / 145870893425 (Reuters/DW)
Trump made these striking statements while deflecting inquiries regarding newly unsealed Jeffrey Epstein-related documents, portraying it as part of an overall conspiracy driven by what he termed “the other witch hunt.” According to Trump, declassified materials from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard support claims of treasonous conspiracies and urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to initiate legal proceedings against Obama and others (Deutsche Welle +4 Politico +4 New York Post).
“He’s guilty,” Trump asserted, suggesting the investigation was orchestrated to “steal” his election. AP News, Reuters and Deutsche Welle also all have stories on this.
Trump accused several key Obama-era figures – Joe Biden, James Comey, James Clapper and John Brennan among them – of participating in what he alleges as an organized campaign to undercut his electoral legitimacy, according to El Pais and New York Post reports.
Trump’s attack against Obama marked an intense escalation of rhetoric since returning to office in January, accusing the president of orchestrating a coup attempt and calling for criminal accountability; now his public accusations of treason mark a new level of confrontationalitat New York Post +10 (Reuters +10) (Nyp +10)
Democratic and bipartisan authorities quickly rejected these claims as bizarre and ridiculous; Obama’s spokesperson described them as being meant to divert attention away from Epstein files and wider scandals, according to The Washington Post and New York Post (Reuters+3 and New York Post +3)
They maintained that there is no evidence to indicate vote manipulation or conspiracy by the Obama administration.
The intelligence assessment that initiated the Russia investigation underwent several bipartisan and bipartisan-vetted reviews – most notably, the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment, 2019 Mueller Report, and an eight-volume Senate Intelligence Committee Report released in August 2020. All these analyses found extensive interference from Russian agents aimed at aiding Donald Trump’s campaign; however, no evidence was found for a systematic plan by Moscow to alter vote counts, although various allegations regarding vote fraud surfaced during these reviews (Wikipedia +1, Reuters +1).
Trump allies such as DNI Gabbard often tout recently released documents as evidence of Obama administration malfeasance; however, both CIA’s review conducted earlier this month and Senate report both confirmed core intelligence findings but distinguished between interference tactics and any attempt at altering vote counts (Reuters).
Legal experts caution that politically motivated prosecutions could deepen divisions and diminish public trust, with any move to prosecute a former president being met by numerous legal and procedural hurdles; many see such allegations as part of an overall rhetorical strategy rather than founded in actual facts.
At present, Trump is under increasing pressure from his conservative base to release Epstein-related records and use them as leverage against Obama in order to shift public attention away from himself and towards perceived enemies while deflecting potential investigations of his conduct.
Gabbard’s release of declassified documents and the Oval Office attack underscore how the Russia probe remains an issue in American politics, capable of being used by politicians for partisan gain and reflecting divisions over how history should be remembered and weaponized against future leaders.