Trump: Obama Invited Foreign Government Influence in 2016 Election
Trump accuses former president of requesting foreign influence
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President Donald Trump claimed former President Barack Obama solicited the aid of foreign governments in an effort to affect the outcome of the presidential election in 2016.
The transcript released on Wednesday by the White House detailed the phone call in which Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to look into allegations that Joe Biden and his son Hunter engaged in political corruption.
Trump answered questions about the phone call at a news conference at the United Nations on Wednesday afternoon.
“Can you explain to the American people why it is appropriate for an American president to ask a foreign leader for information about a political rival?” a reporter asked.
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The reporter asked how Trump would have reacted if he had discovered that Obama ha requested information about him as a presidential contender.
“Well, that’s what he did, isn’t it, really when you think about it,” Trump answered.
“Look, that whole witch hunt was started, and hopefully that will all come out.”
Trump seemed to be referring to actions that Obama took against him involving foreign actors.
Many conservative pundits have raised the questions of what Obama knew regarding the FBI investigation labeled “Crossfire Hurricane” - which was launched against the Trump campaign in 2016.
Last month Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham told Sean Hannity on Fox News he was open to putting former President Barack Obama under oath as part of an investigation into possible White House involvement in the Russia investigation.
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The infamous dossier, compiled by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele, was reportedly used by Obama to obtain warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court targeting Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
The FBI's inquiry began because campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, “made a startling revelation to Australia’s top diplomat in Britain,” Alexander Downer, that Russia had political dirt on presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, according to The New York Times.
The Times added that officials passed along the information supposedly obtained from Papadopoulos to their American counterparts two months later.
“I believe that that article was an example of a disinformation operation against the American public,” Papadopoulos told The Western Journal.
“So, here’s just the reality of this situation,” Papadopoulos said.
“No foreign governments, let alone European governments, which are usually allied governments, are going to be weaponizing intel assets of their own governments to go after Americans unless the U.S. government is prodding them to or instructing them to [take that action].”
Trump asserted that those who targeted his campaign “have hurt this country very badly.”
“No other president should have to go through what I have gone through,” he said.
