Trump Lashes Out At Obama Again Over Russian Election Meddling
- 7 years ago
President Trump took aim at former President Obama in a tweet on Friday.
President Trump took aim at former President Obama in a tweet on Friday.
He said, "Just out: The Obama Administration knew far in advance of November 8th about election meddling by Russia. Did nothing about it. WHY?"
While Trump didn't cite the source for his assertion, several recent reports have focused on the time when the Obama administration became increasingly aware of Russia's attempts to interfere in the presidential election.
The Washington Post notes, last August, a highly secretive envelope was sent by the CIA to the White House and it described Russia's efforts to meddle in the U.S. election process.
Furthermore, according to the Post, "the intelligence captured (Vladimir) Putin’s specific instructions on the operation’s audacious objectives — defeat or at least damage the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, and help elect her opponent, Donald Trump."
Trump's comments may also have been triggered by the Wednesday testimony of Jeh Johnson, the secretary of homeland security during the Obama administration.
He revealed that the administration was aware of the hacking prior to the election, but opted to share little information about it with the public at the time.
Johnson explained, “We were very concerned that we not be perceived as taking sides in the election, injecting ourselves into a very heated campaign or taking steps to delegitimize the election process and undermine the integrity of the election process.”
Trump slammed the Obama administration in his tweets on Thursday as well.
He wrote, “By the way, if Russia was working so hard on the 2016 Election, it all took place during the Obama Admin. Why didn't they stop them?”
That tweet was followed by, “...Why did Democratic National Committee turn down the DHS offer to protect against hacks (long prior to election). It's all a big Dem HOAX!” and, “...Why did the DNC REFUSE to turn over its Server to the FBI, and still hasn't? It's all a big Dem scam and excuse for losing the election!”
President Trump took aim at former President Obama in a tweet on Friday.
He said, "Just out: The Obama Administration knew far in advance of November 8th about election meddling by Russia. Did nothing about it. WHY?"
While Trump didn't cite the source for his assertion, several recent reports have focused on the time when the Obama administration became increasingly aware of Russia's attempts to interfere in the presidential election.
The Washington Post notes, last August, a highly secretive envelope was sent by the CIA to the White House and it described Russia's efforts to meddle in the U.S. election process.
Furthermore, according to the Post, "the intelligence captured (Vladimir) Putin’s specific instructions on the operation’s audacious objectives — defeat or at least damage the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, and help elect her opponent, Donald Trump."
Trump's comments may also have been triggered by the Wednesday testimony of Jeh Johnson, the secretary of homeland security during the Obama administration.
He revealed that the administration was aware of the hacking prior to the election, but opted to share little information about it with the public at the time.
Johnson explained, “We were very concerned that we not be perceived as taking sides in the election, injecting ourselves into a very heated campaign or taking steps to delegitimize the election process and undermine the integrity of the election process.”
Trump slammed the Obama administration in his tweets on Thursday as well.
He wrote, “By the way, if Russia was working so hard on the 2016 Election, it all took place during the Obama Admin. Why didn't they stop them?”
That tweet was followed by, “...Why did Democratic National Committee turn down the DHS offer to protect against hacks (long prior to election). It's all a big Dem HOAX!” and, “...Why did the DNC REFUSE to turn over its Server to the FBI, and still hasn't? It's all a big Dem scam and excuse for losing the election!”