Trump rehashes years-old grievances on Russia investigation after new intelligence report

WASHINGTON AP President Donald Trump rehashed longstanding grievances over the Russia analysis that shadowed much of his first term lashing out Tuesday following a new assessment from his intelligence director aimed at casting doubt on long-established findings about Moscow s interference in the vote It s time to go after people Trump stated from the Oval Office as he repeated a baseless claim that former President Barack Obama and other representatives had engaged in treason Trump was not making his asserts for the first time but he delivered them when administration authorities are harnessing the machinery of the federal administration to investigate the targets of Trump s derision including key authorities responsible for scrutinizing Russia s attempts to intervene on Trump s behalf in The backward-looking inquiries are taking place even as the Republican administration s national assurance agencies are confronting global threats But they have served as a rallying cry for Trump who is trying to unify a political base at odds over the Jeffrey Epstein development with certain allies pressing to disclose more information despite the president s push to turn the page Trump s attack prompted a rare response from Obama s post-presidential office Our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response revealed Patrick Rodenbush an Obama spokesman But these proposes are outrageous enough to merit one These bizarre statements are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction Gabbard s new description on the Russia examination Trump s tirade a detour from his official business as he hosted the leader of the Philippines unfolded against the backdrop of a new account from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard that represented his administration s latest attempt to rewrite the history of the Russia review which has infuriated him for years The analysis circulated Friday downplayed the extent of Russian interference in the polling by highlighting Obama administration emails showing executives had concluded before and after the presidential race that Moscow had not hacked state vote systems to manipulate votes in Trump s favor But Obama s Democratic administration never suggested otherwise even as it exposed other means by which Russia interfered in the electoral contest including through a massive hack-and-leak operation of Democratic emails by intelligence operatives working with WikiLeaks as well as a covert influence campaign aimed at swaying population opinion and sowing discord through fake social media posts Gabbard s record appears to suggest the absence of manipulation of state vote systems is a basis to call into question more general Russian interference By issuing it she appeared to recover her standing in Trump s orbit which just one month ago had seemed uncertain after Trump declared she was wrong when she previously reported she assumed Iran wasn t building a nuclear weapon She s the hottest one in the room right now Trump announced Tuesday night Tulsi great job and I know you have a lot more coming Democrats for their part swiftly decried the overview as factually flawed and politically motivated It is sadly not surprising that DNI Gabbard who promised to depoliticize the intelligence population is once again weaponizing her position to amplify the president s electoral contest conspiracy theories Sen Mark Warner the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee wrote on X Several investigations detected Russian interference in Russia s broad interference in has been established through a series of investigations including special counsel Robert Mueller s statement which concluded that the Trump campaign welcomed the Kremlin s help but also located insufficient evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy A House Intelligence Committee review also documented Russia s meddling as did the Senate Intelligence Committee which concluded its work in at a time when the panel was led by Republican Sen Marco Rubio who s now Trump s secretary of state A different special counsel appointed by the Trump Justice Department to hunt for problems in the origins of the Russia probe John Durham did find flaws but not related to what Gabbard sought to highlight in her overview Minimal episodes in our nation s history have been investigated as thoroughly as the Intelligence Group s warning in that Russia was interfering in the balloting revealed Rep Jim Himes the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee He added that every legitimate scrutiny including the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee probe detected no evidence of politicization and endorsed the findings of an intelligence committee assessment on Russian interference made constituents in Gabbard s document was issued weeks after a CIA record that reexamined that earlier intelligence neighborhood assessment That new review ordered by CIA Director John Ratcliffe did not dispute Russia had interfered but suggested representatives were rushed in the assessment they reached Trump administration is seeking investigations of former executives Ratcliffe has since referred former CIA Director John Brennan to the Justice Department for inspection a person familiar with the matter has stated The department earlier this month appeared to acknowledge an open examination into Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey in an exceptional report but the status and contours of the inquiries are unclear Besides Obama Trump on Tuesday rattled off a list of people he accused of acting criminally at the highest level including Comey his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton and former national intelligence director James Clapper He accused Obama without evidence of being the ringleader of a conspiracy to get him Obama has never been accused of any wrongdoing as part of the Russia inspection and in any event a landmark Supreme Court opinion from last year shields former presidents from prosecution for official acts conducted in office Trump launched his tirade when demanded about the Justice Department s effort to speak with Ghislaine Maxwell the former girlfriend of Epstein who was convicted of helping the financier sexually abuse underage girls I don t really follow that too much he reported It s sort of a witch hunt a continuation of the witch hunt Trump is under pressure from conspiracy-minded segments of his political base to release more about the Epstein affair Democrats say Trump is resisting because of his past association with Epstein Trump has denied knowledge of or involvement with Epstein s crimes and commented he ended their friendship years ago