Trump Still Says Russian Interference is ‘Fake News’
President Donald Trump is back to throwing his top administration officials under the bus. Wednesday morning Trump attacked his favorite target, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, for not investigating his other favorite target: former President Barack Obama.
In a tweet misspelling Jeff Sessions’ name, Trump asks why Obama wasn’t being investigated if Russia did interfere in the U.S. election, and why didn’t Obama do anything about it. As recently as Tuesday Trump was calling Russian interference in the election that landed him in the White House “fake news.” Last week’s DOJ indictment of 16 Russian nationals and companies proves otherwise.
“Question: If all of the Russian meddling took place during the Obama Administration, right up to January 20th, why aren’t they the subject of the investigation? Why didn’t Obama do something about the meddling? Why aren’t Dem crimes under investigation? Ask Jeff Session!” Trump tweeted.
Sessions is recused from all things Russia, so asking him why he’s not investigating President Obama or his administration for Russia doesn’t make sense. Nor does tossing around unsubstantiated charges of Democratic “crimes.”
In fact, President Obama did “do something about the meddling.” He asked Republican leaders to join him in issuing a bipartisan message to the American people apprising them of Russia’s interference. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused, and warned President Obama of repercussions if he told American citizens, warning him he would accuse him of using it as a tool to help select Hillary Clinton.
Obama imposed strict sanctions on Russia, including forcing dozens of Russian diplomats to leave the U.S., and shutting down two Russian compounds in the U.S., at least one of which was used in massive spying operations.