By April Ryan
Black Press USA Washington, DC Bureau Chief and White House Correspondent
A packed White House briefing room of reporters heard the Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard lay out her claim against former President Barack Obama and his top officials.
Gabbard alleged that the nation’s first Black president worked to subvert a Trump 2016 presidential win with claims that Russia negatively impacted that presidential election, almost 10 years ago.
Even though Donald Trump defeated his opponent Hillary Clinton, Gabbard told reporters that Obama and his national intelligence officials “knowingly lied” in their 2017 intelligence assessment of Russian election collusion.
During Gabbard’s speech to the press, familiar names were dropped on the mic like Hillary Clinton, who Gabbard alleged was on “tranquilizers daily.”
During the briefing, several warnings were issued from the podium over this latest Trump administration controversy. Gabbard, wearing all white before the press, concluded her statement by saying, “The implications of this are far-reaching and have to do with the integrity of our democratic republic.”
President Obama refuted the allegations this week through a press representative, calling it “ridiculous.”
“Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response,” Obama spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush said. “But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.”
The administration has been making varied attempts to draw attention away from calls to release the files of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and speculation that Trump may be named in those documents.
The accusations against America’s only Black president has acted as a dogwhistle to Trump’s base, who raised him to prominence on a tide of anti-Obama sentiment.
Since Gabbard’s July 18 post about the Obama administration’s alleged “treasonous conspiracy,” social media calls for the former president’s imprisonment or execution have surged exponentially, according to a report by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE).
However, Gabbard says, the allegations “has to do with an outgoing president, taking action to manufacture intelligence to undermine” Donald Trump.
White House press Secretary Karoline Leavitt weighed in several times during Gabbard’s question and answer period with the White House press. The 27-year-old Leavitt said, “While publicly pretending to engage in a peaceful transfer of power, in private, former President Obama went to great and nefarious lengths to…sabotage his successor President Trump.”
Leavitt went as far as to chastise the press, particularly those who won awards for reporting on the Obama Russian intelligence report. Speaking for the administration, Leavitt said those winning journalists must be “stripped” of their awards.
And when asked if the Obama report released by the DNI on July 18 was to help heal Gabbard’s relationship with President Trump, Leavitt said, “The only people who are suggesting that the director of national intelligence would release evidence to try to boost her standing with the president are the people in this room who constantly try to sow distrust and chaos amongst the president’s cabinet, and it is not working.”
Leavitt said, “He [President Trump] has the utmost confidence in Director Gabbard. He always has.” That statement stems from the recent rift with Gabbard and President Trump when Gabbard disagreed with the intelligence that Trump received in the lead-up to the U.S. military strikes against Iran.
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