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Trump attacks Obama again, accusing him of committing 'treason'

Donald Trump and Barack Obama (File photo)

US President Donald Trump has once again attacked his predecessor Barrack Obama, this time accusing him of committing treason for spying on his campaign.

In an interview on Monday, Trump said Obama had committed treason in connection with the investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 American presidential election.

Trump repeated his assertion that the Obama administration had “spied” on his 2016 campaign. “Treason. Treason. It’s treason.”

“They’d been spying on my campaign,” Trump told CBN News. “Turned out I was right. Let’s see what happens to them now.”

"Look, when I came out a long time ago, I said they've been spying on my campaign. I said they've been taping, and that was in quotes, meaning a modern day version of taping, it's all the same thing. But a modern day version. But they've been spying on my campaign," Trump noted.

"If it was the opposite, two years ago, 25 people would have been convicted and they would be sent to jail for 50 years. And by the way, if it were 100 years ago, or 50 years ago, they would have been executed, but we're in a different time," he said.

Trump said he was looking forward to the results of US Attorney John Durham’s ongoing investigation into the origins of the Russia probe, which the president had denounced as a “coup” to topple his administration in Washington.

Trump called Durham a “highly respected” prosecutor and lauded Attorney General William Barr. 

“I want to stay out of it because otherwise it’s going to look political,” Trump said. “Let’s see what they come up with.”

Trump had claimed that FBI agents were motivated by political bias in targeting his 2016 campaign as part of the investigation into Russia's alleged interference in the US presidential election.

The Russian probe was eventually taken over by former Special Counsel Robert Mueller, a former FBI director.

Mueller examined whether Trump’s election campaign had colluded with Moscow to try to influence the presidential election and whether the Republican president later unlawfully tried to obstruct his investigation.

The Justice Department released the investigation results in March last year, which did not uncover evidence to establish that Trump’s campaign had engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Moscow. However, it did show that Trump had tried to impede the investigation.

Trump described Mueller's investigation as a “witch hunt,” saying it "must never be allowed to happen again."

Speaking to The Hill newspaper on Monday, Elie Honig, a legal analyst and former federal prosecutor in New York, denounced Trump's claim about Obama as "petty and ridiculous."

"First, all the wiretaps were court-approved. Second, there's no proof Obama had anything to do with those lawful wiretaps. And third, if we need to get technical (and we don't because there's nothing there), treason only applies during a declared war," Honig said.

As per the US Constitution, "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort."


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