One of the most disgusting elements of the Trump administration is that one must write columns like this, alleging that Trump is threatening to prosecute someone. One of this country’s greatest strengths is the maxim that the nation’s most powerful office, that of president, is wholly removed from bringing criminal charges against anyone. The Attorney General leads the Justice Department and traditionally has been almost completely independent from political interference. It used to be taboo for the White House to even call about an ongoing investigation or prosecution, never mind initiate one. The White House set policy alone, not individual actions. But we all know that Donald Trump picks his attorney generals out of loyalty to him alone, and that he likely has Pam Bondi on speed dial. It is for that reason that one shouldn’t poo-poo a desperate Trump’s attempt to get his scandalous name off the front page by bringing up the possibility of prosecuting Obama over the 2016 presidential election – the one that Trump won.
There has been a lot of news made recently about Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election. One diagram that I saw is particularly compelling. It shows the number of trolls on the internet influencing the 2016 election on a regular day (high) versus a Russian holiday, low. There is also pushback against Tulsi Gabbard’s attempt to manipulate the dialogue away from Epstein and over to supposed Obama interference in the 2016 election – the one Trump won – by focusing on Russia:
Russia helped Trump in 2016. Trump welcomed the help. The help made a difference to the election outcome. Some deny those facts because they are motivated to protect Trump. Others deny the facts because they are motivated to protect Russia. But the facts are what they are.
— David Frum (@davidfrum.bsky.social) 2025-07-19T12:27:20.537Z
“Treason” used to be one of the most taboo words, never to be thrown around lightly. Under this president, it is becoming almost a bore. But that certainly doesn’t mean that Trump cannot and will not push to prosecute Barack Obama – or, more likely, “investigate” by the most invasive means possible, fanned on by Russian bots and trolls. Trump is a desperate man, and his enablers on the net will do what they can to change the subject, fast, despite this being a tired subject already investigated by Congress. Yet look how hard Tulsi is working:
Both the House and Senate Intelligence committees, headed by Republicans at the time, concluded that the Russians interfered in the 2016 election. The Russians hacked and leaked the Democrats’ emails. It was a very successful influence operation, driving news coverage for months prior to voting.
— Tom Joscelyn (@tomjoscelyn.bsky.social) 2025-07-19T13:13:39.046Z
To that end, Trump is now talking about investigating and prosecuting Obama as the new hottest scandal on the net. On Saturday, Trump wrote of a Fox News panel:
Great job by young and talented Harrison Fields on FoxNews. The Panel was fantastic on prosecuting Obama and the “thugs” who have just been unequivocally exposed on highest level Election Fraud. Congratulations to Tulsi Gabbard. Keep it coming!!!
And Trump’s minions on “X” kept up the message. According to a report in Raw Story:
MAGA media voice Eric Daugherty chimed in, “BREAKING: President Trump just floated ‘PROSECUTING OBAMA’ and his ‘thugs’ ‘…who have just been unequivocally exposed on highest level Election Fraud.'”
Will Trump actually prosecute Obama? Highly unlikely. But that misses the point. Again, in these times, the prosecution is far less important than the investigation, and on that, Trump’s idea to possibly prosecute Obama is a present danger.
Consider the timing if Trump announced a new FBI investigation into the Obama administration’s handling of the 2016 election. It would immediately serve to get the Right off talking about Epstein (Because they want Bill Clinton) and on to getting the black guy instead, for his actions in 2016… an election Trump won. Of course, as noted above, this has already been investigated by both the House and Senate. It would be like opening up another Benghazi investigation – and don’t put that past them, either.
Meanwhile, Pam Bondi is almost as desperate to get the Epstein matter out of the news cycle as Trump, and it is Bondi who will make the ultimate decision as to whether the FBI should open up its own files (FFS) and re-investigate the matter. It would suddenly make Bondi the hero of the Right rather than the goat. The irony is that it is likely Russia that owns both Gabbard and Trump – a fact that didn’t get by the people on Bluesky (Follow me here) who will continue to remind everyone that the Russians did, actually, assist Trump in the 2016 election, the one he won:
He's claiming that the biggest story in the world was revealed today, because he completely misreads a 2016 statement in a President Daily Briefing that he thinks proves that Obama knew that Russia didn't interfere in the 2016 election.
— Mike Masnick (@mmasnick.bsky.social) 2025-07-19T00:26:37.327Z
The Senate Intel Committee unanimously concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. If there had been some Obama conspiracy, we would have found it.This latest lie is another sad, dangerous example of Tulsi Gabbard trying to rewrite history and erode trust in the IC.
— Senator Mark Warner (@markwarner.bsky.social) 2025-07-18T19:19:24.393Z
Trump has engineered a means to get Trump voters to ignore the Epstein scandal by falsely claiming the Obama Administration said Russia hacked the 2016 election results—which of course it didn't say.Trump voters are falling for this new scam because they never understood the Russia scandal at all.
— Seth Abramson (@sethabramson.bsky.social) 2025-07-19T10:32:44.549Z
The Senate Intelligence CommitteeLed by Chairman Marco RubioFound that Russia was working to get Trump elected in 2016And that there were numerous links between Russia and Donald Trump’s campaignAs Democrats on the committee correctly noted at the time“This is what collusion looks like”
— Adam Cohen (My Personal Views Only) (@axidentaliberal.bsky.social) 2025-07-20T02:11:36.470Z
Do not be fooled, this is a very serious threat to Obama himself (As the principal being investigated, perhaps being hauled before Congress), to the Democrats’ messaging in 2026, and whether the rapists in the Epstein matter will ever be exposed.
Oh, the irony. For the longest time, Trump would do anything to get talk away from “Russia, Russia, Russia,” only to now come around and bring it up again now but only when he controls the investigation with totality. Clearly, he fears the Epstein matter down to his bones. One wonders why.
We should have known from the beginning. The president still has a hard time actually prosecuting matters, but criminal prosecution is not the point. He most certainly can order the type of investigation that certainly feels like a prosecution, and it’s best not to trust whatever might happen after that. We would be talking about 2016 for the next two years.
Presidents didn’t use to do this, and the word “treason” never got thrown around for political differences, never mind to divert from child rape. It would be silly to investigate an election he won. But he will if needed.
**** Please follow me now on Bluesky
God Bless: I can be reached at [email protected] and also on X at @JasonMiciak.
Zoomers, we are always in need of donations. We work hard to get you analysis that you will not find in the mainstream media, but all media have been hit hard since the big companies have gobbled up and monopolized commentary. Anything you can spare will be immensely appreciated. And thank you to all who have donated generously already. Ursula
Russian operative Tulsi Gabbard might want to rethink her wording of that post that Frum responded to. She wrote, “the Obama White House to subvert the will of the American people and try to usurp the President from fulfilling his mandate.” Unfortunately, there are a couple of problems with that assessment (emphasis, in her case, on the first syllable–of which she’s posting for all the world to see what she truly is). First is the middle bit, that “will of the American people.” Hillary Clinton was selected by MORE people than Dotard Drumpf was and it was only about 50,000 total votes cast in three states which allowed Drumpf to win the Electoral College (with one of the smallest electoral victories in recent decades). But, more damning for Gabbard’s statement is the fact that the first part of her comment completely negates the last part. How EXACTLY can the “Obama WHITE HOUSE” (you know–the place the PRESIDENT works) possibly “try to usurp the President” from doing anything when Obama was, at that time, the President? Gabbard obviously believes that Obama was trying to usurp his own Presidency and his own Presidential mandate.
I propose that, once the Dems regain control of Congress, they begin an immediate investigation into Gabbard’s own ties to Russia and make sure they get all the evidence proving she’s been on Putin’s payroll for the last 5 years (at a minimum) so that SHE can be prosecuted for treason against the American people and then take down Drumpf with her (as he picked her). I’d also be happy to see every single Senator who voted to confirm her be prosecuted as well (even if they’re no longer in office) unless they can show that were unduly coerced into voting to confirm her (but no “I didn’t want to get primaried in my next election” excuses will be acceptable).
Given all the nefarious moves being made in Repugnican states to disenfranchise voters ahead of 2026, I don’t think we can take for granted that Dems will ever control Congress again. Without fair and free elections, our nation will be stuck with the criminals now in charge.