Fox News screenshot of Jesse Watters, Tulsi Gabbard, and Barack Obama

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Right-wing media use Tulsi Gabbard's flimsy memo to call for imprisoning Obama

The right-wing media efforts to implicate Obama come as Trump tries to deflect from the Epstein files

Written by Gideon Taaffe & Chloe Simon

Published

As the MAGA world continues to rail against the Trump administration over the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard issued a report suggesting former President Barack Obama pressured national intelligence agencies to fabricate or exaggerate Russia’s attempts to influence the 2016 election in favor of President Donald Trump. 

Right-wing media have reacted to the story — which Trump has seized on as he tries to distract from the Epstein chaos — by demanding or predicting that Obama be charged for “treason” and “seditious conspiracy” in a “military tribunal” or accusing him of orchestrating “a three-year project to overturn the will of the American people and to destroy an administration.” 

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  • Tulsi Gabbard suggested Obama pressured intelligence agencies to fabricate or dramatize Russian influence operations in the 2016 election

    • On July 18, Gabbard released emails along with a press release that misleadingly suggested intelligence agencies changed their assessment of Russian operations in 2016 at Obama’s behest following Trump’s electoral win. The press release concluded: “Tulsi Gabbard revealed overwhelming evidence that demonstrates how, after President Trump won the 2016 election against Hillary Clinton, President Obama and his national security cabinet members manufactured and politicized intelligence to lay the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup against President Trump.” [Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 7/18/25, 7/18/25; CNN, 7/22/25]
    • Gabbard has previously acknowledged that Russia attempted to “influence our elections” in 2018. On Joe Rogan’s podcast, Gabbard cited “Russian troll farms” used to “influence our elections,” adding, “The American people need to be aware of where this information is coming from.” [Twitter/X, 7/21/25]

  • Trump seized on Gabbard’s claims in an apparent effort to detract from the Epstein files

    • After Gabbard’s release, Trump shared what seemed to be artificial intelligence-generated photos and videos of Obama in prison. On Truth Social, Trump shared images of an Obama mugshot and a video of Obama getting arrested in the Oval office. [Time, 7/21/25]
    • As Media Matters’ Matt Gertz pointed out, “Trump is seeking to reunify allies enraged by his administration’s repudiation of MAGA claims about late convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein by offering up spurious attacks on common and familiar enemies,” including Obama. [Media Matters, 7/21/25]
    • A spokesperson for Obama called the allegations “outrageous” in a statement, adding, “These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.” “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,” the spokesperson said, “But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one." [NBC News, 7/22/25]

  • Gabbard’s memo “conflates” different intelligence assessments to craft a misleading narrative

    • The New York Times highlighted that Gabbard’s release conflated two things: attempts to hack election infrastructure and influence operations aimed at changing public opinion. As The New York Times wrote, “The Obama administration assessment never contended that Russian hackers manipulated votes. Russia also conducted influence operations to change public opinion. That included using fake social media posts to sow division among Americans and leaking documents stolen from the Democratic National Committee to denigrate Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee. Multiple reviews, including a Republican-led Senate report, backed the findings of American spy agencies in late 2016 that Russia was trying to influence the election by damaging Ms. Clinton’s campaign and bolstering Mr. Trump. … The new report by Ms. Gabbard’s staff conflates those two activities by the Russians and tries to suggest that the Obama administration forced the intelligence community to alter its conclusions.” [The New York Times, 7/18/25]
    • MSNBC noted that Gabbard alleged that an assessment claiming Russia “did not impact” the 2016 election “was abruptly pulled,” but a week later Obama acknowledged that the election infrastructure was not tampered with. MSNBC contributor Katty Kay said Obama told the press on December 16, 2016: “I can assure the public that there was not the kind of tampering with the voting process that was a concern and will continue to be of concern going forward. That the votes that were cast were counted, they were counted appropriately. We have not seen evidence of machines being tampered with. So, that assurance I can provide.” [MSNBC, The Morning Joe, 7/22/25]
    • CNN’s Daniel Dale noted that Gabbard “is emphasizing … that previous assessments did not find that Russia had altered the election results, altered vote counts. Well, the new assessment didn’t either.” Dale continued, “What the new assessment found was that Russia engaged in hacking operations targeting Democrats, had engaged in influence operations online to attempt to alter the results in favor of Trump, to hurt Clinton. That is not contradictory as far as we know.” [CNN, 7/22/25]
    • The National Review’s Andy McCarthy also noted that a report released a few days prior to Gabbard’s press release reasserted that Russia did attempt to interfere in the 2016 election. McCarthy wrote: “No new light is shed on this episode by Gabbard’s email disclosures last Friday, which, unsurprisingly, were accompanied by an overwrought and misleading press release rather than an analytical report. Perhaps that is because Gabbard’s intelligence community peer, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, did issue an analytical report just a few days earlier that contradicts Gabbard’s implication that there was no evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election.” [The National Review, 7/21/25]
    • NBC reported that Gabbard’s memo also contradicted then-acting Intelligence Committee Chair Marco Rubio’s claim that there was “irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling” in the 2016 election. In 2020, Rubio signed off on a bipartisan committee’s findings that while it found no evidence Trump colluded with Russia, “what the Committee did find however is very troubling. We found irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling.” [NBC News, 7/22/25]
    • The Gabbard release suggested that the Obama administration changed its intelligence assessment in part to leak “false statements to media outlets,” but the press examples the memo cited are not inaccurate. The Bulwark highlighted Gabbard’s claims that media reporting on “cyberattacks on election infrastructure” from the Obama administration’s reports are misleading. Instead, these stories reported on hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign. The Bulwark noted: “Even the Gabbard memo is compelled to admit that there is ‘supporting evidence indicating the Russian government directed hacking of the DNC and [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee].’” [Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 7/18/25; The Bulwark, 7/21/25]
    • The Washington Post similarly flagged examples of Gabbard citing media reports about a “hack” and misleadingly suggesting media outlets were referring to a hack of election machines rather than the hack of the Clinton campaign. One example of this misrepresentation is an NBC News article about the “U.S. Election Hack.” The Post notes: “The NBC News report, which confirmed the earlier Washington Post reporting, does not use the phrase ‘’election hack’ — though the headline does. Moreover, Gabbard does not report the section of the article that makes clear that reporters are referring to the DNC hack, not general election systems: ‘Two senior officials with direct access to the information say new intelligence shows that Putin personally directed how hacked material from Democrats was leaked and otherwise used.’” [The Washington Post, 7/22/25]

  • Right-wing media responded to the memo by suggesting Obama weaponized intelligence agencies “to sabotage an election”

    • Right-wing podcaster Laura Loomer: “Obama WAS in fact spying on Trump and weaponizing the intel agencies against Trump.” [Twitter/X, 7/18/25]
    • Fox News’ Lisa “Kennedy” Montgomery claimed the Obama administration created the Russia collusion scandal “because they wanted to stay in control.” She continued: “Donald Trump was operating so far outside the establishment that I think to a lot of people whom many would consider the deep state, he was uncontrollable.” [Fox News, Outnumbered, 7/21/25]
    • Fox News host Laura Ingraham claimed, “Once again, everything Democrats accuse Trump of — subverting the election, hurting democracy — is what they did.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 7/21/25] 
    • Hoover Institution senior fellow Victor Davis Hansen said, “This was a three-year project to overturn the will of the American people and to destroy an administration. Makes Watergate … look like small potatoes.” Ingraham agreed, adding, “My God, I mean, it's a miracle that Trump was able to win in 2024. It is an absolute miracle from God that Trump could win. I mean, he was obviously fighting his way through, but still.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 7/21/25]
    • Fox News host Jesse Watters complained that “the media spent years obsessed with the Russia hoax, and now that it’s been debunked and has Obama’s fingerprints all over it, they’re ducking their heads from the boomerang.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 7/21/25] 
    • On Newsmax’s Finnerty, presidential aide Sebastian Gorka called Obama a “traitor to the oath of office” for directing the directors of the FBI and CIA “to use the most powerful intelligence tools in the world to sabotage an election and go after an innocent man.” [Newsmax, Finnerty, 7/21/25] 

  • Right-wing media also suggested Obama should or would be arrested for treason, should face a military tribunal, or is guilty of “seditious conspiracy”

    • On The Benny Show, QAnon conspiracist and former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn called for officials to take Obama’s passport and raid his house. Flynn said, “Starting with Obama on down, they all ought to have their passports revoked,” adding, “I do think that what the DOJ should be considering, if not getting ready to conduct, is a raid of Barack Obama's home up there at Kalorama, in Washington, D.C.” [Rumble, The Benny Show, 7/21/25]
    • Podcaster Benny Johnson and Flynn suggested the U.S. should explore a “military tribunal” for Obama. Johnson asked Flynn, “Could you have a military tribunal for the commander-in-chief?” Flynn responded, “It'd ought to be explored, Benny. It should be explored.” [Rumble, The Benny Show, 7/21/25]
    • Johnson claimed that Trump posted Obama mug shots because “accountability is coming.” [Twitter/X, 7/20/25]
    • On The Benny Show, right-wing legal activist Mike Davis claimed Obama needs to “lawyer up, buddy,” because he may go to prison. Davis: “I would say to Barack Hussein Obama, ‘Lawyer up, buddy.’ Because your conspiracy after you left the White House could land you in prison.” Johnson responded, “We’re waiting for those days.” [Rumble, The Benny Show, 7/21/25]
    • Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk suggested “Russiagate” was “demonic” and claimed, “We need perp walks. We need arrests.” Kirk: “We need perp walks. We need arrests. We need accountability. And if we do not smash the administrative state and the deep state in the coming 6-12 months, then we’re actually — we're not going to bring this entire intelligence apparatus to heel. We have to lance the boil because it’s gotten so out of control.” He added, “That’s why I think Russiagate really matters is that it's a way to hold them accountable, to see how dark and honestly, demonic, their activities have become.” [YouTube, The Tucker Carlson Show, 7/21/25]
    • Right-wing podcaster Liz Wheeler called to prosecute Obama for “treason” and “seditious conspiracy,” writing, “We demand JUSTICE.” Wheeler: “We don’t want silly perjury charges against Obama & his spooks for the high crimes they committed against Trump. We demand JUSTICE. Treason. Seditious conspiracy. Conspiracy to defraud the government. Deprivation of rights under the color of law. Grand conspiracy. … Arrest them.” [Twitter/X, 7/21/25]
    • Right-wing podcaster and Trump ally Roger Stone called for Gabbard to investigate “seditious conspiracy orchestrated by Obama.” Stone: “I demand that she continue to expose these seditious conspiracy orchestrated by Obama himself. What is Hines afraid of?” [Twitter/X, 7/21/25]
    • Right-wing outlet The National Pulse published a blog titled “Obama committed ‘treasonous conspiracy.’” The outlet wrote: “U.S. intel agencies first found no Russian impact on the 2016 election. After an Obama-led meeting, the assessment was revised to say Moscow helped Trump—triggering three years of investigations that dogged his presidency.” [The National Pulse, 7/21/25]
    • Right-wing influencer Catturd posted: “Arrest all the Obama traitors.” [Twitter/X, 7/21/25]
    • Right-wing podcaster Kyle Becker claimed the “Russia hoax” was a fraud perpetrated by Clinton and Obama and now it is “time for jail.” Becker: “The Russia Hoax is the biggest fraud ever perpetrated against the American people. Hillary knew it was false. Obama knew it was false. Rice knew it was false. Clapper knew it was false. Brennan knew it was false. They all knew it was false. They pushed it anyway. Time for jail.” [Twitter/X, 7/20/25]
    • Right-wing activist Mike Crispi posted, “Nobody’s above the law they tell us. So ARREST OBAMA!” [Twitter/X, 7/20/25]
    • The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh: “Either top Obama officials are arrested or Tulsi Gabbard should be fired.” Walsh: “The typical pattern by Republicans since forever is to make these kinds of claims, but to make them only on social media and Fox News and to never actually bring it to a court of law so the parties responsible can be held accountable.” [The Daily Wire, The Matt Walsh Show, 7/21/25]
    • Right-wing pundit Wayne Allyn Root said, “I hope Obama’s home practicing his mugshot because Trump set the bar high.” Root also suggested Obama could face the death penalty, saying, “Does the Trump DOJ have the cojones to charge Obama and Hillary with treason. And treason comes with either death penalty or life in prison.” [Real America’s Voice, War Zone with Wayne Allyn Root, 7/21/25]
    • Right-wing streamer David Nino Rodriguez said he would be discussing the “future arrest of Barack Obama.” [Twitter/X, 7/21/25]
    • QAnon influencer SunTzu posted, “Start by arresting Obama.” [Twitter/X, 7/20/25; Media Matters, 4/24/24]