21 February 2018•Update: 22 February 2018
By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON
President Donald Trump on Wednesday struck out at his attorney general and former President Barack Obama over the ongoing investigation into Russia’s alleged attempts to interfere in the 2016 election.
"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 Sessions!" Trump wrote on Twitter, referring to his attorney general who recused himself last year from any matter pertaining to the probe.
Obama did call out Russia’s attempts to interfere with the election while he was still in office.
Critically, he expelled 35 Russian diplomats accused of working as intelligence agents, and sanctioned Russia’s top intelligence agencies as a result.
Trump, however, has vacillated on accepting Russia’s alleged “influence campaign”, and has adamantly insisted that even if it did exist it did not affect the outcome of the 2016 poll.
Wednesday’s outburst is just the latest such episode. Trump has previously railed against top officials within America’s intelligence agencies as being biased against him. He previously criticized Sessions for having recused himself, saying he would not have nominated him for the post if he knew Sessions would take the action.
The special counsel investigation being led by former FBI Director Robert Mueller announced charges against a 19th person Tuesday, an attorney with close links to a top Trump campaign official.
The question of potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia has been central to much of the investigation.
