President Donald Trump has re-shared a deepfake AI-generated video of former President Barack Obama being arrested.
The clip shows Obama being detained by FBI agents during his meeting with Trump in the Oval Office in 2016, after Trump won the election.
He is then shown inside a prison cell, with “YMCA” playing in the background of the clip.
Highlights
- President Trump shared an AI deepfake video depicting former President Obama being arrested by FBI agents.
- Tulsi Gabbard declassified documents alleging the Obama administration politicized intelligence to undermine Trump.
- Gabbard claims a 2017 intelligence assessment was fabricated to delegitimize Trump’s victory.
- Democrats criticize Gabbard for promoting conspiracy theories, reaffirming bipartisan support for Russia probe findings.
Donald Trump shared a fake video of Barack Obama being arrested
Image credits: The White House
It comes as Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard declassified documents relating to the 2016 probe into Russian interference in the presidential election.
She claims the documents show that Obama and his national security cabinet members “manufactured and politicized intelligence.”
This was to lay the groundwork for what was “essentially a years-long coup against President Trump,” Gabbard said.
The claims have been highly disputed.
A bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report released in 2020 supported U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) findings that Russia had interfered to help Trump win the 2016 election.
It concluded that the assessment of Russia’s election interference by the Obama administration had been made without political bias.
In a press release on Friday, Gabbard said that in the months leading up to the November 2016 election, the IC assessed that Russia was “probably not” attempting to “influence the election by using cyber means.”
On December 7, after Trump won the election, Gabbard said that then-DNI James Clapper was given talking points stating: “Foreign adversaries did not use cyberattacks on election infrastructure to alter the U.S. Presidential election outcome.”
Image credits: Scott Olson/Getty Images
Days later, on December 9, top National Security Council officials in the Obama administration were gathered for a meeting on Russia.
This included Clapper, then-CIA director John Brennan, then-National Security Advisor Susan Rice, then-Secretary of State John Kerry, then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
After that meeting, Clapper’s executive assistant sent an email to IC leaders asking them to create a new assessment “per the President’s request” that details the “tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election.”
Gabbard claims a new IC assessment made in January 2017 was not credible and was used to delegitimize Trump’s presidential victory.
The 2020 Senate report found that the 2017 assessment was accurate, well-supported, and not politically manipulated.
Tulsi Gabbard claimed the Obama administration “manufactured intelligence”
Image credits: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The report noted that the assessment reflected evolving information on Russia’s efforts to interfere, including hacking, leaks, and social media influence designed to benefit Trump.
Gabbard said she was referring Obama administration officials to the Department of Justice.
Brennan and Comey are both being investigated by the FBI for allegedly making false statements to Congress regarding the Trump-Russia probe, according to CNN and Fox News.
Democrats have criticized Gabbard and say she is weaponizing her position to amplify conspiracy theories.
“It seems DNI Gabbard is unaware that the years-long Russia investigation carried out by the Senate Intelligence Committee reaffirmed that ‘the Russian government directed extensive activity against U.S. election infrastructure’ ahead of the 2016 election, and that it ‘used social media to conduct an information warfare campaign’ in order to benefit Donald Trump,” Senator Mark Warner posted on X.
“This conclusion was supported on a unanimous basis by every single Democrat and Republican on the committee.
“It is sadly not surprising that DNI Gabbard, who promised to depoliticize the intelligence community, is once again weaponizing her position to amplify the president’s election conspiracy theories.”
Congressman Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, echoed Warner’s statement online and described Gabbard’s claims as “utter nonsense.”
“No one alleges that the Russians did technical hacks of voting technology,” he added.
“But ALL of the investigations, including the Senate bipartisan investigation found that the Russians sought to influence the 2016 election in Trump’s favor.”
Obama has not publicly commented on the claims raised by Gabbard.
After Gabbard’s press release, Trump spent the weekend re-sharing her interviews and comments on his Truth Social platform.
Among these was the AI-generated video of Obama being arrested, which had been created by a TikTok user and shared by Trump.
‘The issue I am raising is not a partisan issue. It is one that concerns every American,’ Gabbard said.
Image credits: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
The clip starts off with several officials, including Obama and Biden, saying “no one is above the law.”
It then moves to a clip showing Biden sitting down as he says, “Well, son of a b**ch,” and a clown face pops up on screen.
Then “YMCA” starts to play in the background as a fake scenario between Trump and Obama plays out, with FBI agents arresting Obama as Trump smiles widely.
Trump also shared an image compilation showing fake mug shots of Obama administration officials, including Comey, Clapper, and Rice.
Image credits: Donald J Trump
In the middle of the image is a square that says: “The shady bunch.”
“The issue I am raising is not a partisan issue. It is one that concerns every American,” Gabbard said in a statement.
“The information we are releasing today clearly shows there was a treasonous conspiracy in 2016 committed by officials at the highest level of our government.”
“No matter how powerful, every person involved in this conspiracy must be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, to ensure nothing like this ever happens again,” she added.