logo
Obama now 'squarely in Russiagate crosshairs,' journalist Matt Taibbi claims

Obama now 'squarely in Russiagate crosshairs,' journalist Matt Taibbi claims

Yahoo4 days ago
Former President Obama is now "squarely" in the crosshairs of the Russiagate "scam," journalist Matt Taibbi wrote in a Racket News piece on Saturday, shortly after DNI Tulsi Gabbard's office unleashed a blitz of documents and a memo said to detail the origins of the Trump-Russia collusion narrative.
Taibbi quoted an unnamed source in describing Obama as no longer being a "tertiary" character in the "scam" that followed President Trump's 2016 election win over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
He elaborated on the remark Monday on "America's Newsroom."
Obama Officials Admitted They Had No 'Empirical Evidence' Of Trump-russia Collusion: House Intel Transcripts
"The last major revelation that came out was that John Brennan and James Comey were the focus of criminal investigations that had been opened by the Justice Department, but these new documents that were released by Tulsi Gabbard… make it clear that the investigation is now aimed at the Obama White House and, in particular, at Barack Obama, because of decisions that were made in early December 2016 to suppress the presidential daily briefing and go ahead and order a new intelligence community assessment that ultimately would have much more aggressive conclusions about Trump and Russia," he told co-host Bill Hemmer.
Last Friday, Gabbard declassified documents which she says implicate the former president and members of his national security team who "manufactured and politicized intelligence" to create the narrative that Russia was attempting to influence the 2016 presidential election — despite information from the intelligence community stating otherwise.
Read On The Fox News App
A declassified copy of the Dec. 8, 2016 presidential daily brief for President Obama obtained by Fox News Digital reads, in part, "We assess that Russian and criminal actors did not impact recent U.S. election results by conducting malicious cyber activities against election infrastructure."
It continues: "Russian government-affiliated actors most likely compromised an Illinois voter registration database and unsuccessfully attempted the same in other states."
Obama Officials Used Dossier To Probe, Brief Trump Despite Knowing It Was Unverified 'Internet Rumor'
A bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee investigation later found that, while Trump may not have accepted Russian help, Russia did meddle in some fashion.
The chairman of the Intel Committee at the time — then-Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who now serves as the top diplomat to the United States under Trump — put out a statement that said, "The committee found absolutely no evidence that then-candidate Donald Trump or his campaign colluded with the Russian government to meddle in the 2016 election. What the committee did find, however, is very troubling. We found irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling."
Taibbi said he has heard frequent complaints that the information released by Gabbard had not come out sooner.
"A former high-ranking Trump official said [to me] there was, 'So much corruption in the last Trump presidency that this shouldn't have been overlooked, that these documents should have come out,' but the overall sense I get is that everyone's happy that they finally are coming out, and they're looking forward to what is likely to come out this week," he said.
Though Obama and his representatives did not respond to Fox News Digital's previous requests for comment, Democratic lawmakers have reacted to the development with their own series of statements.
Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., a ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, criticized Gabbard's claims as "baseless."
"Few episodes in our nation's history have been investigated as thoroughly as the Intelligence Community's warning in 2016 that Russia was interfering in the election," Himes said in a statement posted to X.
"Every legitimate investigation, including the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee investigation, found no evidence of politicization and endorsed the findings of the 2016 Intelligence Community Assessment."
Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, accused Gabbard of "weaponizing her position to amplify the president's election conspiracy theories."
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.Original article source: Obama now 'squarely in Russiagate crosshairs,' journalist Matt Taibbi claims
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Social media companies not liable for 2022 mass shooting, New York appeals court rules
Social media companies not liable for 2022 mass shooting, New York appeals court rules

Yahoo

time5 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Social media companies not liable for 2022 mass shooting, New York appeals court rules

Social media companies not liable for 2022 mass shooting, New York appeals court rules (Reuters) -Several social media companies should not be held liable for helping an avowed white supremacist who killed 10 Black people in 2022 at a Buffalo, New York grocery store, a divided New York state appeals court ruled on Friday. Reversing a lower court ruling, the state Appellate Division in Rochester said defendants including Meta Platforms' Facebook and Instagram, Google's YouTube, and Reddit were entitled to immunity under a federal law that protects online platforms from liability over user content. The plaintiffs included relatives or representatives of people who died in Peyton Gendron's racially motivated mass shooting at Tops Friendly Markets on May 14, 2022, as well as store employees and customers who witnessed it.

Cult mum Lori Daybell called 'coward' as she is given two more life sentences
Cult mum Lori Daybell called 'coward' as she is given two more life sentences

Yahoo

time5 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Cult mum Lori Daybell called 'coward' as she is given two more life sentences

Lori Vallow Daybell, the doomsday cult follower who killed her two children, has been sentenced to two additional life sentences for plotting to kill her estranged husband and her niece's ex-husband. At her sentencing hearing in Arizona on Friday, Daybell's family members described in court how she victimised them and their disgust. "You are a manipulator, a parasite and a coward," she was told by Kay Woodcock, the grandmother of her murdered son. Daybell had already been sentenced to life in a separate trial for killing her son Joshua "JJ" Vallow, 7, and daughter Tylee Ryan, 16. The latest sentences are for plotting to kill ex-husband Charles Vallow, and ex-nephew Brandon Boudreaux. Her only-surviving son Colby Ryan was among those in court on Friday. He memorialised his father Charles Vallow, who "took care of our family, and he made sure we had a good life". Speaking to her mother, he said it "must be a very sad life to smile your way through all the pain you've caused". "Rather than being able to acknowledge the pain that she has caused, she would rather say that Charles, Tylee and JJ's deaths were a family tragedy and not her evil doing," he said. "Quite frankly, I believe that Lori Vallow herself is the family tragedy." Larry Woodcock, the grandfather of JJ, also lashed out, at times yelling at her. "You murdered Charles, the best thing that's ever happened in your life, for your delusional, narcissistic ways," he said. "I will never speak your name again, murderess. You are nothing." Daybell was found to have conspired with her brother, who died of natural causes in 2019, to murder her ex-husband and cash in on his life insurance. Officials say she also conspired to kill Brandon Boudreaux, who narrowly avoided being shot in the head outside his home. During trial, she argued that her late brother killed her former husband in self-defense. The so-called "Doomsday Mom" represented herself during trial, despite having no legal experience. Chad Daybell, her current husband, is awaiting a death sentence in Idaho for the deaths of the two children, and his wife from the time when his affair began with Lori Daybell. Chad Daybell is an author who has written several apocalyptic novels loosely based on Mormon religious teachings. The murders were committed as part of the couple's bizarre belief that people in their lives had come to be possessed by evil spirits. The sentencing on Friday comes at the end of her third and final trial. The case has gripped the US, after the two children went missing, along with Daybell and her husband. She was later arrested in Hawaii and the children's bodies were found on a property belonging to her husband in Idaho. 'Doomsday' couple charged with child murders Doomsday cult mum sentenced for murdering children Triple-murder 'doomsday' trial starts for Idaho man

Lawmakers Press FDA to Target Knockoff Weight-Loss Drugs
Lawmakers Press FDA to Target Knockoff Weight-Loss Drugs

Yahoo

time5 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Lawmakers Press FDA to Target Knockoff Weight-Loss Drugs

(Bloomberg) -- Dozens of lawmakers are urging US health regulators to crack down on the booming market for knockoff weight-loss drugs amid mounting concerns over their potential safety risks. Trump Awards $1.26 Billion Contract to Build Biggest Immigrant Detention Center in US The High Costs of Trump's 'Big Beautiful' New Car Loan Deduction Can This Bridge Ease the Troubled US-Canadian Relationship? Salt Lake City Turns Winter Olympic Bid Into Statewide Bond Boom Trump Administration Sues NYC Over Sanctuary City Policy On Friday, a group of more than 80 bipartisan lawmakers asked the US Food and Drug Administration to stop counterfeit and copycat versions of GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound from flooding the market — a problem that emerged over the last year. 'We are concerned about recent reports revealing a surge in illegal and counterfeit anti-obesity medications,' they wrote in a letter to FDA Commissioner Marty Makary. 'Undoubtedly, illegal counterfeit medications pose an increased risk to patient safety with sometimes fatal consequences.' The group — spearheaded by Representatives Richard Hudson of North Carolina and Herb Conaway of New Jersey — asked the agency to ramp up enforcement over illegally imported weight-loss drugs. They suggested issuing warning letters and better monitoring non-compliant online retailers and so-called compounding pharmacies that sell the medicines. The lawmakers also said the FDA should work in tandem with US Customs and Border Patrol agents to stop Chinese entities from shipping unsafe weight-loss drugs into the US. They requested an update on the FDA's efforts by July 30, given the 'urgency' of the situation. A spokesperson for the FDA said the agency will work with the US Department of Health and Human Services to provide a 'complete and thorough' response to the issues raised in the lawmakers' letter. 'Any effort to undermine America's supply of safe medicines is an issue that FDA takes seriously,' the spokesperson said. 'And we are deeply committed to strengthening the oversight of imported products at US ports of entry.' In recent years, the popularity of GLP-1 drugs has led to an explosion of copycats and counterfeits made by companies seeking to capitalize on the hype. State-licensed pharmacies were temporarily allowed to make copies of the drugs during a supply shortage, but are no longer permitted to do so after Novo Nordisk A/S and Eli Lilly & Co. boosted production. Still, some pharmacies have refused to wind down their operations while others have pivoted to selling the drugs in lower doses in order to avoid regulatory scrutiny. Counterfeit drugs are made by unregistered entities typically using illegally imported ingredients. As recently as April, there continue to be instances when counterfeit Ozempic pens covertly enter the drug supply chain undetected. Some patients are also purchasing ingredients directly from online sellers in an attempt to make the drugs themselves at home. In both cases, the medications don't go through the same rigorous approval process as brand-name drugs made by Novo and Lilly. Experts worry the lack of oversight is putting patients at risk. The FDA has said it's aware of hospitalizations potentially linked to the copycat drugs, but that adverse events are likely being underreported. 'We support the bi-partisan call for the FDA to crack down on counterfeit and illegally sold weight-loss drugs,' said a spokesperson for Hims & Hers Health Inc., one of the telehealth firms that sells compounded GLP-1s. 'We appreciate lawmakers' recognition that legitimate compounded medications dispensed by state-regulated pharmacies are not counterfeit. Patient safety must always come first.' Novo and Lilly have discouraged consumers from using compounded and counterfeit products, including suing telehealth firms that sell the copycat versions and working with border agents to seize illegal shipments. Under the Biden administration, the companies repeatedly urged the FDA to take action, but the agency mostly limited its actions to issuing consumer warnings — even as its top drug official publicly acknowledged safety concerns. Under the Trump administration, the HHS has also focused more heavily on other issues, such as banning food dyes and examining vaccine schedules. Meanwhile, lawmakers are ramping up their calls for action. State attorneys and other lawmakers have sent letters to the FDA and Federal Trade Commission advocating for greater transparency around the treatments and more scrutiny around marketing practices. (Updates with statement from FDA in sixth and seventh paragraphs.) Burning Man Is Burning Through Cash Confessions of a Laptop Farmer: How an American Helped North Korea's Wild Remote Worker Scheme It's Not Just Tokyo and Kyoto: Tourists Descend on Rural Japan Elon Musk's Empire Is Creaking Under the Strain of Elon Musk A Rebel Army Is Building a Rare-Earth Empire on China's Border ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store