Tulsi Gabbard fires back at Obama: ‘absolute failure'
'The treasonous conspiracy that we have now released to the American people — the complicity, the deflection, and the silence of politicians, of the mainstream media, and of those directly implicated into this speaks volumes,' Gabbard said on Fox & Friends Saturday.
3 Gabbard fired back at Obama Saturday on Fox.
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On Tuesday, President Trump called for criminal charges against Obama, 63, for allegedly ordering an intelligence report saying Russia meddled to help him win the White House in 2016.
Trump was referring to documents Gabbard declassified last week.
Obama's office responded, calling the claims an attempt at distracting from the scandal over the administration's handling of the Epstein files.
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'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,' Patrick Rodenbush, a spokesman for Obama said.
3 Obama called the claims against him 'bizarre.'
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'But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction,' he said, referring to the mounting pressure on Trump to release the Epstein files.
'Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes.'
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3 Gabbard released documents last week about Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Anna Wilding / SplashNews.com
Gabbard lashed out at Obama's answer during her Fox appearance.
'President Obama's very carefully worded response that came from his office, again, deflects away from addressing any of the truth that was revealed,' she said.
'They would have to admit and actually address the details of their complicity in this or their absolute failure in conducting the most basic responsibilities of, again, asking, where is this intelligence coming from?
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Gabbard sent a criminal referral to Attorney General Pam Bondi Friday against Obama.
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UPI
4 minutes ago
- UPI
Rescission of public broadcast funding threatens rural areas
1 of 2 | The headquarters for National Public Radio (NPR) is seen in Washington, D.C., on May 27. The congressional rescissions bill passed by the U.S. House and Senate cuts more than $1 billion in funding for public broadcasting. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo July 30 (UPI) -- Publicly funded radio and television broadcasts bring news and emergency alerts to rural and underserved populations and the congressional rescissions bill will have some at risk of going off air. The U.S. Senate passed the rescissions bill earlier this month, peeling back about $9 billion in funding for public broadcasting, foreign aid and other services as recommended by the Department of Government Efficiency. The decision could lead to growing news deserts as rural communities lose what is often their main source of local coverage and critical information. For public broadcasting, the bill cuts the funding allocated for fiscal years 2026 and 2027. For fiscal year 2026, $535 million had been approved in the appropriations bill passed in March 2024. Earlier this year, Congress approved $535 million in funding for fiscal year 2027. Public broadcast funding is directed by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It is a private, nonprofit organization that was authorized by Congress to oversee government public media funds in the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. Funding is distributed to more than 1,500 public television and radio stations. "The vote by the U.S. Senate and House to eliminate federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting will have profound, lasting, negative consequences for every American," Patricia Harrison, CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, said in a statement. "Without federal funding, many local public radio and television stations will be forced to shut down. Parents will have fewer high quality learning resources available for their children. Millions of Americans will have less trustworthy information about their communities, states, country, and world with which to make decisions about the quality of their lives." Government funding for public media is distributed to stations based on need. Stations that broadcast to rural, underserved and minority populations receive a higher portion of their funding from the CPB due in part to not having access to as many resources as those in highly populated areas. Tribal radio Tribal stations will be among those most deeply affected by the loss of federal funding. KSUT Tribal Radio broadcasts to the Four Corners region of the Southwest. It has served listeners in Northwest New Mexico, Southwest Colorado, Southeast Utah and Northeast Arizona since it was founded in 1976 by the Southern Ute Tribe. Four tribes are served by the station as well: the Southern Ute Tribe, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, the Jicarilla Apache Nation in Northern New Mexico and the Navajo Nation in northeast Arizona and Northwest New Mexico. Much of KSUT's coverage area is already considered a news desert -- an area that lacks adequate local news coverage. Each of the states KSUT broadcasts to have lost at least 15% of their local newspapers since 2004, according to The Expanding News Desert project at the University of North Carolina's Hussman School of Journalism and Media. "We chose with the limited resources we have for original reporting to focus on indigenous affairs. That certainly is not a service that folks get of regional news and information on Native American issues," Tami Graham, KSUT executive director, told UPI. About 20% of KSUT's budget, about $330,000, comes from federal funding, Graham said. With that funding source gone, the station is planning to fundraise rapidly to maintain its level of service. Due to its rural coverage area, it does not have access to the kinds of philanthropic resources that stations in larger markets have." "It's a double whammy losing that funding and not being in major markets," Graham said. "We have great listeners who are very supportive. We're looking for where we can shave and cut costs. We're trying our best to avoid any major staffing cuts." KSUT's goal is to raise about $600,000 in the next two years to backfill the lost federal funding. Fundraising, listener membership, business underwriters and grant funding outside of the federal government are four revenue resources it will lean on. "How we survive in the meantime is resilience. We're going to survive," Graham said. "There will be stations that will go dark. I have no doubt about it. Hopefully that will just be temporary." Emergency broadcasts Public media is oftentimes the only source of emergency alerts and critical information in rural areas. State and local alerts are pushed through public radio and television broadcasts through the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts. Public media stations were crucial in Southern California during the wildfires in January. According to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 111 Wireless Emergency Alerts were shared with more than 18 million people in affected and at-risk areas. In 2024, there was a 30% increase over 2023 in Wireless Emergency Alerts issued by federal, state and local authorities. Public radio is particularly crucial in rural regions where cell and Internet service is unreliable if not completely unavailable. "Turning on your radio can be a lifeline," Graham said. 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"Many rural communities are going to lose emergency alert systems," he said. It's not hyperbolic to say these cuts will at least indirectly lead to people losing their lives." 'An already vulnerable system' Pickard said a significant percentage of local public media stations are likely to shut down in the next year with a disproportionate number of them serving rural areas. The Trump administration may oversee this significant blow to public broadcasting but partisan attacks on the system are not new. "The budgetary concerns are really a red herring," Pickard said. "It's much more ideological." Republican opposition to public media can be traced back to its inception, according to Pickard. President Richard Nixon was critical of PBS and its content. Republican administrations that followed shared at least some of Nixon's ire, seeking to cut funding, claiming public broadcasts held a liberal bias. 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UPI
4 minutes ago
- UPI
The Jeffrey Epstein saga: a new national security threat?
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman speaks during a news conference about the arrest of American financier Jeffrey Epstein in New York on July 8, 2019, on sex trafficking charges, File photo by Jason Szenes July 30 (UPI) -- The sordid saga of the long dead and convicted predator Jeffrey Epstein not only poses a threat to Donald Trump's presidency, but it also conceivably threatens the credibility of the U.S. political system. Yet, an even more sinister and potentially dangerous threat lurks for the United States and its friends. The two threats are linked, ironically, by Epstein's ghost. Trump's MAGA base is furious that the promised Epstein files have not been released. What's worse is that that Attorney General Pam Bondi apparently informed Trump his name was in the file -- high-test fuel for that blaze. And, now, possibly to deflect attention, Trump and his director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, have accused former President Barack Obama of treason by interfering in the 2016 election with Russian help. In a nation as politically divided as America, any spark could ignite a political firestorm. Beijing, Moscow and others with malicious intent are intensely watching this saga. One conclusion must be that even greater opportunities exist today to interfere in United States and Western politics, not just exploiting this debacle. More importantly, creating new crises that manipulate and fracture political and social cohesion is a formidable danger. The U.K.'s Brexit is an example of manipulation. In the effort to withdraw from the European Union -- the Leave campaign -- former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his key adviser, Dominic Cummings determined that 1 million or so Britons lacked party affiliation. 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His next book, co-written with Field Marshal The Lord David Richards, former U.K. chief of defense and due out next year, is Who Thinks Best Wins: Preventing Strategic Catastrophe. The writer can be reached on X @harlankullman.
USA Today
4 minutes ago
- USA Today
Beloved lion killed by trophy hunter in alleged ‘unethical' hunt
A beloved lion named Blondie in Zimbabwe was killed by an American trophy hunter whose professional guide claims the hunt in the last week of June was "conducted legally and ethically." However, others allege the well-known lion was lured out of Hwange National Park and its protective zone where wildlife photographers helped make Blondie a household name in the park. Africa Geographic, which sponsored the GPS collar on Blondie, reported that 'despite wearing a conspicuous research collar and being younger than the recommended minimum hunting age of six years, this young lion was lured out of a photographic concession and killed in what many are calling a deeply unethical hunt.' Africa Geographic also reported that sources say the hunt took place legally with all required permitting in place, and the professional guide is allegedly a member of the Zimbabwe Professional Guides Association. One source told Africa Geographic that Blondie was 5 years, 3 months old and was the dominant male of a pride that included three adult females and 10 cubs. Zimbabwe hunting regulations mandates a minimum age of 6 years for lions trophy hunted, with hunts to focus on mature, non-pride males. 'According to reports from operators in the area, Blondie was last seen in his core range in June 2025,' Africa Geographic stated. 'Observations suggest that he was baited out of the photographic concession over a period of several weeks and lured into the hunting area, where he was subsequently shot. The entire pride reportedly followed him during this period. 'There are concerns that the Professional Hunter [i.e. the guide] involved in the hunt was aware that Blondie was collared and that he had dependent cubs. It has been reported that, two weeks prior to the hunt, the hunter confirmed seeing Blondie with cubs and lionesses. When approached by AG for his side of the story, the PH declined to comment, other than to say that the hunt was 'conducted legally and ethically.'' LionExpose, which investigates and exposes wildlife exploitation and abuse, on Facebook claimed Blondie was lured and baited intentionally. It named the hunter, the guide and guide service, and the owner of the land on which the lion was shot. 'As the sponsor of Blondie's research collar, we are dismayed and angered by this development,' Africa Geographic CEO Simon Espley said. 'That Blondie's prominent collar did not prevent him from being offered to a hunting client, confirms the stark reality that no lion is safe from trophy hunting guns. He was a breeding male in his prime, making a mockery of the ethics that ZPGA regularly espouses and the repeated claims that trophy hunters only target old, non-breeding males.' Also on FTW Outdoors: Covert operation uncovers illegal activities by fisherman The incident is reminiscent of Cecil the lion, who was said to have been lured out of the protected area of Hwange National Park and was then shot and killed with a compound bow by an American trophy hunter. Walter Palmer, a dentist, reportedly paid $50,000 to a Zimbabwean professional hunter/guide for the hunt. The hunter was never charged, but two Zimbabweans involved in the hunt were briefly arrested, though charges were eventually dismissed. Cecil, 13 years old at the time of his death in 2015, was well known in the park and generated thousands of dollars in revenue from wildlife photographers. He wore a GPS collar and was identified by his black-fringed mane. Cecil's death gained international attention, and as a result of the negative fallout, it was reported that significantly fewer hunters came to Zimbabwe in the months that followed. The Telegraph reported that the 'Cecil effect' left the park at risk of having to cull 200 lions due to an overpopulation of lions. Photos of Blondie by Owen Grobler of Searching for Spots used by permission.
