Trump claims he had nothing to do with Pam Bondi's grand jury order targeting Obama officials on 'Russia hoax'
The president said while he wasn't involved in the decision, he is 'happy' that Attorney General Pam Bondi decided to act this week on the criminal referrals from the Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
It's not yet clear which U.S. attorney the DOJ directed to bring the case and convene a grand jury, or which former Obama officials are being targeted.
A source familiar with the action, however, speculated to the Daily Mail that the criminal referrals Bondi is acting on are likely for ex-CIA Directors John Brennan and former James Comey.
'They deserve it,' Trump told CNBC Squawk Box host Joe Kernen during a Tuesday morning interview. 'I was happy to hear it.'
The victory lap comes after Bondi revealed on Monday that she signed an order directing an unnamed prosecutor to convene a grand jury in the revelations over the inception of the Russia collusion investigation.
Sources tell Just the News that it's 'likely' the grand jury could be convened in Florida, the state where the FBI raid of Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence happened in August 2022.
Gabbard submitted criminal referrals to the Justice Department last month for former Obama and his officials, including Brennan and former DNI Chief James Clapper.
She unveiled evidence claiming that Obama and his team illegally conspired in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election to link Donald Trump to Russian efforts to interfere in the campaigns.
'They deserve it,' Trump told CNBC Squawk Box host Joe Kernen (pictured) during a Tuesday morning interview when asked about the grand jury. 'I was happy to hear it'
Some thought Gabbard's release of documents was a tactic to distract from the botched Jeffrey Epstein files review, which has the DOJ reeling with calls for Bondi to resign.
The new grand jury directive from Bondi also follows FBI Director Kash Patel discovering last month a stash of bags in a secret room at the bureau with damning documents related to the Russia investigation that were meant to be burned.
The documents were published by Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and consist of the classified annex to former Special Counsel John Durham's final report on the origins of the FBI investigation into Trump's 2016 campaign.
Bondi's move on Monday is an escalation that takes President Trump's administration a massive step closer to criminally charging Obama and his former administration officials.
'Pam is doing a great job. I had nothing to do with it,' Trump said to CNBC on Tuesday when asked if he was the one who called for Bondi to act on the referrals.
'I actually read it, just like you did,' he added.
Trump lamented to Squawk Box host Kernen that the Durham report annex should have been released earlier.
He blamed his former Attorney General Bill Barr for dragging his feet on getting to the bottom of election interference investigations.
The president said this allowed former President Joe Biden to take over and his team to 'bury' the revelations.
While serving as special counsel, Durham examined the FBI's investigation into potential links between Trump campaign officials and Russia during the 2016 election. He concluded the FBI did not have sufficient evidence to launch the investigation at the time.
A person familiar with the discovery of the new documents speculated to the Daily Mail that it was likely an oversight by previous directors that prevented the documents from being destroyed.
This individual added that it's likely the documents would have never seen the light of day if the FBI wasn't diligently looking through and reviewing everything it comes across at the bureau.
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