Donald Trump’s Obama AI Arrest Video Is Mere ‘Distraction’: Legal Analysts

Legal analysts told Newsweek that President Donald Trump’s Truth Social repost of an AI video showing the arrest of former President Barack Obama could be a “distraction” as he faces backlash over the Epstein files.

Why It Matters

Trump posted the AI-generated video to Truth Social on Sunday after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released a report alleging that Obama and members of his administration manufactured intelligence about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

The announcement comes as Trump is facing backlash over his administration’s handling of the case of late financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York federal jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking. There have long been rumors of an Epstein “client list,” though no such document has ever been made public.

However, a recent memo from the Department of Justice and the FBI said there was no “client list” and that no further charges would be brought. Trump has also called on his supporters to move past what he describes as the “Jeffrey Epstein Hoax,” sparking outrage from many of his supporters.

What To Know

Several legal analysts told Newsweek that the president posting about prosecuting Obama and his officials may be intended to distract from the backlash. There is “no legal basis” for Trump to imprison Obama, former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani said.

“Factually, it’s wholly unsupported,” he said. “The Durham investigation into the Russian interference yielded no serious charges. And the statute of limitations has long since run. If Trump was serious about doing this, his Department of Justice would have done it during his first administration.”

The Durham report concluded that the FBI had no evidence of collusion when it launched an investigation into potential connections between the Trump campaign and Russia, but did not recommend charges against FBI agents.

Rahmani described talk about prosecuting Obama as “political fodder for his base more than anything” that may be intended to “potentially distract from his own Epstein-related problems.”

Gabbard’s statements are not based on any real evidence, he said.

“Influencing public opinion is not the same as changing vote tallies,” he said. “No legitimate prosecutor would charge a former president in this type of case, especially with the Supreme Court’s broad interpretation of presidential immunity, and even if they did, a judge would dismiss the charges.”

The report found that Obama officials agreed the Russian government did not manipulate U.S. election infrastructure to benefit Trump. While reports have not found that Russia changed votes, other investigations have found that Russia sought to influence public opinion or sow division in the United States.

Gabbard’s report highlighted several communications within the intelligence community surrounding whether Russia planned to interfere in the election. In one August 31, 2016, communication, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official wrote that “there is no indication of a Russian threat to directly manipulate the actual vote count by cyber means.”

Gabbard wrote that the intelligence community agreed that Russia did not have the capability to “hack U.S. elections” and planned to include that assessment in Obama’s December 8, 2016, daily briefing. However, she wrote that was “abruptly pulled ‘based on new guidance.'”

Obama then allegedly directed the intelligence community to create an assessment that detailed Russian election meddling even though it contradicted intelligence assessments, she wrote. She said the administration “leaned on” media allies to “advance their falsehoods.”

“These documents detail a treasonous conspiracy by officials at the highest levels of the Obama White House to subvert the will of the American people and try to usurp the President from fulfilling his mandate,” she wrote.

Michael McAuliffe, former federal prosecutor and former elected state attorney, told Newsweek the post is “a way to draw the media in to cover the posting’s subject matter.”

“Based on any rational evaluation, social media postings and cartoons aren’t the basis of criminal investigations and prosecutions. Beware of any summary declaration of someone else’s culpability, especially when it is covered with political fairy dust,” McAuliffe said.

Former federal prosecutor Gene Rossi also said Trump’s post is a “shiny object” to distract from the Epstein backlash.

“The chances of criminal charges lodged against President Obama are severely less than the chances of the Washington Nationals prevailing in the World Series this year,” Rossi told Newsweek.

Still, Attorney General Pam Bondi, who Rossi said “seems inclined to act as a personal lawyer for Trump,” could still open an investigation into the matter, he said.

What People Are Saying

Peter Zeidenberg, also a former federal prosecutor, told Newsweek thatthreats to prosecute Obama are “nonsense”: “Not only is there no credible allegation against Obama, the statute of limitations would have run out long ago. This is just a distraction.”

White House spokesperson Harrison Fields previously told Newsweek: “The President and his entire administration are committed to unearthing wrongdoing and holding any individual accountable for this gross abuse of power and blatant conspiracy against President Trump and his supporters.”

Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat who is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote on X: “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. This conclusion was supported on a unanimous basis by every single Democrat and Republican on the committee.”

What Happens Next

Gabbard wrote that she is “providing all documents to the Department of Justice to deliver the accountability that President Trump, his family, and the American people deserve.”