Obama’s Involvement In The 2016 Presidential Election Should Be Investigated

 

By Paul Baumgartner

December 11, 2016

 

There has been much in the news lately about investigating the Russians being involved in Hacking that may have affected our 2016 Presidential Election.  If we look at available facts, it becomes obvious that we should be investigating Obama’s Involvement in the 2016 Presidential election instead.

 

As he closed his next to last year in office, Obama said, "I think I will have a Democratic successor, and I will campaign very hard to make that happen. [1]"  Obama was careful not to antagonize progressives by endorsing Clinton till after she had clinched the nomination. [2]  “He has indicated he wants to spend a lot of time on the campaign trail, so when it’s time to do that, we’ll go out guns ablazing,” Jennifer Psaki, Mr. Obama’s communications director, said in an interview. “We are actively thinking through how to use the president on the campaign trail — what works for the nominee, what works for him, and how to utilize his strengths and his appeal. [3]” 

 

Obama’s role in campaigning to such an extent is unprecedented compared to previous elections.  Incumbent presidents have proven to be more a liability than an asset--or at least that's what their successors' campaigns seemed to think.  "I don't think there's ever been someone so qualified to hold this office," Obama said shortly after she clinched the nomination. "I'm with her. I'm fired up. And I cannot wait to get out there and campaign for Hillary. [4]” Obama planned to devote at least one to two days each week in October to campaign for Clinton through rallies, targeted radio and television interviews, social media outreach and fundraising, said an adviser who requested anonymity.  In addition, the president's aides have told the Clinton campaign he would be willing to appear in television ads for her. His wife, Michelle, has already cut radio, online and TV ads for the Democratic nominee, another aide said, also requesting anonymity to discuss internal planning [5].

 

Obama pulled out every card to campaign for Hillary Clinton, including the race card.  Obama told the Congressional Black Caucus that it would stain the legacy of the country’s first African-American president if blacks didn’t vote in large numbers for Clinton.  “I would consider it a personal insult -- an insult to my legacy -- if this community lets down its guard and fails to activate itself in this election,” he said. “You want to give me a good sendoff? Go vote. [6]”  The reason that he may take it as such a personal insult may be that he is more concerned about his legacy than policies and how they are working.  When he was running for re-election in 2012, President Obama famously said it would be his “last political campaign no matter what,” adding, “I’ve got nothing else to run for.”  As it turns out, he does have something else to campaign for: his legacy [7].

There may be a more compelling reason to for Obama to have promoted Hillary Clinton for President – crime.  Obama is under 3 separate Congressional investigations for aiding ISIS [8].  Not to mention the gun running, the unconstitutional executive orders, the aiding to sanctuary cities, the refusal to enforce immigration laws, and the enforcement of treaties not approved by the Senate.  That is a topic that deserves a whole article on its own, so I will not go into detail here. 

 

Obama’s zeal to ensure that the next president is favorable to him, may have also led to additional commissions of crime.  Obama’s DHS Secretary made statements suggesting the Obama Administration should be directing the Federal government to ensure the security of Federal elections [9].  Obama announced that he would not prosecute Julian Castro from an obvious violation of the Hatch Act [10].  Obama’s action is an obvious obstruction of justice. Obama also openly condemned the FBI for investigating Hillary Clinton just before the election.  An investigation does not aid an election since it does not make a conclusion about a candidate.  Obama’s condemnation of this investigation, though, is another obstruction of justice [11]. 

 

Does this ever end?  Probably not until January 20, 2017.  Obama is still maintaining the Russian hacking narrative, this time claiming that the Russians were able to hack into election infrastructure and affect the 2016 Presidential election.  President Barack Obama has ordered a full review into hacking aimed at influencing US elections going back to 2008, the White House said Friday.  "The President has directed the Intelligence Community to conduct a full review of what happened during the 2016 election process. It is to capture lessons learned from that and to report to a range of stakeholders," White House Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Adviser Lisa Monaco said at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast with reporters Friday. "This is consistent with the work that we did over the summer to engage Congress on the threats that we were seeing."  White House spokesman Eric Schultz added later that the review would encompass malicious cyber activity related to US elections going back to 2008 [12].

 

Fortunately, Congress is onto Barack Obama.  If there was something substantial to Obama’s assertion about Russian hacking affecting the election, this would be the first thing to be broadcast.  “Actions are not predicated on innuendos.”  Barack Obama is facing growing pressure from congressional Democrats in both houses demanding further disclosures regarding Russia’s role in the 2016 US elections.  The White House has not responded to a week-old letter signed by every Democrat and aligned member of the Senate intelligence committee seeking declassification of “additional information concerning the Russian government and the US election [13].”

 

Now a group of senior House Democrats has also written to the president, seeking a classified briefing for colleagues on “Russian entities’ hacking of American political organizations; hacking and strategic release of emails from campaign officials; the WikiLeaks disclosures; fake news stories produced and distributed with the intent to mislead American voters; and any other Russian or Russian-related interference or involvement in our recent election.”  The letter was signed by Democratic whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland, as well as the top Democrats on the House judiciary, intelligence, armed services, foreign affairs and oversight committees [13].  

 

It just may be that come January 20, 2017, that the happiest people to see Obama leaving office will be his fellow Democrats. 

 

Footnotes:

1. Obama Vows Active Role in 2016 Presidential Race, Newsmax, Sunday December 11, 2016, http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/US-Obama-active-role/2015/12/19/id/706478/

2. Obama’s Role on Clinton’s Team, Jeff Shesol, The New Yorker, June 7, 2016, http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/obamas-role-on-clintons-team

3. Obama Is Eager to Hit the Stump for Hillary Clinton and Shred Donald Trump, JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and MICHAEL D. SHEAR, The New York Times, June 6, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/07/us/politics/obama-is-eager-to-hit-the-stump-for-hillary-clinton-and-shred-donald-trump.html?_r=0

4. Obama's active role for Hillary Clinton is a break from past elections, Emily Schultheis, CBS News, June 10, 2016, http://www.cbsnews.com/news/president-obamas-active-role-for-hillary-clinton-is-a-break-from-past-elections/

5. President Obama to launch unprecedented campaign for Hillary Clinton, Mike Dorning, Chicago Tribune, September 20, 2016, http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-president-obama-campaigning-hillary-clinton-october-20160920-story.html

6. Obama Throws Himself Into 2016 Race Hellbent on Clinton Victory, Mike Dorning, Bloomberg, September 20, 2016, https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-09-20/obama-throws-himself-into-2016-race-hellbent-on-clinton-victory

7. President Obama Is Now Campaigning for His Legacy, Maya Rhodan, Time, October 10, 2016, http://time.com/4526075/hillary-clinton-barack-obama-campaigning/

8. ALERT: Congress Launches 3 Separate Investigations Of Obama For Helping ISIS, Bob Amaroso, US Herald, http://usherald.com/alert-congress-launches-3-separate-investigations-obama-helping-isis/

9. Obama eyes takeover of presidential election security, Paul Bedard, Washington Examiner, August 3, 2016, http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/obama-eyes-takeover-of-presidential-election-security/article/2598481

10. Obama won’t punish Julian Castro for violating Hatch Act, Dave Boyer, The Washington Times, July 19, 2016, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jul/19/obama-wont-punish-castro-violating-hatch-act/

11. Obama condemns FBI for announcing investigation so close to the presidential election, Christi Parsons and Sarah D. Wire, Los Angeles Times, November 2, 2016, http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-obama-fbi-election-20161102-story.html

12. Obama orders review of Russian election-related hacking, Tal Kopan, Kevin Liptak and Jim Sciutto, CNN, December 9, 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/09/politics/obama-orders-review-into-russian-hacking-of-2016-election/

13. Obama under mounting pressure to disclose Russia's role in US election, Spencer Ackerman, The Guardian, December 7, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/07/obama-democrats-russia-role-elections