Former President Barack Obama called out Senate Republicans in a letter sent in March in response to their request for Obama administration records as part of their witch hunt against former Vice President Joe Biden.
In November after it became clear that President Donald Trump attempted to extort Ukraine into opening a sham investigation into Biden in an effort to help Trump win in 2020, Senate Republicans decided to conduct an investigation into Biden themselves, culminating in Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) requesting presidential records from the National Archives that are not scheduled to be released yet.
Republicans are operating under the false notion that Biden somehow committed crimes involving Ukraine and that Ukraine is the nation that interfered with the 2016 election, not Russia, a theory that the Russian government has been trying to disseminate since 2016.
Of course, Republicans are spreading that Russian disinformation and are hoping to smear Biden ahead of the election in November for Trump’s benefit.
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Well, that didn’t sit well with Obama, whose office sent a letter to the National Archives accusing Republicans of improperly using the records.
“[T]he current request is not a proper use of the limited NARA exceptions,” the letter said. “It arises out of efforts by some, actively supported by Russia, to shift the blame for Russian interference in the 2016 election to Ukraine.”
Obama cited House testimony from former National Security Council member Fiona Hill, whose testimony in November identified Russia as a threat to our presidential elections and criticized Republicans for pushing “a fictional narrative that is being perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves” to frame Ukraine for 2016 interference.
“The request for early release of presidential records in order to give credence to a Russian disinformation campaign, one that has already been thoroughly investigated by a bipartisan congressional committee is without precedent,” the letter continued.
This appears to be the strongest statement against this Republican witch hunt against Biden that Obama has released thus far, and it strikes at the heart of Republican corruption and the GOP’s ties with Russia.
Biden is Trump’s biggest threat, which is why he will be the Democratic nominee. So, it makes sense that Republicans would try to sabotage Biden’s campaign by opening a sham investigation against him.
Senate Republicans, however, are stepping into dangerous territory. Obama may no longer be president, but he deserves just as much respect as other former presidents have received from Congress since our country was founded. Attacking Biden is the same as attacking Obama, and that should not be allowed to stand, especially since Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is the one who refused to help Obama combat Russian meddling in 2016 when given the chance to do so based on evidence.
The National Archives should reject this Republican request and Republicans should think twice about their witch hunt.
Featured image via screen capture
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