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As part of a large and baselessconspiracy theory,Donald Trump posited thatBarack Obama had spied on him,[1] which Trump described as "the biggest political crime in American history, by far."[2] The series of accusations have been nicknamedObamagate.[3][4][5][6] Obama had served as the 44thPresident of the United States from 2009 until 2017, when Trump succeeded him; Trump served as the 45th president until 2021 (first presidency) and later he was re-elected in 2024 as the 47th president (second presidency).
During key points of the 2020 campaign, including the Republican National Convention[7][8] and both presidential debates,[9][10] Trump frequently repeated this theory, claiming "they spied on my campaign" in reference to these allegations.[11] The specific allegations of inappropriate politically motivated surveillance or "spying" all involve theFederal Bureau of Investigation'sCrossfire Hurricane investigation of the Trump campaign and transition and their ties to Russia. No evidence has been found that legal surveillance, as part of Crossfire Hurricane, was at the direction of Obama, Obama administration political officials or improperdeep state influence, or that theSteele dossier wasused to launch the Russia probe,[12] or that the surveillance was designed to surveil the Trump campaign and Trump White House transition team for political purposes.
Trump has claimed that as part of Crossfire Hurricane,his "wires" at Trump Tower were wiretapped. This was refuted by Trump's own Justice Department.[13] In addition, Trump has claimed that after the Crossfire Hurricane investigation recordedMichael Flynn's conversations with Russian ambassadorSergey Kislyak, Flynn was improperly "unmasked". This was also refuted by the Trump Justice Department.[14] Specific actions undertaken by the FBI that have been highlighted include the use of aninformant who met with Trump advisorsSam Clovis,George Papadopoulos, andCarter Page,[15][16] as well as obtaining aFISA warrant to legally surveilCarter Page after he left the Trump campaign.
TheInspector General report on the Crossfire Hurricane investigation did not find evidence that "political bias or improper motivation influenced the FBI's decision to seek FISA authority on Carter Page", but did point out serious inconsistencies and improper procedures that were followed with regard to the obtaining of the warrants.[17] The Inspector General wrote that his review "found no evidence that the FBI attempted to place any" FBI source in the Trump campaign.[18][19] The review also "found no evidence" that the FBI had tried to "recruit members of the Trump campaign" to serve as their sources.[19] Finally, the review did not produce evidence that "political bias or improper motivations influenced" the FBI's usage of confidential sources or undercover agents for interactions with members of Trump's campaign.[18]
In July 2025,Tulsi Gabbard distributed documents that she insinuated placed guilt for certain members of the Obama administration, that she termed "treasonous", and were a part of the Obamagate conspiracy theory.[20][21] Several days later Trump accused and affirmed Gabbard's allegations during a July 22 meeting with thePhilippine PresidentBongbong Marcos, where he claimed Obama attempted a failed "coup" in the 2016 election which implicated former President Obama for treason.[22][23] That same day a spokesperson for Obama's office stated that normally out of respect for the office of the Presidency, Obama's office rarely made public comments, however as Trump's claims were both "outrageous" and "bizarre" the situation called for a response. The spokesperson added that these allegations were attempts at "distraction". Political commentators have suggested that by distraction, that Trump was using the Obamagate conspiracy theory to deflect allegations that Trump wasinvolved with theJeffrey Epstein sex trafficking scandal.[22]
According to the results of a U.S. Senate investigation, the government of Russia directly and through intermediaries sought influence within 2016 U.S. presidential election candidate Donald Trump's political campaigns and also to sow discord within American society.[24][25][26] Thus, actions taken by the then-current Obama Administration in its investigations into these alleged Russian influences provide the bases for claims that it spied on Trump.
On May 10, 2020—one day after former presidentBarack Obama criticized the Trump administration's handling of theCOVID-19 pandemic[54]—Trump posted a one-word tweet: "OBAMAGATE!"[55] On May 11,Philip Rucker ofThe Washington Post asked Trump what crime former president Barack Obama committed. Trump's reply was: "Obamagate. It's been going on for a long time ... from before I even got elected and it's a disgrace that it happened.... Some terrible things happened and it should never be allowed to happen in our country again." When Rucker again asked what the crime was, Trump said: "You know what the crime is. The crime is very obvious to everybody. All you have to do is read the newspapers, except yours."[56] On May 15, Trump tweeted that Obamagate was the "greatest political scandal in the history of the United States." This was the third time Trump claimed to be suffering from a scandal of such magnitude, after previously givingSpygate and theRussia investigation similar labels.[57] Also on May 15, Trump linked Obamagate to the "persecution" of Michael Flynn, and a missing 302 form.[58][59]
Trump called for Congress to summon Obama to testify about "the biggest political crime".[60] SenatorLindsey Graham, chair of theSenate Judiciary Committee, said that he did not expect to summon Obama, but would summon other Obama administration officials.[61] Meanwhile, Attorney General William Barr stated that he did not "expect" Obama to be investigated for a crime.[60] Some of Trump's allies have suggested that the "crime" involved the FBI launching an investigation into incoming national security advisorMichael Flynn,[62] or possibly the "unmasking" by outgoing Obama officials to find out the name of a person who was reported in intelligence briefings to be conversing with the Russian ambassador.[63]
In a May 2020 op-ed at the news websiteRealClearPolitics,Charles Lipson, professor emeritus of political science at theUniversity of Chicago analyzed the content of "Obamagate". He claimed that the concept refers to three accusations: (1) The Obama administration conductedmass surveillance through the NSA; (2) the Obama administration used surveillance against Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, and (3) the Obama administration did not transfer power seamlessly to the new Trump administration. Lipson further claimed that "these abuses didn’t simply follow each other; their targets, goals, and principal players overlapped. Taken together, they represent some of the gravest violations of constitutional norms and legal protections in American history".[64]
TheAssociated Press (AP) in May 2020 addressed Obamagate in a fact check, stating that there was "no evidence" of Trump's suggestion that "the disclosure of Flynn's name as part of legal U.S. surveillance of foreign targets was criminal and motivated by partisan politics." AP stated that there is not only "nothing illegal about unmasking," but also that the unmasking of Flynn was approved using the National Security Agency's "standard process." Unmasking is allowed if officials feel that it is needed to understand the collected intelligence. AP further pointed out that the Trump administration was conducting even more unmasking than the Obama administration in the final year of Obama's presidency.[65]
In May, attorney generalBill Barr appointed federal prosecutorJohn Bash to examine unmasking conducted by the Obama administration.[66]
The concept underlies in part a 2020 U.S. Senate investigation[67][68] into the 2016–onwardFBI's Crossfire Hurricane investigation.[69] Former deputy attorney generalSally Yates on August 5, 2020, testified before the Committee that investigators were concerned that thenational security adviser to President-elect Trump,Michael Flynn,was conversing in private with the Russian ambassador. According to Yates, Obama was interested in whether Flynn ought to be considered a safe recipient for sensitive briefings and Obama "did not in any way attempt to direct or influence any kind of investigation. Something like that would have set off alarms for me."[70][71] (According to news reports, the belief that Flynn may have violated theLogan Act – a rarely prosecuted and vague law which constrains individuals from countervailing the existing foreign policy of the United States by way of secretive meetings – supplied the initial rationale for the FBI to target Flynn.[72][73])
Accusations have been leveled that Senate Republicans used investigations of "Obamagate" to help provide theDonald Trump 2020 presidential campaign with talking points.[74][75]
In September, Sen.Ron Johnson, Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, led Republicans on the committee in securing subpoenas to look into Trump's Obamagate claims.[76] Johnson had received criticism for stating "the more that we expose of the corruption of the transition process between Obama and Trump, the more we expose of the corruption within those agencies, I would think it would certainly help Donald Trump win reelection and certainly be pretty good, I would say, evidence about not voting forVice President Biden".[77]
With the news that theDurham special counsel investigation into potential abuses within the Obama's administration's handling of the FBI'sCrossfire Hurricane investigation would not produce a report orindictments before the 2020 presidential election,[78] President Trump began publicly calling out Attorney GeneralBill Barr for lack of arrests of major political figures he believes were involved, including his 2020 opponentJoe Biden.[79]
The Washington Post reported on October 13 that Bash's unmasking inquiry had concluded with no findings of substantive wrongdoing and no public report.[80]
On October 25, Trump repeated his allegations in an interview on60 Minutes, claiming "the biggest scandal was when they spied on my campaign. They spied on my campaign, and they got caught." HostLesley Stahl challenged the assertion, claiming "there's no real evidence of that. This is 60 Minutes, and we can't put on things we can't verify." Trump disagreed, claiming "they spied on my campaign, and they got caught. And then they went much further than that, and they got caught. And you will see that, Lesley, and you know that, but you just don't want to put it on the air."[81] The dispute was part of a contentious interview that ended with Trump walking out.[82]
On July 18,United States Director of National IntelligenceTulsi Gabbard distributed documents that she insinuated placed guilt for certain members of the Obama administration, that she termed "treasonous", and were a part of the Obamagate conspiracy theory.[20][21] Several days later Trump accused and affirmed Gabbard's allegations during a July 22 meeting with thePhilippine PresidentBongbong Marcos, where he claimed Obama attempted a failed "coup" in the 2016 election which implicated former President Obama for treason.[22][23] That same day a spokesperson for Obama's office stated that normally out of respect for the office of the Presidency, Obama's office rarely made public comments, however as Trump's claims were both "outrageous" and "bizarre" the situation called for a response. The spokesperson added that these allegations were attempts at "distraction". Political commentators have suggested that by distraction, that Trump was using the Obamagate conspiracy theory to deflect allegations that Trump wasinvolved with theJeffrey Epstein sex trafficking scandal.[22] These allegations were widely circulated earlier in July by former Trump ally and head ofDepartment of Government EfficiencyElon Musk, who accused Trump of collusion with the deceased child predator and trafficker on Musk'sX social media platform.[83] The next day July 23, the Justice Department announced a strike force that would investigate the documents that Gabbard had discovered.[84][85] On July 25, Trump stated that "He owes me, Obama owes me big," as Obama had immunity from prosecution due to Trump's legal battles for presidential immunity which were broadened on July 1 with theTrump v. United States ruling.[86][87][88] Subsequently in late July, FBI directorKash Patel claimed to have discovered a secret room inside FBI headquarters at theHoover Building. Inside the room was a collection of "Burner Bags" filled with documents which according to Patel were evidence of members of the Obama administration colluding in the Obamagate conspiracy. Patel claimed that there was a secret room in the Hoover Building in June during an interview withJoe Rogan on theJoe Rogan experience.[89]
In early August of 2025,United States Attorney GeneralPam Bondi decreed that agrand jury investigation would be initiated after Gabbard and Patel's allegations were made public.[90] Later on August 10, Vice PresidentJD Vance appeared in an interview on Fox News where he predicted that there would be numerous indictments coming in the near future, after Patel and Gabbard's alleged discoveries.[91]
President Trump had a prolific day online, posting 126 tweets or retweets as part of his Mother's Day celebration. Several of the missives treated a new political project of his: Obamagate.
The president is trying to use the government to skew the election
Trump said ... without evidence, that Obama had committed "treason" by spying on his campaign, in reference to his years-old claim that the Obama administration tapped his phone lines at Trump Tower before the 2016 general election.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)We found no evidence that the FBI used CHSs" — confidential human sources — "or UCEs" — undercover employees — "to interact with members of the Trump campaign prior to the opening of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation," the report states. "After the opening of the investigation, we found no evidence that the FBI placed any CHSs or UCEs within the Trump campaign or tasked any CHSs or UCEs to report on the Trump campaign." Horowitz's investigators also "found no documentary or testimonial evidence that political bias or improper motivations influenced the FBI's decision to use CHSs or UCEs to interact with Trump campaign officials in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
Third, it addresses allegations that the FBI planted an informant in the Trump campaign, saying "we found no evidence that the FBI attempted to place any CHSs within the Trump campaign, recruit members of the Trump campaign as CHSs, or task CHSs to report on the Trump campaign." [...] One supervisory special agent (SSA) describes believing a confidential human source's (CHS) information because the source was a Trump backer ... But it turns out that not only was the source a Trump supporter, so too were the agents involved in cultivating him.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)