President Donald Trump on Friday sniped at Democrats over the investigations he’s been threatened with and deflected the issue by saying former President Barack Obama should be investigated instead.
Sitting in the Oval Office, Trump told reporters that they should be concerned about Obama’s book deal but didn’t specify which one.
“I think it’s a disgrace what the Democrats are doing,” Trump said of the calls for investigations into his 2016 campaign and possible obstruction of justice.
“Let’s look into Obama the way they looked at me. They could look into the book deal that President Obama made,” Trump continued. “Let’s subpoena all of his records.”
He also called for lawmakers to investigate his 2016 presidential rival, Hillary Clinton, which he’s been insisting on for years.
In 2017, Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama signed a joint book deal with Penguin Random House reportedly worth more than $65 million, according to the Financial Times.
The former president is working on a memoir as part of that deal, which is expected to be released in 2020 as the presidential campaigns heat up. Michelle Obama published her popular memoir, “Becoming,” last year.
Click Here: Discount Golf Appare
There are two other books under Barack Obama’s belt, both written before his presidency. “Dreams From my Father,” a memoir, was published in 1995, and “The Audacity of Hope” was released in 2006.
This is the first time Trump has publicly claimed a conspiracy involving Obama’s book deal, making the rant appear to be a distraction after former special counsel Robert Mueller’s congressional testimony Wednesday.
Before two House committees in back-to-back hearings, Mueller testified that Trump could be charged with obstruction of justice after he left office and said that the president had not been entirely truthful in his written answers for the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Mueller also refuted Trump’s claims of “total exoneration” on the allegations investigated, confirming that the report did not exonerate Trump from any crimes.
Trump continues to claim that the special counsel probe yielded nothing incriminating and said as much again Friday.
“I watched Bob Mueller and they have nothing. There is no collusion, there is no obstruction, they have nothing. It’s a disgrace,” Trump said.