❓WHAT HAPPENED: President Donald J. Trump says former President Barack Obama “owes” him for a Supreme Court ruling that affirmed the immunity of presidents amid accusations of criminality regarding Russiagate.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: President Donald J. Trump, former President Barack Obama, Obama administration officials, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard.
📍WHEN & WHERE: President Trump made the statements on July 25
💬KEY QUOTE: “He’s done criminal acts, there’s no question about it. But he has immunity, and it probably helps him a lot… he owes me big, Obama owes me big,” Trump said.
🎯IMPACT: The SCOTUS ruling could prevent Obama from facing any criminal liability, but other former administration members may not get the same protection.
President Donald J. Trump said on Friday that former President Barack Hussein Obama “owes me big” following a Supreme Court ruling that affirmed broad presidential immunity. The statement comes after Trump accused Obama of being the “ringleader” of Russiagate and called for a criminal investigation.
On July 22, following the release of new evidence by Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard, Trump said that Obama and members of his administration had “manufactured” intelligence to tie him to Russia. “He’s done criminal acts, there’s no question about it. But he has immunity, and it probably helps him a lot… He owes me big, Obama owes me big,” Trump said July 25, adding: “It probably helps him a lot… the immunity ruling, but it doesn’t help the people around him at all.”
The House Intelligence Committee concluded that the U.S. intelligence community lacked direct evidence in 2016 that Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed to help Trump win the presidency. Despite this, the committee alleges that under “unusual” orders from then-President Obama, U.S. agencies disseminated “potentially biased” intelligence.
A declassified report prepared by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and dated September 18, 2020, revealed that just five Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analysts, directed by senior intelligence officials and political appointees, produced the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) published shortly before Trump’s inauguration.
“The draft was not properly coordinated within CIA or the IC, ensuring it would be published without significant challenges to its conclusions,” the committee report noted. It further noted that the 2017 ICA was rushed to completion, driven by pressure from then-CIA Director John Brennan and others to include the bogus anti-Trump Steele Dossier, which was “based largely on internet rumor.”
Tulsi Gabbard said this week that “deep state obstacles” had delayed the release of this information. “There are a lot of deep state actors still here within Washington. President Trump wants us to find the truth. I want to find that truth. The American people deserve the truth, and they deserve accountability,” Gabbard said.
🚨 JUST IN: President Trump on if Barack Hussein Obama can be criminally prosecuted for the Trump-Russia Treasonous Conspiracy hoax
“He has immunity, it probably helps him a lot. He OWES ME BIG. Obama owes me big.”
“But it DOESN’T help the people around him AT ALL.” pic.twitter.com/WE8nRQkoT3
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 25, 2025
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