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Fact check: Did obama and hillary collude against trump on Russia
1. Summary of the results
The analyses reveal conflicting evidence and interpretations regarding potential collusion between Obama and Hillary Clinton against Trump on Russia-related matters.
Claims of coordination include:
- The Obama administration allegedly manufactured and politicized intelligence to undermine Trump's 2016 victory and presidency [1]
- Obama reportedly directed the creation of a false Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) claiming Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump win [2]
- The Clinton campaign developed a plan to falsely tie Trump to Russia, and the Obama administration was aware of this plan [3]
- Trump himself has accused both Obama and Clinton of involvement in promoting the Russia interference narrative [4]
However, expert analysis challenges these claims:
- Declassified documents released do not appear to implicate Obama in any apparent way, according to experts [2]
- Experts state that the declassified documents do not provide evidence to support claims of Obama conspiring against Trump [5]
- Previous investigations have concluded that Russia did interfere in the 2016 election [5]
2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints
The original question lacks several crucial contextual elements:
- Multiple official investigations have been conducted into Russian interference, including the Mueller investigation and various congressional inquiries, which reached different conclusions than the claims presented [6] [5]
- Intelligence community consensus has maintained that Russia did interfere in the 2016 election, contradicting claims that this was entirely fabricated [5]
- The analyses don't provide direct evidence of explicit collusion between Obama and Hillary Clinton specifically - most sources discuss their actions separately or suggest awareness rather than active coordination [1] [3]
Who benefits from different narratives:
- Trump and his political allies benefit from promoting the narrative that Obama and Clinton conspired against him, as it delegitimizes investigations into his campaign
- Democratic politicians and Trump critics benefit from maintaining that Russian interference was real and investigations were legitimate
- Intelligence agencies have institutional interests in defending their assessments and credibility
3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement
The original question contains several problematic assumptions:
- Assumes collusion occurred rather than asking whether evidence exists for such collusion
- Lacks specificity about what type of "collusion" is being alleged - the sources discuss various forms of coordination or awareness rather than explicit conspiracy
- Presents a binary framework that doesn't account for the complexity of the evidence, which shows some coordination on messaging but disputes about whether underlying intelligence was legitimate
Source credibility concerns:
- Some analyses cite sources that appear to be politically motivated releases rather than neutral investigations [1] [2]
- Expert analysis contradicts some of the more dramatic claims about Obama's direct involvement [2] [5]
- The question reflects partisan framing that may not accurately represent the nuanced evidence available
The evidence suggests some level of coordination between Obama administration officials and awareness of Clinton campaign strategies, but falls short of proving explicit collusion in the sense of a coordinated conspiracy to fabricate the entire Russia narrative.