Trump moves portraits of Obama, Bush to hidden stairwell, CNN claims

President Donald Trump has reportedly moved a portrait of former President Barack Obama to a location in the White House where visitors are typically not allowed, CNN reported Sunday.

The portrait is now hanging at the top of the Grand Staircase in the White House — a location that is generally inaccessible to visitors — alongside portraits of former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, according to CNN, which obtained a photo of the Obama portrait in its new location. It is the second time the portrait of Obama has been moved, with Trump having moved it in April in exchange for a photo showing the immediate aftermath of the July 2024 assassination attempt Trump survived in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released documents and a memo on July 18 detailing evidence that Obama’s national security team “manufactured and politicized intelligence” as part of what she called a “years-long coup” against Trump after he defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race. Gabbard said during a July 23 White House press briefing she had referred Obama to the Justice Department for possible criminal charges related to the “Russiagate” hoax, saying Obama led “the manufacturing” of the assessment that Russia interfered with the 2016 election on Trump’s behalf.

Special Counsel John Durham released a report in May 2023 on the origins of the FBI investigation of allegations that Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia, finding that the FBI “did not and could not corroborate” the claims from the now-discredited Steele Dossier, which was used to obtain warrants to monitor communications by Carter Page and other associates of Trump.

FBI analyst Brian Auten testified in an October 2022 trial that the FBI offered former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele $1 million if he could corroborate the claims in the dossier, but Steele never did.

In July, CIA Director John Ratcliffe referred former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey to the FBI, which launched a criminal investigation into the two for allegedly making false statements to Congress. Brennan denied wrongdoing during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” telling host Nicolle Wallace the CIA “stayed true” and didn’t try to influence the 2016 election during the Obama administration when Wallace questioned him about the probe.

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