Obama breaks silence on Trump’s ‘outrageous’ call to prosecute him | First Thing
Office of ex-president says allegations of attempted coup are attempt at distraction'. Plus, why are people opting out of traditional funerals?
Good morning.
Barack Obama has broken his silence on Donald Trump's calls to prosecute him, unequivocally rejecting his successor's accusations that he tried to engineer a coup" after Trump's 2016 election victory by manufacturing" evidence of Russian interference.
What else did the statement say? It went on to criticize claims made in an 11-page document released last week by Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence. It said: Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes. These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan senate Intelligence Committee, led by then Chairman Marco Rubio."
Why is there speculation about Ishiba's future? He is facing growing opposition from within his own party after he vowed to stay on as leader after his coalition lost its upper house majority in elections last weekend, as well as their majority in the lower house in October last year. His position is widely regarded as untenable in light of the two consecutive electoral defeats.
Will he resign? After the deal was announced by Trump, Japan's Mainichi newspaper reported that Ishiba would announce his resignation as prime minister by the end of next month.
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