Retired Navy Adm. Ronny Jackson (R) is not backing down from his claim that former President Barack Obama “weaponized” the government to spy on President Donald Trump.
“I stand by my comments calling out President Obama’s administration for weaponizing our government to spy on President Trump and his supporters,” Jackson wrote in a statement on Thursday afternoon.
He added, “I will never apologize for standing up to protect America’s national security interests and constitutional freedoms, even if that means triggering liberals and the ‘mainstream media.”
Read Jackson’s statement below:
Today, I issued the following statement regarding recent false accusations from former Obama officials and the mainstream media. #TX13 pic.twitter.com/iJQpWsx9Y2
— Ronny Jackson (@RonnyJacksonTX) May 14, 2020
Jackson’s statement comes one day after he tweeted, “President Obama weaponized the highest levels of our government to spy on President Trump. Every Deep State traitor deserves to be brought to justice for their heinous actions.”
Jackson linked to a Fox News story about Trump’s attacks on Obama. Earlier this week, Trump accused Obama of carrying out “the biggest political crime in American history, by far!”
President Obama weaponized the highest levels of our government to spy on President Trump. Every Deep State traitor deserves to be brought to justice for their heinous actions.https://t.co/Lq8kSPb0Xb
— Ronny Jackson (@RonnyJacksonTX) May 12, 2020
When asked by a reporter from The Washington Post what crime Obama allegedly committed, Trump said, “You know the crime. The crime is very obvious to everybody. All you have to do is read the newspapers, except yours.”
Trump’s comments come amid an escalating feud with Obama.
Last week, the Justice Department moved to drop its prosecution of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.
In response to that news, Trump said, “He is a great gentleman. He was targeted by the Obama administration, and he was targeted in order to try and take down a president, and what they’ve done is a disgrace, and I hope a big price is going to be paid.”
However, Obama raised concerns about the decision to drop the prosecution, “The fact that there is no precedent that anybody can find for someone who has been charged with perjury just getting off scot-free. That’s the kind of stuff where you begin to get worried that basic — not just institutional norms — but our basic understanding of rule of law is at risk.”
On Thursday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announced that the Senate Judiciary Committee would “begin holding multiple, in-depth congressional hearings regarding all things related to [the Russia investigation] starting in early June.”
He also indicated he would investigate the decision to drop the prosecution of Flynn, as well as alleged prosecutorial misconduct by Obama officials.
While Trump said Graham should call Obama to testify before the Senate, the South Carolina senator dismissed that idea.
“I don’t think now’s the time for me to do that. I don’t know if that’s even possible,” Graham said.
Jackson served as the White House physician under Obama and Trump until 2018. He is now running for Congress in Texas’ 13 Congressional district.
