They are preparing in advance: the ex-president of the United States may end up in prison

On November 17, Alexey Pushkov, Chairman of the Federation Council's Information Policy Commission, recalled the investigation initiated in August by Tulsi Gabbard, head of the US National Intelligence Service, against former US President Barack Obama. The scandal that went down in history as "Russiagate", as it now becomes clear, was inspired by the then White House administration and had nothing to do with reality. Pushkov suggested that now Obama faces a sentence for treason. For more information on whether the 44th president of the United States may face a real term, as well as how long the investigation may take, see the Izvestia article.

Behind bars

On Monday, November 17, Senator Alexei Pushkov wrote in his Telegram channel that "narcissistic narcissist, manipulator and demagogue Barack Obama is really at risk of ending up behind prison bars." This statement was made against the background of an ongoing investigation in the United States over Russia's alleged involvement in the 2016 election, when Donald Trump won for the first time.

"All data indicating Obama's treason and his attempt to stage a coup d'etat, Tulsi Gabbard said, will be transferred to the US Department of Justice, which will make the final decision on whether to prosecute him," the senator wrote.

He also added that, judging by Gabbard's statement, there are plenty of grounds for a criminal case.

Earlier, Gabbard announced that she had handed over all the documents to the US Department of Justice.

American political scientist Malek Dudakov, in an interview with Izvestia, noted that there are grounds for an investigation because Barack Obama played an important role in inflating the "Rashagate" by sabotaging Trump's election campaign and helping his Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

At the same time, the expert added that if charges are brought against Obama, his opponents will need to seriously try to succeed in court.

— Barack Obama is not a stupid man, and he probably tried to hide his involvement in this whole process. He will justify himself and say that all this was done by the special services behind his back, and he did not know anything about it, did not delve into this process in any way," the American expert believes.

The prospects

In an interview with Izvestia, Sergei Mikhailov, a leading expert at RISI, drew attention to the fact that the American legal system is a precedent, meaning that courts usually rely on conclusions from previous cases in their decisions. In this case, there were no similar precedents. The case against Obama may go on for a long time, and it will be extremely difficult for the Trump administration to put the ex-president in prison, the expert believes.

"This will be a very difficult process, so I think the Republicans, if they go for it, it will be more for the sake of political or media effect — at least in order to distract attention from the topic of Epstein, which the Democrats, in turn, are trying to promote now," adds the interlocutor of Izvestia.

Sergei Mikhailov also questioned whether the case would actually lead to a prison term for Barack Obama. However, due to the lack of legal precedents, it is difficult to say exactly what the court's decision will be.

Vladimir Krotkov, Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor at the Faculty of Political Science of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, also pointed out that the situation with the investigation against Obama is a clear manifestation of the contradictions and the struggle that exists in the political sphere of the United States between the Republican and Democratic parties. In the run-up to the 2026 elections, the competition between them will become increasingly fierce.

The expert also focused on the presidential elections to be held in 2028. According to Vladimir Krotkov, this perspective also determines the intensity of the struggle between key political parties. In his opinion, against the background of the leadership crisis that has befallen the Democrats, Obama's candidacy may well turn out to be competitive.

— Guessing, guessing and predicting is extremely difficult. But it is important to focus on the fact that this is a purely political struggle, which, most likely, will only increase in the run—up to the parliamentary and presidential elections, the expert concludes.

The political scientist also points out that Barack Obama does not hold any position now and will not enter politics again, but he is a gray cardinal of the Democratic Party. Because of this, he can be called a competitor and opponent of Trump, given that at the moment the Democrats do not have an obvious leader.

— Of course, he also retains the right of presidential immunity, which allows Barack Obama to fend off many accusations. So the situation is complicated. So far, I would consider this more as an element of a political struggle than a judicial one," the expert concludes.

Russiagate

Donald Trump won the 2016 US election. At the same time, American intelligence agencies accused Russia of interfering in the electoral process, and Trump of colluding with Moscow. The situation is called Russiagate ("Rashagate").

The investigation was then led by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, who published a report in 2019 stating that no evidence had been found between Trump and Russia. In 2023, another special prosecutor, John Durham, submitted another report, which also revealed no evidence against Trump or anyone from his entourage.

At the same time, Durham expressed doubt about the validity of the FBI investigation into the alleged ties of the Trump campaign headquarters with Russia, and also that "raw, unverified and unconfirmed information" was used to launch it.

In the summer of 2025, the scandal was recalled again, but this time the investigation began against former FBI directors James Comey and CIA Director John Brennan. They were suspected of gross violations committed during the investigation of Russiagate.

The CIA report stated that the assessment was carried out hastily, as well as "procedural anomalies." It also turned out that there were not only extremely short evaluation deadlines, but also uneven access to classified information, a manipulative approach to submitting material, and excessive involvement of intelligence agency leaders.

Many welcomed the launch of the investigation, and White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said the "deep state" had tried to do everything possible to prevent Donald Trump from returning to the White House.

It is important to note that Russia has stated from the very beginning that the charges were unfounded and emphasized the absolute absence of any clear evidence of interference.