{"id":2465234,"date":"2025-07-22T12:44:01","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T16:44:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dojs-ability-to-prosecute-obama-officials-likely-restricted\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T12:47:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T16:47:10","slug":"dojs-ability-to-prosecute-obama-officials-likely-restricted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dojs-ability-to-prosecute-obama-officials-likely-restricted\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ&#8217;s ability to prosecute Obama officials likely restricted"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdojs-ability-to-prosecute-obama-officials-likely-restricted%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2465234&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/veterans-from-walzs-unit-insist-he-knew-of-deployment-before-congressional-run-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Veterans from Walz\u2019s unit insist he knew of deployment before congressional run - Washington Examiner\">article discusses claims<\/a> by Tulsi gabbard, former Director of National intelligence, who asserts there is sufficient evidence to prosecute Obama administration officials for allegedly fabricating the false narrative of collusion between President Donald Trump&#8217;s 2016 campaign and Russia. Gabbard has released declassified documents aiming to prove a &#8220;treasonous conspiracy&#8221; at the highest levels of the Obama White House and handed these documents over to the Justice Department, urging indictments nonetheless of the officials&#8217; power or status.<\/p>\n<p>However, the article highlights important legal obstacles, primarily the statute of limitations, which generally limits prosecution of moast crimes to five years from when the alleged crime occurred. Since the events date back to 2016 and 2017, it is unlikely that the Department of Justice (DOJ) can successfully bring charges now.Attempts to extend this period through claims of ongoing conspiracy are viewed skeptically by legal experts, given the government investigations and reports-such as the 2023 Durham report-that found insufficient grounds for prosecution.<\/p>\n<p>additional challenges include recent Supreme Court rulings granting presidents broad immunity for official acts, complicating efforts to hold former officials accountable. Similar difficulties apply to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/steve-bannon-urges-trump-to-show-no-mercy-in-second-term\/\" title=\"Steve Bannon urges ... to ... ...no mercy... in second term\">potential prosecutions related<\/a> to other high-profile figures like former FBI director James Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan, especially given the time elapsed since alleged actions and questions about false testimony and evidence.<\/p>\n<p>while gabbard and some Trump allies push for legal action,substantial legal and practical barriers make successful prosecutions unlikely at this stage.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Statute of limitations likely restricts DOJ&rsquo;s ability to prosecute Obama officials over 2016 Russia scandal<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2179474\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Director of National Intelligence <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tulsi-gabbard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Tulsi Gabbard\">Tulsi Gabbard<\/a> claimed over the weekend that there is enough evidence to prosecute Obama administration officials over their false <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2016-elections\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"2016 election\">2016 election<\/a> narrative tying President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Donald Trump\">Donald Trump<\/a> to Russia, but it may be too late for the Justice Department to pursue the case.<\/p>\n<p>While Trump and his administration have released new documents and evidence, which they say show potentially criminal efforts by the Obama administration to fabricate a narrative of collusion between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign, the statute of limitations on avenues for prosecution will likely severely limit the DOJ&rsquo;s ability to build a case.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3478205\/gop-rebel-warren-davidson-bondi-testify-epstein\/\">GOP rebel Warren Davidson calls on Bondi to testify on Epstein<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3478204\/doj-fbi-sit-down-ghislaine-maxwell\/\">DOJ and FBI to sit down with Ghislaine Maxwell to &#8216;hear what she has to say&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3478002\/officer-brett-hankinson-sentenced-excessive-force-breonna-taylor-raid\/\">Ex-officer sentenced nearly three years for excessive force in Breonna Taylor raid<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Gabbard on Friday released declassified intelligence documents from late 2016 and early 2017 purporting to show a &ldquo;treasonous conspiracy by officials at the highest levels of the Obama White House to subvert the will of the American people and try to usurp [Trump] from fulfilling his mandate.&rdquo; She also said she would hand over the documents to the Justice Department, which she did on Monday, one day after she claimed that Obama administration officials should be indicted for alleged crimes.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There must be indictments for those responsible, no matter how powerful they are and were at that time, no matter who was involved in creating this treasonous conspiracy against the American people, they all must be held accountable,&rdquo; Gabbard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3476730\/gabbard-evidence-prosecute-obama-trump-2016-election-narrative\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"said\">said<\/a> on Fox News.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/archives\/jm\/criminal-resource-manual-650-length-limitations-period\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Federal law<\/a> limits the statute of limitations for most crimes to five years from the date the alleged crime was committed. Thus, alleged crimes committed in 2016 and 2017 would likely fall outside of prosecutors&rsquo; reach. Criminal charges with longer or no st<\/span>atutes of limitation, such as murder and certain acts of terrorism, are unlikely to apply to&nbsp;the false Trump-Russia narrative.<\/p>\n<p>One way to extend the statute of limitations for the alleged crimes would be to prosecute a continued conspiracy among the officials that stretched beyond the start of Trump&rsquo;s first term, because the latest criminal action in a conspiracy becomes the point at which the statute of limitations applies.<\/p>\n<p>Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that the alleged activities would likely fall out of the statute of limitations even with the conspiracy alleged by Gabbard and other Trump officials.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re dealing with a conspiracy, the five years runs from the last overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy. We&rsquo;re talking about conduct from 2016-17. It was the subject of a government probe, which really went nowhere in terms of serious charges, much less convictions,&rdquo; Rahmani said, citing the investigation by former Special Counsel John Durham.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/1853479\/durham-report-fbi-and-doj-had-no-proper-basis-to-launch-trump-russia-investigation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Durham report\">Durham report<\/a>, released in 2023, found that the Justice Department and FBI had no proper basis to open an investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Durham charged three people in his investigation, obtaining one guilty plea, while the other two were acquitted.<\/p>\n<p>Rahmani was skeptical that a judge would allow the extension of the statute of limitations on what he called a &ldquo;questionable basis&rdquo; because the evidence Gabbard released last week deals with events that transpired in 2016 and 2017.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think a judge would consider tolling the statute of limitations,&rdquo; Rahmani said. &ldquo;Those types of tolling, whether it&rsquo;s active concealment, continued conspiracy, [or] fugitive, those are construed pretty narrowly, because there must be finality when it comes to statute of limitations.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Many of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3468311\/why-fbi-faces-uphill-battle-brennan-comey-investigation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"same issues\">same issues<\/a> that would hamper a DOJ prosecution based on the evidence released by Gabbard last week also complicate the FBI&rsquo;s potential prosecutions of former FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan based on additional evidence released earlier this month by the CIA. One of the main problems in both cases is how long it has been since the alleged crimes.<\/p>\n<p>After the CIA release, Trump&rsquo;s allies pointed to <a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-judiciary.house.gov\/files\/evo-media-document\/Brennan%20Transcript_Redacted.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Brennan's 2023 testimony to Congress\">Brennan&rsquo;s 2023 testimony to Congress<\/a>, in which he said the CIA opposed the inclusion of the Steele dossier in an intelligence community assessment put together by multiple agencies in December 2016. <span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">The declassified documents and emails,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cia.gov\/static\/Tradecraft-Review-2016-ICA-on-Election-Interference-062625.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">released by CIA Director John Ratcliffe<\/a>&nbsp;earlier this month, showed Brennan had, in fact, pushed for the inclusion of the Steele dossier in the ICA at the tim<\/span>e.<\/p>\n<p>Brennan&rsquo;s testimony to the House Intelligence Committee was not under oath, but charges could be pursued under 18 U.S. Code Section 1001 for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sidney-powell-is-an-american-legal-giant\/\" title=\"Sidney Powell Is an American Legal Giant\">making false statements<\/a>. While Brennan&rsquo;s 2023 testimony falls within the five-year statute of limitations, tying it to other allegations via a wider conspiracy charge would be unlikely to succeed.<\/p>\n<p>Other obstacles to pursuing charges against the Obama administration for its effort to create the Trump-Russia narrative could arise from recent Supreme Court precedent. The 2024 Supreme Court ruling in <em>Trump v. United States<\/em> found that presidents enjoy sweeping immunity for official acts, but not for actions taken outside their official duties. The landmark decision would complicate the DOJ&rsquo;s ability to go after Obama and top officials in his administration, especially after most of the criminal cases against Trump in <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >recent years fizzled due<\/a> to thorny immunity questions.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3468311\/why-fbi-faces-uphill-battle-brennan-comey-investigation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"WHY FBI FACES UPHILL BATTLE TO INVESTIGATE COMEY AND BRENNAN\">WHY FBI FACES UPHILL BATTLE TO INVESTIGATE COMEY AND BRENNAN<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Rahmani cited the political nature of the investigation into Obama administration officials, along with concerns about immunity, as other issues the Justice Department would face going forward with charges, even if the Trump DOJ could find a way to build a case within the statute of limitations.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s long gone,&rdquo; Rahmani said. &ldquo;This is something that Trump needed to do during his first administration with the DOJ.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2179474\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2179474\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Statute of limitations likely blocks DOJ from prosecuting Obama officials over 2016 Russia scandal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2638,"featured_media":2465235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/barack-obama-james-comey-2016-white-house-file-photo.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[7076,38191,59659,35775,10401],"class_list":["post-2465234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-doj","tag-government-investigation","tag-legal-limits","tag-obama-officials","tag-prosecution"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/barack-obama-james-comey-2016-white-house-file-photo.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2465234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2638"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2465234"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2465234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2465238,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2465234\/revisions\/2465238"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2465235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2465234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2465234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2465234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}