Barack Obama will headline an August fundraiser in Martha’s Vineyard that will highlight the Democratic redistricting effort as the former president faces calls for prosecution from the Trump administration.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard referred Obama to the Department of Justice for prosecution on Wednesday, alleging the former president ignored an intelligence community assessment that Russia was not involved in the 2016 election.
The National Democratic Redistricting Committee, headed by former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder, is fighting GOP efforts to redraw district lines in Ohio and Texas. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will also be at the event, according to Politico.
Obama’s involvement in the Democratic redistricting effort underscores the importance of the plans to Democrats. He’s a top fundraiser and popular within the party. A spokesperson for the organization didn’t provide a fundraising target for the event, but the last fundraiser he attended in New Jersey raised about $1.5 million.
President Donald Trump has been pushing Republicans in Texas and Ohio to redraw maps, hoping they can squeeze more Republican House seats out of the states or make it easier to keep their seats.
“Just a very simple redrawing, we pick up five seats,” Trump told reporters in Texas on July 15.
The president’s call to redistrict outraged Democrats, as some now believe they must “match fire with fire” to beat the effort.
“I think it’s time that we match fire with fire. I think Democrats in the past too often have been more concerned with being right than being in power. And we have seen Republicans only care about being in power, regardless of what is right,” former Democratic Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has considered redistricting in California to counter Republicans.
“If these guys are literally going to rig, de facto, the outcome of November next year, I can’t just sit back passively,” Newsom said. “When I look at the ground that these guys are leveling and the core tenets of our democracy, our republic being literally taken down in real time, I’d be in peril of being judged not to have lived if I don’t at least explore an alternative to save our country.”
Obama is looking to help Democrats counter Republicans’ redrawing of districts and possibly redraw their own.
The former president will have other topics on his mind after Gabbard referred him and other aides of his to the DOJ for prosecution over the report her office released.
“There is irrefutable evidence that details how President Barack Obama and his national security team directed the creation of an intelligence community assessment that they knew that was false,” Gabbard claimed Wednesday afternoon. “The evidence that we have found and that we have released directly point to President Obama leading the manufacturing of this intelligence assessment. There are multiple pieces of evidence and intelligence that confirm that fact.”
GABBARD REFERS OBAMA FOR PROSECUTION BUT STOPS SHORT OF SUGGESTING ‘TREASON’ CHARGES
The case against Obama could be limited due to the statute of limitations on some of the possible charges.
“That’s a great question for Attorney General Pam Bondi,” she told the Washington Examiner when asked what the DOJ could pursue other than treason.
Gabbard did not point out any specific charges against Obama. Trump said on Tuesday that Obama and his aides had committed treason.