President Donald Trump had downplayed Russian interference in the 2016 election and attacked the FBI for its focus on the investigation. | Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images Trump: Why didn’t Obama 'do something about Russian meddling?'

President Donald Trump questioned on Monday why his predecessor did not do more to address Russian meddling in the 2016 election, even as his own administration has been quiet about its efforts to address such interference in the future.

“Obama was President up to, and beyond, the 2016 Election. So why didn’t he do something about Russian meddling?” Trump wrote on Twitter on Monday.


The tweet follows a series of weekend missives in which Trump has downplayed Russian interference and attacked the FBI for its focus on the investigation. The string of statements follows the indictments on Friday by special counsel Robert Mueller of 13 Russians for their activities to interfere in the election and aid Trump’s campaign.

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Trump has repeatedly bristled at the notion that Russia aided his election, and has repeatedly said his campaign did not collude with Russian operatives in the effort.

During the campaign, Trump regularly cast doubt on the notion that Russia was interfering in the election, and repeatedly said the system was “rigged” against him.

Obama had wanted to issue a bipartisan statement condemning the interference before the election, but was blocked by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.