Phill Kline, former Kansas Attorney General and current law professor at Liberty University School of Law, is urging Republicans and the Trump administration to refrain from drawing conclusions before a thorough investigation into former President Barack Obama’s alleged involvement with the Trump-Russia hoax is conducted.
Last week, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released a 114-page report titled “Declassified Evidence of Obama Administration Conspiracy to Subvert President Trump’s 2016 Victory and Presidency,” which claims to detail how Obama and his cabinet members manufactured and politicized intelligence to lay the groundwork for the Russia collusion coup against Trump.
Gabbard has since sent a criminal referral related to the documents released last week to the U.S. Department of Justice, which has been urged by President Donald Trump to “go after people,” “whether it’s right or wrong.”
On Tuesday, Trump said he believes “Barack Hussein Obama” committed “treason” and was the “ringleader” of the operation which allegedly manufactured intel.
Kline, however, cautioned against such rhetoric, stressing how drawing conclusions before a thorough investigation is completed undermines the rule of law.
“We get way ahead of ourselves, and this happens often because of the nature of media reporting and the political debate of today in announcing conclusions before we complete an investigation. That’s always harmful to the investigation. It’s also harmful to the dialogue that needs to take place,” Kline explained on Wednesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
If he were advising U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Kline said the proper next step would be to initiate a confidential investigation – which he said he overwhelmingly supports, based on the evidence – using compulsory legal tools such as subpoenas, interviews under oath, and potentially granting immunity to compel testimony.
Kline explained that proving crimes like conspiracy or perjury requires not only evidence of actions but also intent, which, he stressed, can only be established through a methodical investigation, including testimony from insiders who might “turn” and reveal deeper involvement.
“You use a compulsory process to privately gather evidence. You don’t approach a target of an investigation until you know more about that target than they know about themselves by reviewing all evidence available, and then you use compulsory process. They might plead the Fifth, you might offer some form of immunity. And with immunity, they are compelled to testify. They can’t plead the Fifth any longer. Then, you start turning people because here in this type of investigation, you have to prove intent, particularly for some of the crimes that are alleged, you have to show a nefarious intent, and to do so, you’re going to have to have people talking,” Kline said.
He estimated that a comprehensive investigation of this nature would likely take approximately 18 months to two years and the end result would possibly produce criminal indictments.
Regarding whether a special prosecutor should be appointed to the investigation, Kline said that it may not be necessary from a legal standpoint, but acknowledged that the political pressure may constitute it.
“Honestly, with the president making his conclusions known before the investigation has really been launched, that kind of heightens the demand for a special prosecutor for the attorney general. I don’t believe it’s necessary, but it might be necessary politically,” he said.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
