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Tag: russia hack
Trump Offers ‘Know-Nothing’ Defense Of McConnell On Russia

Trump Offers ‘Know-Nothing’ Defense Of McConnell On Russia

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell delivered an impassioned and outraged speech Monday, denouncing those who’ve criticized him for blocking election security legislation and calling him, among other things, a “Russian asset.” The Kentucky senator got a helping hand in this dispute from President Donald Trump on Tuesday — though what he said wasn’t actually much of a defense.

“Mitch McConnell loves our country. He’s done a great job,” Trump said. “Mitch McConnell is a man that knows less about Russia and Russia influence than even Donald Trump. And I know nothing!”

Of course, since it’s part of Trump and McConnell’s jobs to be aware of and protect the United States from foreign threats, this is a pretty meager defense.

If McConnell and Trump wanted to learn more about the threat Russia — as well as other countries — pose to the United States’ elections, they could have paid attention last week during Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony or read the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on Russia’s expansive targeting of U.S. election infrastructure in 2016.

But the real worry is that Trump, and perhaps McConnell too, aren’t that interested in learning about or preventing Russian interference in the election. Trump has already said that his campaign would, once again, welcome offers of hacked dirt on his opponents from foreign countries. By refusing to move forward with aggressive efforts to secure American elections going forward, Trump and McConnell are allowing themselves to be at best complicit in future attacks.

Watch the clip below:

 

 

#EndorseThis: Colbert Reveals Motive Behind Russia Hack

#EndorseThis: Colbert Reveals Motive Behind Russia Hack


Learning of Vladimir Putin’s reported personal involvement in the US election hacking by Russian operatives — an “artisanal hack” by the former KGB officer — Stephen Colbert can’t believe the real motive is an old vendetta against Hillary Clinton.

More likely, the Russian leader hopes to guide his American acolyte on more current issues: “Don’t worry, Donald, I’ll handle the intelligence briefings. You go meet with Kanye.”

Meanwhile the Trump inaugural team is struggling. Sir Elton John denied the claim that he will perform at Trump’s inauguration; not a single Washington-area marching band has asked to join his parade; and even dangling ambassadorships hasn’t lured any A-list musical talent. But the Late Show host suggests a down-home entertainment alternative that shouldn’t require any bribes.

10 Electors Demand Intelligence Briefing About Trump’s Ties To Russia

10 Electors Demand Intelligence Briefing About Trump’s Ties To Russia

Reprinted with permission from AlterNet. 

Ten members of the Electoral College, including nine Democrats and one Republican, have asked for an intelligence briefing about whether there are any ongoing investigations into Donald Trump’s relationship with Russia. Their demand comes in the wake of the bombshell CIA report that Russia did indeed interfere with the 2016 election to help Trump defeat Hillary Clinton. In a strongly worded letter, the group said such information is vital to their December 19th decision about whether Trump is fit to serve as the nation’s president, Politico reports.

The letter to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper reads in part:

“The Electors require to know from the intelligence community whether there are ongoing investigations into ties between Donald Trump, his campaign or associates, and Russian government interference in the election, the scope of those investigations, how far those investigations may have reached, and who was involved in those investigations. We further require a briefing on all investigative findings, as these matters directly impact the core factors in our deliberations of whether Mr. Trump is fit to serve as President of the United States.”

The letter is signed by electors from five states and the District of Columbia, including Nancy Pelosi’s daughter Christine, who is a Democratic elector from California. Former (and future) Congressmember Carol Shea-Porter from New Hampshire, who was recently elected to her old seat, also signed, along with three other New Hampshire colleagues—Terie Norelli, Bev Hollingsworth and Dudley Dudley. D.C. Councilwoman Anita Bonds, former Rhode Island gubernatorial candidate Clay Pell, Maryland activist Courtney Watson and Colorado Democratic elector Micheal Baca, leader of an effort to turn the Electoral College against Trump, are also on the list. The Republican signatory is Texas’ Chris Suprun, an emergency responder who has already gone public with his criticisms of Trump.

There is also a separate effort on the part of electors from California, Washington and Colorado to stop Trump. Two Democratic congressmen, Rhode Island’s David Cicilline of Rhode Island and Connecticut’s Jim Himes of Connecticut said this weekend that the Electoral College should seriously consider blocking Trump’s election in light of the new revelations.

One sitting Republican Senator who is very concerned about the latest intelligence revelations of Russian interference in our election to help Trump is John McCain. He called the hacking of Russian intelligence services into Democratic campaign e-mail accounts “another form of warfare,” according to the New York Times.

McCain, who chairs the Senate’s Armed Services Committee, also said that a Senate investigation into Russian hacking would be necessary, since the inquiry ordered by President Obama last week could very easily be discontinued in the Trump presidency.

The 538-member Electoral College is set to vote on December 19th.

IMAGE: Donald Trump speaks during the first debate. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Report: CIA Says Russia Intervened To Help Elect Trump

Report: CIA Says Russia Intervened To Help Elect Trump

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The CIA has concluded that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help President-elect Donald Trump win the White House, and not just to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system, a senior U.S. official said on Friday.

U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that as the 2016 presidential campaign drew on, Russian government officials devoted increasing attention to assisting Donald Trump’s effort to win the election, the U.S. official familiar with the finding told Reuters on Friday night on condition of anonymity.

Citing U.S. officials briefed on the matter, the Washington Post reported on Friday that intelligence agencies had identified individuals with connections to the Russian government who provided thousands of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and others, including the chairman of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, to WikiLeaks.

U.S. President Barack Obama ordered intelligence agencies to review cyber attacks and foreign intervention into the 2016 election and deliver a report before he leaves office on Jan. 20, the White House said on Friday.

Obama’s homeland security adviser, Lisa Monaco, told reporters the report’s results would be shared with lawmakers and others.

“The president has directed the intelligence community to conduct a full review of what happened during the 2016 election process … and to capture lessons learned from that and to report to a range of stakeholders, to include the Congress,” she said during an event hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

As summer turned to fall, Russian hackers turned almost all their attention to the Democrats. Virtually all the emails they released publicly were potentially damaging to Clinton and the Democrats, the official told Reuters.

“That was a major clue to their intent,” the official said. “If all they wanted to do was discredit our political system, why publicize the failings of just one party, especially when you have a target like Trump?”

A second official familiar with the report said the intelligence analysts’ conclusion about Russia’s motives does not mean the intelligence community believes that Moscow’s efforts altered or significantly affected the outcome of the election.

Russian officials have denied all accusations of interference in the U.S. election.

A CIA spokeswoman said the agency had no comment on the matter.

The hacked emails passed to WikiLeaks were a regular source of embarrassment to the Clinton campaign during the race for the presidency.

U.S. intelligence analysts have assessed “with high confidence” that at some point in the extended presidential campaign Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government had decided to try to bolster Trump’s chances of winning.

The Russians appear to have concluded that Trump had a shot at winning and that he would be much friendlier to Russia than Clinton would be, especially on issues such as maintaining economic sanctions and imposing additional ones, the official said.

Moscow is launching a similar effort to influence the next German election, following an escalating campaign to promote far-right and nationalist political parties and individuals in Europe that began more than a decade ago, the official said.

In both cases, said the official, Putin’s campaigns in both Europe and the United States are intended to disrupt and discredit the Western concept of democracy by promoting extremist candidates, parties, and political figures.

In October, the U.S. government formally accused Russia of a campaign of cyber attacks against Democratic Party organizations ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election. Obama has said he warned Putin about consequences for the attacks.

Trump has said he is not convinced Russia was behind the cyber attacks. His transition team issued a statement on “claims of foreign interference in U.S. elections” on Friday but did not directly address the issue.

“I don’t believe they interfered,” Trump told Time magazine about Russia in an interview published this week. “That became a laughing point, not a talking point, a laughing point. Any time I do something, they say, ‘Oh, Russia interfered.'”

(Writing by David Alexander and John Walcott, additional reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Robert Birsel and Louise Heavens)

IMAGE: Julian Assange, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of WikiLeaks speaks via video link during a press conference on the occasion of the ten year anniversary celebration of WikiLeaks in Berlin, Germany, October 4, 2016. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt