Just a few days ago, Wikileaks shocked Democrats with a sudden release of emails that appeared orchestrated to drive a wedge between former Sanders supporters and current Hillary supporters. The media, ever anxious for “scandal” immediately began describing the Democrats – on the eve of their convention – in “disarray”.
What caught the attention of more than a few observers however, was the fact that Russian Intelligence had hacked the DNC back in June 2016. It was this Russian FSB acquired information that Wikileaks released.
Russian government hackers penetrated DNC, stole opposition research on Trump
Russian government hackers penetrated the computer network of the Democratic National Committee and gained access to the entire database of opposition research on GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, according to committee officials and security experts who responded to the breach.
The intruders so thoroughly compromised the DNC’s system that they also were able to read all email and chat traffic, said DNC officials and the security experts.
The intrusion into the DNC was one of several targeting American political organizations. The networks of presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were also targeted by Russian spies, as were the computers of some Republican political action committees, U.S. officials said. But details on those cases were not available.
The connection between Wikileaks and the Russian Security Service (The FSB) has been previously noticed as well.
Has Wikileaks Been Infiltrated by Russian Spies?
Leak group has a troubling history with the Kremlin
It might sound strange, but has Wikileaks been infiltrated by Russia’s Federal Security Bureau, the post-Soviet successor to the KGB? Based on media accounts and first person testimonies, there are signs that Edward Snowden’s flight to Russia, eventually seeking asylum there, was organized by Russian intelligence. So was his defection a Russian intel op?
One thing that has become clear as the Edward Snowden saga unfolds is that WikiLeaks and Russia have both been integral to the NSA leaker's arrival and extended stay in Moscow.
The Kremlin and the renegade publisher haven't overtly coordinated moves in regards to Snowden, but they certainly haven't been working against each other.
And the two had a shared history before Snowden arrived on June 23.
It is no secret that Vladimir Putin has a strong interest in seeing Donald Trump elected President of the United States. Even going so far as to publicly endorse him.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had kind words for his “stablemate” Donald Trump during an annual end-of-the-year Q&A session in Moscow.
“[Donald Trump is] a really brilliant and talented person, without any doubt,” [Vladimir] Putin told reporters, according to a translation by Interfax. “It’s not our job to judge his qualities, that’s a job for American voters, but he’s the absolute leader in the presidential race.” The GOP frontrunner has been blunt about his plans for defrosting U.S. relations with Russia should he be elected president.
[…]
“He says he wants to move on to a new, more substantial relationship, a deeper relationship with Russia, how can we not welcome that?” he said. “Of course we welcome that.”
As well, Trump has many kind words for Putin and for dictators in general.
Donald Trump has a bit of a thing for strongmen. Saddam Hussein and Moammar Gadhafi might have been “bad guys,” he allows, but “at least they killed terrorists.” Ditto for Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, whom he has often characterized as a lesser, and more preferable, evil than Islamic State. And when he got caught retweeting fascist fortunes by Benito Mussolini last month—It is better to live one day as a lion, than 100 years as a sheep—Trump didn’t apologize, he doubled down. “It’s a very a good quote, it’s a very interesting quote, and I know who said it,” the would-be Republican nominee for president told NBC News. “What difference does it make, whether it is Mussolini or somebody else?”
His open admiration for foreign despots who talk tough and act without restraint could be genuine, or as calculated as his comb-over. But there’s one macho politician that Trump seems to be developing a real affinity for: Vladimir Putin. Ever since the Russian president praised him as a “brilliant, talented person,” and “the absolute leader of the presidential race,” during a December press conference, Trump has been busy returning the compliments. “I’ve always felt fine about Putin. He’s a strong leader, he’s a powerful leader,” he said on a morning-show appearance shortly before Christmas. “It is always a great honour to be nicely complimented by a man highly respected within his own country and beyond,” read a statement he released to the media a little later. Since then, Trump has gone even further, transitioning from flatterer to apologist. He’s downplayed allegations that Putin’s Kremlin arranged for the murders of crusading journalists: “It’s never been proven that he’s killed anybody,” said Trump. And in late January, he flat out rejected the conclusion of a U.K. public inquiry that the Russian leader “probably” sanctioned the 2006assassination of dissident Alexander Litvinenko in London. “They say a lot of things about me that are untrue too.”
MOSCOW — Excited by Donald Trump’s pledge to promote “easing of tensions and improved relations with Russia,” the Kremlin establishment earlier this month invited Trump adviser Carter Page to speak before graduating students of Russian School of Economics. Page did not disappoint. In his remarks, Page condemned current American policy for its “often-hypocritical focus on democratization, inequality, corruption and regime change.” When a Russian student asked Page whether he really believed that American society was liberal and democratic, Trump’s adviser grinned and delivered a line that might have come from Vladimir Putin himself. “I surround the word ‘liberal’ with quotes,” he said. ”I tend to agree with you that it’s not always as liberal as it may seem,” he said. “I’m with you.”
It was thus perfectly in keeping with Trump campaign’s entente with the Kremlin that last week Trump aides reportedly watered down the new Republican platform on Russia, removing language that called for giving weapons to Ukraine to fight Russian and rebel forces. Page, an energy expert, has close ties to Russian business and relationships with executives at Gazprom, the giant state-run gas company. Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has worked as a lobbyist for former Ukraine’s former Russia-aligned president, Viktor Yanukovych.
For Putin, Trump is the gift that keeps on giving. Shunned and sanctioned by western leaders for Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, Putin now sees a future ally riding into view. The Kremlin and its right-wing supporters also enthusiastically applaud the isolationist they see in Trump, who has suggested he might curtail U.S. involvement in NATO and European affairs, and who derides the same political “mainstream” that has deemed Putin a pariah.
Since the story was initially dropped on the Democrats by Wikileaks, there has been an interesting uptick in Anti-Hillary comments, opinions and pieces in various Social Media sites. Many of these bear a striking similarity in that 1) They condemn Hillary for something related to the DNC. 2) They ignore or ridicule the idea that the Russians, the FSB or Putin had anything to do with it. 3) They endorse, encourage or implicitly suggest that the only solution is to vote for a third party candidate. 4) They ignore or downplay Sanders reaction to the story, which was to dismiss it and focus solely on beating Trump.
While there is insufficient information to make a strong connection, it bears pointing out that the Russians do employ extensively, the services of a “Web Brigade” or “Troll Army” whose purpose is to influence and direct opinion on Social Media sites.
The web brigades (Russian: Веб-бригады), also known in English media as the troll army, are state-sponsored anonymous Internet political commentators and trolls linked to Russian government.[1] They are suspected to be organized teams and groups of commentators that participate in Russian and international political blogs and Internet forums using sockpuppets and large-scale orchestrated trolling and disinformation campaigns to promote pro-Putin and pro-Russian propaganda.[2][3][4][5] It has also been found that Wikipedia articles were targeted by Russian internet propaganda activities.
Further investigations were performed by Novaya Gazeta and Institute of Modern Russia in 2014–15, inspired by the peak of activity of the pro-Russian brigades during the war in Donbass and assassination of Boris Nemtsov.[22][23][24][25] The effort of using "troll armies" to promote Putin's policies is a multimillion-dollar operation.[26] According to The Guardian investigation the flood of pro-Russian comments is part of a coordinated "informational-psychological war operation".[27]One Twitter bot network was documented to use more than 20,500 fake Twitter accounts to spam negative comments after the assassination of Boris Nemtsov and events related to the war in Donbass.
The Guardian also discusses the activities of the Troll house.
Salutin' Putin: inside a Russian troll house
Just after 9pm each day, a long line of workers files out of 55 Savushkina Street, a modern four-storey office complex with a small sign outside that reads “Business centre”. Having spent 12 hours in the building, the workers are replaced by another large group, who will work through the night.
The nondescript building has been identified as the headquarters of Russia’s “troll army”, where hundreds of paid bloggers work round the clock to flood Russian internet forums, social networks and the comments sections of western publications with remarks praising the president, Vladimir Putin, and raging at the depravity and injustice of the west.
It is not conspiracy theory to suggest that a foreign power is attempting to influence the election results in another nation. All medium and super powers actively engage in such activity with varying degrees of success. For decades the old Soviet Union funded communist and other Left wing parties to advance their interests in the West. China has actively supported pro-China government television stations and other media throughout the world.
This latest action however takes this interference to a different level. Based on the circumstantial evidence, it appears that Russia is actively attempting to flip the election to Donald Trump by directly attacking the Democratic Party, undermining its campaign and manipulating its supporters. While there is no evidence of Trump’s direct involvement in this campaign, it is obvious that he is the intended benefactor.
For its part, the Clinton Campaign and Democratic leadership has explicitly called out the Russian’s for hacking and attempting to influence the election. How responsive the media and general public will be to these charges however, remains to be seen.
In 2016, the stakes involved in this election appear to be a lot higher than just who occupies the Oval Office over the next four years.