“She doesn't know if it's the Russians doing the hacking. Maybe there is no hacking.”
-Donald Trump in 2nd presidential debate
Imagine the outrage that would ensue were there to be a role reversal, and we had a scenario in which the Clinton campaign was relying on info hacked by foreign actors to be used against Trump?
Imagine the reactions by Trump and Mike Pence? By Reince Priebus? By the GOP led Congress? By Fox News?
Would they not call that totally disqualifying? Would they not add this to their litany of reasons to want to “jail Hillary?”
Instead, we have a candidate like Donald Trump who on a daily basis touts the latest data dump by Wikileaks. Many have come to the conclusion that Wikileaks is a front for Russia. And as CNN reminded us again recently
Hacking groups linked with different wings of the powerful Russian intelligence services -- code-named Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear -- were detected inside a Democratic Party server earlier this year, according to CrowdStrike, the US Internet security firm hired to investigate the theft of thousands of emails.
adding that
"Anything that undermines the legitimacy of the electoral process is bad news for democracy," said professor John Naughton, co-director of the Technology and Democracy Project at Cambridge University in the UK.
Interestingly, when given the opportunity to call out Russia for these hacks, GOP leadership has been conspicuously silent. CNN noted that
Schiff and Feinstein did not explain what in their briefings led to their conclusion. Intelligence Committee members receive classified briefings they can't speak about in public.
They also broke with the administration in their condemnation of Russia. The White House has referred to the beliefs of experts on the hacks, but have not discussed any conclusions drawn by US government investigators. The administration has also been navigating a tense relationship with Russia over the conflict in Syria, with both sides pointing fingers over a fraught ceasefire agreement."
No Republicans joined their statement. The hacks have been perceived as a benefit to GOP nominee Donald Trump over Democrat Hillary Clinton. Trump has spoken favorably of Putin in the past, and Democrats have tried to paint him as friendly to the authoritarian leader.
Again, the assessment seems to be that the “
hacks have been perceived as a benefit to GOP nominee” and hence, no condemnation. We may start to see that, after, but not before the election. After all, the GOP has election to try to win, using just about any means necessary.