All the way back on January 6, 2017, two weeks before Donald Trump even put his tiny hand on Lincoln’s Bible to take the Oath of Office, U.S. Intelligence services had a serious sit-down with the president-elect to show him highly classified intel that definitively proved Vladimir Putin had personally ordered the cyber attacks and propaganda campaign aimed at tilting the 2016 election to Donald Trump. From the New York Times:
The evidence included texts and emails from Russian military officers and information gleaned from a top-secret source close to Mr. Putin, who had described to the C.I.A. how the Kremlin decided to execute its campaign of hacking and disinformation.
Mr. Trump sounded grudgingly convinced, according to several people who attended the intelligence briefing. But ever since, Mr. Trump has tried to cloud the very clear findings that he received on Jan. 6, 2017, which his own intelligence leaders have unanimously endorsed.
Donald Trump has seen definitive proof from U.S. Intelligence agencies that Russia was actively (and successfully) working to subvert our election but he has done absolutely nothing about it, still choosing to side with a foreign enemy over our own intelligence agencies. Congress should immediately investigate Donald Trump and his refusal to accept the evidence and the reasoning behind his curious cowering to Vladimir Putin before the entire world.
Only five days ago, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats issued a dire warning about the ongoing attacks from Russia:
"The warning signs are there. The system is blinking. It is why I believe we are at a critical point," Coats said, addressing the Hudson Institute in Washington, DC, on Friday.
"Today, the digital infrastructure that serves this country is literally under attack," he said.
Coats compared the "warning signs" to those the United States faced ahead of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
"It was in the months prior to September 2001 when, according to then-CIA Director George Tenet, the system is blinking red. And here we are nearly two decades later, and I'm here to say, the warning lights are blinking red again," Coats said.
Donald Trump is given a briefing on the most serious intel every single day and only days after Dan Coats issued that very serious public warning, what did Trump have to say when a reporter asked him if he believed Russia was still attacking the United States? Trump shockingly said “no.”
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders denied Trump was responding to that reporter and insisted he was simply saying, “no” he wouldn’t be taking questions, but the video seems quite clear and Cecilia Vega, the reporter who asked the question, is insisting that Trump was looking directly at her and answering her question.
Donald Trump and the entire administration continue to ignore the serious threat posed by Russia. They have not only done practically nothing to secure our upcoming midterm elections, they have actively blocked any strong measures. Just this week, Republicans refused to grant emergency money to states to protect the upcoming elections.
And this morning Rep. Swalwell and House Democrats tried to subpoena the translator to find out exactly what Donald Trump promised Vladimir Putin in the two-hour meeting and every single Republican voted against it. Maybe it’s time to start asking what the Russians have on the Republican party.
See this community diary for more discussion.