With the news yesterday that 12 Russian intelligence agents have been indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller for meddling in the 2016 US presidential election, we now have incontrovertible proof that Vladimir Putin directed a campaign of sabotage against the United States.
The hacking including phishing attacks to gain access to Democrats, money laundering, and various attempts to hack state election boards. During this time the hackers were in communication with Roger Stone, a longtime advisor to President Trump, whom they exchanged at least one message with.
The main objective was to discredit Hillary Clinton and throw the election to Trump. This was accomplished most infamously by the hacking of Clinton’s private email servers, and also of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s servers, as well as John Podesta’s server. Podesta was then acting as an advisor to the Clinton campaign.
The hacking was followed by the selective dissemination of these documents on the Internet, as well as the leaking of unflattering emails and documents to Wikileaks and other organizations, which also published them on the Internet.
We all know that President Trump has stated his admiration numerous times for the world’s worst dictators. He has said he “respects” the Russian President and that Putin’s a “strong leader.” Most recently, Trump said that when Kim Jong-un, another notorious and nuclear-armed dictator, speaks, “his people sit up at attention.” Trump went on to further state, in ominously authoritarian language, that “I want my people to do the same.”
To which I say: Yeeesh! For over a year now, law enforcement agencies including the FBI and the Department of Justice have stated that there is indisputable evidence the Russians meddled in the election. Now comes the Special Counsel’s indictment against 12 Russians. Yet Trump continues to praise Putin, stating recently that he’s looking forward to their upcoming summit in Helsinki on Monday.
Perhaps most damning for the case of Trump colluding with the Russians was his preposterous and potentially treasonous statement on July 27, 2016 at a news conference in Florida, during the heat of the presidential election. Trump said:
“I will tell you this, Russia: If you’re listening I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 [Clinton] emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”
This statement came on the same day that Russian hackers tried for the first time to break into the servers of Mrs. Clinton’s personal offices.
It’s almost too much coincidence to bear.
Leaving aside the fact that the President does not, in fact, know how to use a computer or send an email, which is scandalous in its own right, it’s still hard not to conclude that Trump committed treason when he made the statement inviting Russia to hack Clinton’s emails.
The Special Counsel has been meticulously investigating Trump and his administration for collusion with the Russians and obstruction of justice, and one gets the sense that the proverbial stuff may soon hit the fan. The evidence is just too strong, compelling and overwhelming to ignore any longer.
So what does this all mean? With any luck, Trump will be impeached by the Democrats, should they win a majority in the House of Representatives this November. Then the case would move to the Senate, where a Democratic majority would again be needed to actually remove the President from office.
Because let’s not forget, Bill Clinton was impeached by Republicans in 1999 over the Lewinsky affair, but he then survived a Senate hearing on his case, which allowed him to stay in office.
So there are many hurdles to clear before we can get this guy OUT OF OFFICE, which is what most sane and decent people want.
In the meantime, we wait for more indictments to come down from the Special Council, and perhaps for some of the people already cooperating with FBI and DOJ to produce a smoking gun. Then again, do we really need anything more than Trump’s July 27th statement at that Florida press conference?
What we will also do is continue to fight against Trump’s retrograde, repressive, racist, sexist, and misogynistic tweets, statements and policies, and to stay focused. The goal is to reconstruct our democracy so that it once again becomes a vital and healthy institution that serves all the people within America.
I know that’s what I’m going to do.
RESIST.
