"I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today," Trump said during a joint news conference.www.cnn.com/...
As an American, I’m reminded of that day I sat and watched Trump chose the words of our adversary over Americans. Regardless of the departments they worked, every person who provided Trump with Intelligence were, are American citizens. To add insult to injury, Trump knew the report was valid. A recent Bipartisan report verified what most of us have known in our guts all along, Russia interfered in the 2016 elections. It also stated, the Trump campaign was aware of Russia’s involvement and gave specific connections between the Campaign chair and Russian operatives. www.cnn.com/...
"My people came to me. Dan Coats came to me, and some others," Trump said. "They said they think it's Russia. I have President Putin. He just said it's not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be."www.npr.org/...
I do feel that we have both made some mistakes. I think that the probe is a disaster for our country. I think it’s kept us apart. It’s kept us separated. There was no collusion at all. Everybody knows it. People are being brought out to the fore. So far that I know, virtually, none of it related to the campaign. They will have to try really hard to find something that did relate to the campaign. That was a clean campaign. I beat Hillary Clinton easily and, frankly, we beat her. And I’m not even saying from the standpoint — we won that race. It’s a shame there could be a cloud over it. People know that. People understand it. The main thing — and we discussed this also — is zero collusion. foreignpolicy.com/...
During that 2016 Helsinki meeting, Trump and Putin met for over 2 hours with no one in the room other than interpreters. He came out with a mission. It seemed as if he had been given his “marching orders” to nip the collusion with Russia talk. He went to war against the press, officials, and those who mocked his subservient attitude to Putin.
PUTIN: As to who is to be believed, who is not to be believed: you can trust no one. Where did you get this idea that President Trump trusts me or I trust him? He defends the interests of the United States of America and I do defend the interests of the Russian Federation. We do have interests that are common. We are looking for points of contact.foreignpolicy.com/...
“Fake press” became the name or moniker of any media group that asked questions or criticized him. When he received little pushback from his party, he went further. Demanded Mueller and anyone involved in the Report process be investigated. He stirred the spineless Repubs to deflect from the constant arrests from the Mueller investigation to restart Hillary email probes. He began Russiagate, Obamagate, and asked for Obama to be grilled by the Senate for this bogus claim. He ruined the lives of several Americans, cost them their jobs, careers, and in some cases their pensions. With the silence of his party, he became more rabid. He believed he was above the law and gutted government institutions to fill them with individuals who would back him in whatever flight of fantasy he engaged in. He not only challenged the rule of law, he walked over it without a backward glance. He shut down and isolated the country because he didn’t like the way other leaders looked at or talked about him. With no concern over how his actions ricocheted through this country, Trump continued on a path of sowing discord and playing the victim.
We keep thinking Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to help Trump. If you like Trump, that may be a good enough reason to look the other way.But consider that the Kremlin doesn't really care about Trump. Moscow's apparent goal is not to help him. It's clear now that the goal is to undercut, even destroy American democracy. To that end, Trump is nothing but a tool.The only logical reason Putin is again working to get Trump elected now, which US Intelligence recently concluded, is because Trump is doing such a fine job of chipping away at US democracy. At this rate, Russia could just sit back and watch.www.cnn.com/...
He tore this country apart to cover the truth, Russia did interfere in the 2016 election and he KNEW. The recent Bipartisan Senate report made it clear, validating previous Intelligence reports, that Russia interfered in the 2016 elections. Also, it stated the involvement of members of the Trump campaign with Russian operatives.
When I look at the National Security and International decisions Trump has made during his tenure, through the lens of this truth, it shows a different picture. Trump has and will continue to sell out America to stay out of jail and to hide his inability to win the Presidency fairly and on his own. He would dismantle, destroy, and disengage our American institutions to the point they are unrecognizable. Like the showman he is, he will continue to lie and twist facts into his warped reality, along with his enablers, to remain in office. High on the power of his position, like all junkies, he is devoid of conscience and moral decency. He sees nothing wrong with pitting families and friends against each other. Neighbors who coexisted peacefully in prior years now look at each other through eyes of distrust due to the “them vs us” scenarios that spew from his mouth like a bubbling cauldron.
And just a few days ago, Trump retweeted to his 85 million followers an audio recording that US intelligence say is part of the Kremlin's operation against the 2020 US election. As Trump was amplifying Kremlin disinformation, Russia television was gleefully showing images of America's blue mailboxes, stacked high on the back of a truck, as evidence of America's dysfunctional, untrustworthy democracy - the message from the Kremlin and from the Oval Office are one and the same. www.cnn.com/...
I believe this is the underlying warning Obama and several others spoke of during the DNC convention. The subtle, sometimes not so subtle dismantling of the norms of decency, respect, and honor is obvious when a president and his enablers declare he is above the law and the citizenry don’t protest or scream “No One is above the law” loud and push back. Trump lies go unchallenged, that’s not just the job of the press but also of those who are most affected, Americans. Make no mistake, we must vote in record numbers but we must also let Trump, his enablers, and supporters know, we will not allow them to change the fabric of this Nation into something so foul our children’s children won’t be free to endure.
The fight Obama and the others talked about begins at the ballot but will continue long after the winner is announced and takes office. We must understand Russia and outside forces will try again, they’ll send other candidates to hawk their interest and rule from the White House and Congress. (We’ve seen sympathizers already. Money is an interesting equalizer) That person(s) will be more refined but just as dangerously persuasive. We must be vigilant to rise against any and all who would seek to change American values of decency, honesty, fairness, and compassion.
