The United States Senate Intelligence Committee, led by
Republicans, came to unanimous conclusions in Volume 5 of its Report on Russian
interference in American politics and the 2016 presidential election particularly,
that the Trump campaign welcomed and cooperated with the Russian efforts
through extensive contacts, that these efforts affected campaign messaging,
that the campaign accepted the foreign interference that bolstered it at its
most critical point, and that Donald Trump and his campaign afterward engaged
in a cover-up, including in regard to congressional investigations and the Trump-Russia
Special Counsel’s investigation, through the destruction of evidence, refusal
to answer questions and lies: https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/report_volume5.pdf.
A
particularly noteworthy conclusion of the Committee’s latest volume of its
report is that Trump’s campaign manager shared internal polling data on key
States in the presidential election, including Pennsylvania , with a Russian intelligence
agent. There were also revelations on
the campaign’s awareness and use of information stolen from the Democrats by
Russian military intelligence and leaked to a cut-out for selective publication
to try to embarrass them on behalf of Trump’s presidential campaign. The Trump campaign liaison with the Russian cut-out was convicted of lying to Congress and federal investigators to cover up his role. Trump commuted his sentence after the liaison admitted that he had lied to protect Trump. Candidate Trump had himself lied during his campaign
that he was not conducting business with Russia awhile, which he was later
forced to admit after revelations disproved him. Numerous Trump campaign officials reportedly
had many contacts with Russians and never notified federal law enforcement of
foreign interference attempts, and attempted to lie about these contacts or
minimize their significance.
The latest
volume is part of a series of reports by the GOP-majority Committee, in which
it found that Russian interference was far more extensive than ever before,
that it was directed by Russian Federation tyrant Vladimir Putin and targeted
specifically to help its favored candidate, Trump. The Committee also
determined that the federal counterintelligence investigation into the
interference by a hostile foreign power was proper and came to reasonable
conclusions. All 17 U.S. intelligence agencies concluded Russia had interfered in the election, particularly to help Trump. The bipartisan Senate
Intelligence’s findings validate, and, even go beyond, the similar conclusions of the
Republican Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, who also concluded that Trump had obstructed justice while in office to thwart the investigation.
The
publication of the report reveals that the Republican Senators on the Committee
were aware of how successful Russia ’s
interference to help Trump was and how Trump and his supporters had lied that
there had not been any “collusion.” And
yet these Senators were among those who voted to acquit Trump of impeachment
for attempting to extort the Ukrainian Government to smear his political
opponent (the current Democratic Party presidential nominee) by withholding
congressionally approved defense aid to defend Ukraine against invasion by
Russia, even after Trump publicly called upon Ukraine and Communist China to
interfere in particular ways against candidates for the Democratic presidential
nomination.
Putin is an
ex-Soviet intelligence officer who laments the collapse of the Soviet Union . He
subverted Russian democracy by becoming an authoritarian. Putin violates human rights, such as freedoms
of speech, press and assembly, even prosecuting, banishing or murdering
critics, invades sovereign States, interferes in elections in Western Europe
and America ,
and supports Islamist terrorist allies among numerous foreign machinations and
crimes against humanity. Russian
political interference abroad aims to undermine confidence in the truth and in
elections, to divide Europeans from each other, Western Europe from America and
Americans with each other and to weaken the West and the United States in order
for Putin to remain in power and for him and the oligarchs who support him to retain
their stolen wealth.
Russia
interfered in American politics starting around the time of its invasion of
Ukraine in 2014 and particularly in the 2016 presidential election, with open
propaganda and disinformation through state-controlled media, and covertly
through employment of Internet trolls and fake automated social media accounts
to spread more propaganda and disinformation, social media advertisements,
search engine optimization, impersonation of media and political donations,
among other methods, let alone cultivation of Trump through business
relationships formed ever since his business trip to the Soviet Union during
the Cold War. The Russians
micro-targeted voters more effectively than either presidential campaign or
major party, which suggests the collusion with the Trump campaign was
essential.
Between Russian and other foreign
interference, Trump’s lie about his business relationship and other deceptions
by him and his campaign, illegal campaign finance activity, and a full range of
intimidation of key political figures, it is unreasonable to conclude anything
other than Trump’s election, which was determined by 77,000 voters across three
States, including Pennsylvania, was fraudulent.
A hostile foreign State , Russia , has been allowed to violate American
independence by determining the U.S.
leader, based on policies favorable to tyrant Putin. As the Special Counsel and other federal
officials in Congress, from both major political parties, and even the Trump Administration have stated, Russia and
other hostile actors continue to interfere in American politics, thereby
indirectly or directly influencing election results.
Although some defenses have since been
implemented, not nearly enough have yet.
The removal from office of those who were elected by hostile foreign
interference and those who enabled it, or who allowed it to continue by failing
their duty to remove them from power is an essential first step in restoring
American sovereignty and self-determination.
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