Obama’s secret struggle to punish Russia for Putin’s election assault
Early last August, an envelope with extraordinary handling restrictions arrived at the White House. Sent by courier from the CIA, it carried “eyes only” instructions that its contents be shown to just four people: President Barack Obama and three senior aides.
Inside was an intelligence bombshell, a report drawn from sourcing deep inside the Russian government that detailed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s direct involvement in a cyber campaign to disrupt and discredit the U.S. presidential race.
But it went further. The intelligence captured Putin’s specific instructions on the operation’s audacious objectives — defeat or at least damage the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, and help elect her opponent, Donald Trump.
At that point, the outlines of the Russian assault on the U.S. election were increasingly apparent. Hackers with ties to Russian intelligence services had been rummaging through Democratic Party computer networks, as well as some Republican systems, for more than a year. In July, the FBI had opened an investigation of contacts between Russian officials and Trump associates. And on July 22, nearly 20,000 emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee were dumped online by WikiLeaks.
SECRET CIA REPORT ARRIVES AT THE WHITE HOUSE
CIA Director John Brennan first alerts the White House in early August that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered an operation to defeat or at least damage Hillary Clinton and help elect her opponent, Donald Trump.
The president instructs aides to assess vulnerabilities in the election system and get agencies to agree on the intelligence that Putin was seeking to influence the election.
John O. Brennan
President Obama
Jeh Johnson
Brennan calls Alexander Bortnikov, the director of Russia’s main security agency, and warns him about interfering in the U.S. presidential election.
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson’s efforts to secure the U.S. voting systems run aground when some state officials reject his plan, calling it a federal takeover.
Alexander Bortnikov
But at the highest levels of government, among those responsible for managing the crisis, the first moment of true foreboding about Russia’s intentions arrived with that CIA intelligence.
The material was so sensitive that CIA Director John Brennan kept it out of the President’s Daily Brief, concerned that even that restricted report’s distribution was too broad. The CIA package came with instructions that it be returned immediately after it was read. To guard against leaks, subsequent meetings in the Situation Room followed the same protocols as planning sessions for the Osama bin Laden raid.
It took time for other parts of the intelligence community to endorse the CIA’s view. Only in the administration’s final weeks in office did it tell the public, in a declassified report, what officials had learned from Brennan in August — that Putin was working to elect Trump.
Tags
Who is online
81 visitors
In political terms, Russia’s interference was the crime of the century, an unprecedented and largely successful destabilizing attack on American democracy. It was a case that took almost no time to solve, traced to the Kremlin through cyber-forensics and intelligence on Putin’s involvement. And yet, because of the divergent ways Obama and Trump have handled the matter, Moscow appears unlikely to face proportionate consequences.
Much like our involvement in the continuation/change of government in countless nations around the world? But, yeah, this is interference on the highest level, if true. As always, I'd like to see/know more about where the Washington Post gathered this information from, as their credibility is questionable. The use of unnamed sources can leave a lot to the imagination of the writer.
Like Deep Throat? This is not a snarky remark...
I wonder if the latest elections, to replace the congressional cabinet appointments, show the same signs of tampering, as the last time the commies helped us out?
And Trump is not even acknowledging that it even happened the last time. Why? Because he knows it happened, wants it to happen again and and is likely working to help it happen again in 2018 and 2020 and beyond.
How do you tell a communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understand Marx and Lenin. ~Ronald Reagan
Ole donny probably doesn't understand this either.
The problem with Obama was that, unfortunately, he was too nice of a guy. In an over-abundance of caution not to appear too partisan he did nothing except to release a report that that unfortunately came out as the same day as the "Access Hollywood" tape and was buried under the news coverage of that. Obama just plain choked and let Putin and Trump get away with swinging the election by not warning enough people about the false news reports, the phony emails and the fake propaganda being put out by Russia and Wikileaks. Yes, some of the hacked DNC emails were true, but some were also phony made up lies by Russia.
As more and more of this evidence comes to light it becomes more and more obvious that the American people were voting based on at least partial false information. Information that the Trump campaign was more then happy to pass along and may have even participated in creating. Would Clinton have lost anyway? Maybe? Was it a fair election? Not a chance.
The problem with Obama was that, unfortunately, he was too nice of a guy.
Nah . He knew which battles to avoid to prevent running afoul of the Intelligence community . Basically he was a complete chickenshit ...
An editorial piece of shit of a meme from the Anti-liberal Zone. Precisely the kind of disgusting divisive propaganda/rhetoric predicted by Orwell.
The country was in a much better place in 2008, even in the middle of a financial meltdown.
The country was in a much better place in 2008, even in the middle of a financial meltdown.
The epitome of a non-response.
You come on my seed xx, you best make a point.
Want to solve the problem of interference with the voting system? Easy. Just go back to counting paper ballots marked with a pencilled X, and phone in the results. No computers, no voting machines, no hanging chads, no internet, no interference.
Want to solve the problem of interference with the voting system? Easy. Just go back to counting paper ballots marked with a pencilled X, and phone in the results. No computers, no voting machines, no hanging chads, no internet, no interference.
Some localities have started doing that. They stopped using voting machines and now use only paper ballots.
The system needs to be universal. Different methods make up a jugsaw puzzle of systems - impossible to control.
The system needs to be universal. Different methods make up a jugsaw puzzle of systems - impossible to control.
It would be easier in most countries. But in the U.S. we have this strange system where each state makes its own laws for many things.
If you drive across a state line, the legal drinking age might change. Also the state's maximum speed limit. State govt's get their funding from either a state income tax, a state sales tax, or a property tax. Or some combination of those-- it varies by state!)
Canada is no different. There are Provincial jurisdictions and Federal Jurisdictions. Education is a Provincial matter, and the Criminal Code is federal. Taxes are Federal, Provincial and Municipal. However if it is a federal election then the system used is federal - the same for all Provinces.
We have paper ballots and a pen here where I vote. They are taken physically to the county election office and hand counted before being recorded online.
Trump, in acknowledging that Obama likely failed to act more aggressively, consequently also acknowledges that the Russian interference is not a hoax ...
And this is further validation of the need for the Special Council's investigation into whether or not Trump, Kushner, Flynn, Manafort, et al were confederates with Putin in affecting the election outcome.
Trump is a defense lawyer's nightmare.
"Trump is a defense lawyer's nightmare."
Are you kidding? Think of the fees!!!!
Trump is a defense lawyer's nightmare.
And to make matters worse for him-- his constant tweeting!
I believe most (or all?) of his advisers keep telling him to stop-- but he has an obsession with it.
And to make matters worse for him-- his constant tweeting!
And Sean Spicer has said that they are official White House statements, so when he said he said Comey had better "hope that there aren't any "tapes" before he talked to the press" that easily adds to the Obstruction of Justice charge because it shows an attempt to intimidate a witness. Conciseness of guilt. He also said that the text kept Comey honest and made him testify honestly. Well it did make Comey say that he did tell Trump that he wasn't under investigation 3 times back then, however if he (Trump) says on TV that Comey was testifying completely honestly (which he did say, just like he did say on TV he fired Comey to try to relive him of the Russia investigation), then that also means that Comey was testifying honestly when he said that Trump asked him (and if a boss asks it, it's more of a command) to lay off Flynn AND that he asked for a personal loyalty oath, which a company CEO can ask for from an employee, but is something that can never be ask for from an FBI director, ever. Every time Trump opens his mouth or tweets it's like a steam shovel digging himself in deeper and deeper.
And this is further validation of the need for the Special Council's investigation into whether or not Trump, Kushner, Flynn, Manafort, et al were confederates with Putin in affecting the election outcome.
There should have been Special Council investigating Obama's admin on this ... BUT no interest in that . Why not ?!
Think of the defeats!
Yeah! It can be lucrative to defend an asshole ... There were quite a few times in my career when I knew I was responsible for trying to defend the indefensible; to be able to maintain my self-respect, at the end of such days, I told myself, "you were there to make sure due process was extended."
Eveyone is entitled to his so-called "day in court," but there are those who use their deep pockets to fuck over the little guy.
Eveyone is entitled to his so-called "day in court," but there are those who use their deep pockets to fuck over the little guy.
Was it Forbes or Fortune who said the other day that his net worth was $2.9 billion? That's a lot a little people he fucked over to get there and a lot more he can fuck over to stay there. That's why no GOOD D.C. lawyer will touch him. He keeps skipping out on is legal bills and he won't keep his mouth (or Twitter) shut).
Until Bob Mueller gets him though. He can't buy Mueller. He can fire him, but I think that would be to much for even the GOP Congress who wants Pence anyway.
Word is that his aides are really starting to worry about his health because he refuses to exercise (since he honestly believes that humans are born with a finite amount of energy (I am NOT making that up!)) and is really gaining weight, plus he is getting darker circles under his eyes. So I have an offer for him:
Hey Donnie! Can I send you a few dozen cream pies? Maybe a few tons of bacon? Eat up! And remember, never ever exercise and worry about EVERYTHING! No sleep! Ever! Everyone IS out to get you! Want a few tons of jelly donuts? Maybe some fatty ham? I'll buy! I know! KFC! Tons and tons and tons of KFC and Taco Bell! Eat! Eat! Eat! MORE! MORE! MORE! It's all on me! What I can't afford to buy, I'll take up a collection for! Ride your golf cart around the White House instead of walking! You know there is an elevator there don't you? Fuck the stairs! Fuck what your BP says! Your doctor is a Urologist! What the hell does he know about BPs! Eat, eat more more! 400lbs is within your reach! You can do it and have it all be FAT! Have you ever see "The Meaning of Life" by Monty Python? No? Good! Don't watch it! Terrible movie! Just one more wafer thin mint! Donnie!
Encouraging him to kill himself by overeating is different than a more direct death wish?
A death wish is a death wish. Strictly forbidden on most any social media or talk site. I wonder if the secret service reads these kind of things....
I wonder if the secret service reads these kind of things....
I wonder if they're going to throw themselves between him and a 5 piece extra Krispy meal, with a side of mashed potatoes, gravy and slaw?
Encouraging him to kill himself by overeating is different than a more direct death wish?
Only if he is stupid enough to do it. Though this is Donnie we are talking about, sooooo........
Apparently, rooting for the President to commit suicide is okay, saying the democrats are the party of hate is an affront to humanity.
believes that humans are born with a finite amount of energy
I believe that humans are born with a finite amount of luck-- which is why I don't buy lottery tickets. I may need that good luck to survive another heart attack...
Dear Friend Dowser: I also don't gamble (well, the buffet at Jay's Diner is the exception to that rule).
I did counseling for someone who had a gambling problem.
At his first Gamblers Anonymous (GA) meeting they gave him 8-5 odds he would not complete the program.
Enoch.
What a hoot, dear Enoch!
Don't anyone ever go with me to the horse races, and follow my bets. A bet from me is a kiss of death. I've bet on horses that won't start and run all over the infield, horses that get 1/2 way and quit, and even one that dropped dead on the back stretch. Gambling, for me, is the road to just losing money! (Maybe because I know it's the wrong thing to do for me...)
We all take risks, every day. Every time I drive, I feel like I am taking my life in my hands, even though I have always been a good driver and a safe driver, and am exceedingly cautious. Especially now that I've lost the sight in one eye. The very first time I drove after losing my sight, the truck in front of me dropped a washer and dryer on the highway, Right in front of me, but since I always leave plenty of room between cars, I was able to avoid it. Anyway, when I finally get where I'm going, I have to pry my hands off the steering wheel, which have become claws. What a thrill!
Love you, dear Enoch! Very much! I've been very lucky, here and there, and don't wish to upset that apple cart. Much less call down the wrath of God on my head for doing what I know is wrong for me...
Dear Friend Dowser: The way you live your life brings a smile to the Divine Countenance.
Well done!
E.