WAPO. Obama, and Trump

The June 23 edition of the Washington Post reported, "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."

The Post added, "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."

Trump, who never ceases to amaze me, had a very curious reaction when one considers his past history in this matter. "Well I just heard today for the first time that Obama knew about Russia a long time before the election, and he did nothing about it," Trump said in an excerpt of his interview on Fox News' "Fox and Friends" released Friday. "But nobody wants to talk about that."

Trump also knew about Russia long before the election. “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump said on July 27th to a room full of TV cameras at Trump National Doral. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”

More than once during the election campaign, Trump encouraged Russian hacking because it was clearly helping him just as the CIA reported in August.

Anyway, back to Trump's curious reaction. He added, "The CIA gave him information on Russia a long time before they even -- before the election. And I hardly see it. It's an amazing thing. To me, in other words, the question is, if he had the information, why didn't he do something about it? He should have done something about it. But you don't read that. It's quite sad."

The very last thing Trump wanted during the election campaign was for Obama to take punitive steps against Russia because Russia was helping him by seriously damaging the
Clinton campaign. Donald can be very humorous at times. He is used to cracking jokes on television.

Let us assume Obama did step in. Let us assume, after the CIA letter in August, Obama took vigorous steps, demanding the media inform voters that Russia was interfering in our election by seriously damaging the Democratic campaign and for the benefit of one Donald J. Trump.

One would have heard the screams of foul from Trump and the RNC from coast to coast and every point in between. So, what Trump is saying now is perfectly ludicrous. He has a chronic history of wanting it both ways and it works because his fawning fans fall for it.

In his mind, had Obama interfered in the election campaign, Presidential intrusion would have been rigging on steroids. As it is Trump had this to say about the coming election. "Nov. 8, we'd better be careful, because that election is going to be rigged," he said at an Aug. 1 rally in Columbus, Ohio. "People are going to walk in and they're going to vote 10 times, maybe, who knows?"

And, "I know last time, you had precincts where there were practically nobody voting for the Republican (Mitt Romney)," he said to Fox News’ Sean Hannity that same night. "I’m telling you, Nov. 8, we better be careful because that election is going to be rigged and I hope the Republicans are watching closely, or it’s going to be taken away from us."

Nevertheless, now he is saying he wanted Obama to tell everyone how the Russians were helping him win the election.

The Obama administration did very little to thwart Russian interference in our election for two reasons. First, he was convinced Clinton would win anyway. Second, he abhorred the idea of Presidential intervention in a Presidential election. That is a concept far beyond Trump's ability to grasp.

 

The latest from Trump on the WAPO article. This one will cause a lot of head scratching.

Trump tweeted, "Obama Administration official said they "choked" when it came to acting on Russian meddling of election. They didn't want to hurt Hillary?"

Let's see if I have this right. The CIA 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.

According to Trump's strange reasoning, since Obama did not attempt to stop Russia from damaging Clinton's campaign that somehow helped Clinton?

Is Trump a well man? Seriously, is he mentally fit for the job of President? His tweets yesterday and today on this matter say no. Maybe we need his interpreter once again. He really doesn't mean what he is saying.

Put a different way, he doesn't know what he is talking about.

 

Politico had this to say about Trump's tweets.

Lots of people want President Donald Trump to stop tweeting. Mitch McConnell wants him to stop tweeting. Carly Fiorina wants him to stop tweeting. Lindsey Graham and Susan Collins and other Republican members of Congress and some Democrats in Congress and Jeb Bush and many of Trump’s advisers and attorneys and even some of his supporters (although not all of his supporters) want him to stop tweeting. His wife wants him to stop. A majority of business leaders want him to stop, and a majority of millennials, and a majority of voters, period. His tweeting, they all believe, is unseemly and incendiary, legally risky and chaotic, undiplomatic, demoralizing, destructive, and distracting, too—for everybody, but especially for Trump.


The people, though, who want Trump to keep tweeting are the people who rely on his words to do their jobs—reporters, biographers, political scientists and strategists, and presidential historians [and Sandy Shanks]. They often are appalled by the content of the tweets, just plain weary like everybody else of the volume and pace of the eruptions and deeply worried about their consequences as well—but still, they say, the more Trump tweets, the better.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/06/25/i-found-trumps-diaryhiding-in-plain-sight-215303

 

So, our Commander-in-Chief did not react to a cyber attack on us by an arch enemy, which normally is considered an act of war because he figured Hillary would win anyway. That's your excuse????????? Out of curiosity, what's your excuse for Obama not reacting to a military assault against a soverign American location in Benghazi? Did he have too much for dinner and he was tired?????

 

So, our Commander-in-Chief did not react to a cyber attack on us by an arch enemy, which normally is considered an act of war because he figured Hillary would win anyway. That's your excuse????????? Out of curiosity, what's your excuse for Obama not reacting to a military assault against a sovereign American location in Benghazi? Did he have too much for dinner and he was tired?????

 

Trump has complained that Obama did not do anything to stop Russian interference in our election.

Trump, as President, still has not condemned Russia for interfering in our election. In point of fact, he is blaming the former President for the interference.

Trump has been President for over five months. He has not taken any punitive steps against Russia for interfering in our election. In fact, he bragged to two prominent Russians in the Oval Office that he fired the man in charge of investigating Russian interference in our election.

There is strong suspicion among many, including special prosecutor Robert Mueller, that Trump's staff have colluded with the Russians.

 

That was quite an extraordinary article. I studied it for a long time before passing the A section to my wife.

 

That was Obama's reason, one of them, not my excuse. The other reason was, Obama did not want to intrude into the election. Trump was complaining the election was rigged because he anticipated losing.If the President interfered, Trump would think he had a legitimate complaint that the election was rigged against him. Right or wrong, Obama didn't want that to happen.

 

Is that good or is that bad?

 

For five months???? Compare that to Obama's 15 months!

 

Actually I think this was true, but I wouldn't put such a smooth spin on it. Obama was 100% confident Hillary would win and could care less if the Russians were tampering. Besides, logic, but not the hype, would say if Putin did have a preference it was Hillary.
Though after the surprising election Obama came to life and actively supported the then excuse for Hillary's loss.

 

Sorry the person who was selected to BE in office by the Russians is currently there - there are a lot of questions relating to Russian influence and you want to blame Obama??

 

Except the Trump stuff is all myth -- zero evidence -- and Obama's factual at face value and totally open and public.

 

Obama was informed of the Russian interference in Aug. 2016, 3 1/2 months before he leaves office. A lame duck President with that little times is really quite limited.

 

I misread my source. It was talking about Obama's general knowledge about Russia mucking around in 2015 but it was Aug 2016 (5-1/2 months before leaving office, BTW) when he got the specifics and details of the intelligence conclusion about Putin's direct involvement and concerted effort to mess up the election. Though it is strange that it was July 2015 when the FBI first warned the DNC about Russian hacking.
Obama was getting tons of stuff out and done his last 2 or 3 months in office.

 

My information is it was July 2016.

"Since July 2016, the FBI has been investigating the Russian government’s attempt to influence the 2016 presidential election, including whether President Trump’s campaign associates were involved in those efforts." https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...ents-russia-investigation-election/102786216/

Also, merely because the FBI began investigating an issue doesn't mean that the President knows the issue is a fact.

My math was off by one month. So was yours. August doesn't count. It is 4 1/2 months, not 3 1/2 months.

Yes, Obama was very busy, but it was obvious to him that the Russian probe would carry into the next administration. Here it is, nearly a year later, and the issue still isn't resolved.

 

It was July 2015 when a special agent knocked on the door of the DNC and told them there is suspected Russian hacking going on, and, different from 2016, was invited in to look around at their systems -- at what level I don't know.

 

Okay, but the FBI investigation into the Russian government’s attempt to influence the 2016 presidential election began in July 2016.

 

You have no idea if the Trump's staff collusion is a myth. Up until now all the evidence, all the testimony from closed door hearings, has been in the hands of Republicans dedicated to the defense of a Republican President.

As for Obama, you are correct, but you need to look at the whole picture. Clearly, Trump is being disingenuous.

The Post stated, "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."

Trump had a very curious reaction when one considers his past history in this matter. "Well I just heard today for the first time that Obama knew about Russia a long time before the election, and he did nothing about it," Trump said in an excerpt of his interview on Fox News' "Fox and Friends" released Friday. "But nobody wants to talk about that."

Apparently, Trump wasn't listening at intel briefings during and after the election. Clearly, he is the only American adult who didn't hear about this as early as July. Or, so he says now. But he is just playing dumb. That comes easy for him. It isn't the first time he has made a fool of himself, and it won't be the last.

Trump obviously knew about Russia long before the election. “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump said on July 27th to a room full of TV cameras at Trump National Doral. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”

More than once during the election campaign, Trump encouraged Russian hacking because it was clearly helping him just as the CIA reported in August.

Anyway, back to Trump's curious reaction. He added, "The CIA gave him information on Russia a long time before they even -- before the election. And I hardly see it. It's an amazing thing. To me, in other words, the question is, if he had the information, why didn't he do something about it? He should have done something about it. But you don't read that. It's quite sad."

The very last thing Trump wanted during the election campaign was for Obama to take punitive steps against Russia because Russia was helping him by seriously damaging the Clinton campaign.

Let us assume Obama did step in. Let us assume, after the CIA letter in August, Obama took vigorous steps, demanding the media inform voters that Russia was interfering in our election by seriously damaging the Democratic campaign and for the benefit of one Donald J. Trump.

One would have heard the screams of foul from Trump and the RNC from coast to coast and every point in between. So, what Trump is saying now is perfectly ludicrous. He has a chronic history of wanting it both ways and it works because his fawning fans fall for it.

Moreover, if Obama had made the case to American voters that the Russians wanted Trump in the Oval Office, Trump's campaign would be over.

He is making a complete fool himself with the statements he is making today. That's nothing new.

 

Huh? Putin's preference was Hillary? That is why he tried to do as much damage as he could to the Clinton campaign. Wow! That's some logic you have.

Besides, your, um, logic contradicts the CIA. The CIA 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.

Let me guess. You know more than the CIA.

 

Somebody told Trump he made a complete fool of himself. Incredulously, he first tweeted, "Obama Administration official said they "choked" when it came to acting on Russian meddling of election. They didn't want to hurt Hillary?"

Let's see if I have this right. The CIA 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.

According to Trump's strange reasoning, since Obama did not attempt to stop Russia from damaging Clinton's campaign that somehow helped Clinton? That's weird, really weird.

Trump changed that today. As usual, he made things worse for himself. Now he tweets, "The reason that President Obama did NOTHING about Russia after being notified by the CIA of meddling is that he expected Clinton would win ... and did not want to 'rock the boat.' He didn't 'choke,' he colluded or obstructed, and it did the Dems and Crooked Hillary no good."

In another tweet, he said in part, "I should be given apology!" Oh, boy, is he losing it?

Forgetting for the moment that Trump encouraged the Russians during the election, forgetting for the moment that had Obama done something and informed American voters beginning in August that the Russians were interfering in our elections and wanted Trump in the Oval Office, forgetting for the moment that would have ended Trump's Presidential bid, forgetting all that, who does Trump blame for the Russian interference? He blames the former President.

As President, Trump has yet to condemn Russia for attacking our form of government. Instead, he blames Obama. As President, in five months he still has not taken any punitive measures against Russia for interfering in our election. As President, he has not taken any measures specifically aimed at Russia to prevent her from interfering in our 2018 and 2020 elections.

The idea that he is throwing up a series of red herrings to change the narrative about his collusion with the Russians is foolishly transparent, infantile, moronic, counter-productive (indicating guilt), and useless. A reasonable person would laugh if it were not so tragic. He is our President, for crying out loud.

Therein lies the tragedy.

 

There is no longer any doubt about what Putin did. What do we do about it is the thing that matters

 

Maybe. Or maybe I'm just slower to push 80% certainty into a loud 100% bravado certainty.

 

And what do you base your paltry 20% on? Wishful thinking?

 

An 80% confidence level in intelligence is quite high. Without a recently fired smoking gun in the perp's hand they seldom get above 80%-90%.
I have not seen the top secret evidence but it would be interesting to see the specific evidence that says, e.g, that Putin personally gave specific orders for his intelligence cadres to hack into computer systems to explicitly support Trump in the election. (I'm curious why they would feel compelled to break into the RNC in this scenario.)