Top News Today –
CIA Believes Russia
Hacked U.S. Election
Did Russia hack the 2016 U.S. presidential election? A new CIA report says YES, prompting one former CIA operative to call for a do-over election!
Top News Today
Donald Trump’s surprise November 8th victory may not have been at the hands of a secret society of disgruntled Americans after all. According to The Washington Post, the CIA has concluded in a secret assessment that not only did Russia wish to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system, but they actively intervened in the 2016 election in order to help Donald Trump win the presidency.
Intelligence agencies say they are aware of individuals with connections to the Russian government who provided WikiLeaks with thousands of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and others, as part of a wider Russian operation to hurt Hillary Clinton and boost Donald Trump.
“It is the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia’s goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected,” said a senior U.S. official briefed on a recent intelligence presentation made to U.S. senators. “That’s the consensus view.”
The thought that a foreign government may have interfered in the democratic process of a U.S. election and successfully affected the outcome is a colossal charge with cataclysmic consequences. The theory is so severe, that former CIA Operative Robert Baer says he believes there is no alternative than for the U.S. to vote all over again.
“The Russians, it looks like to me did interfere in our election,” Baer said in a recent interview on CNN. “But, I’ll tell you, having worked in the CIA, if we had been caught interfering in European elections, or Asian elections, or anywhere in the world, those countries would call for new elections — and any democracy would. I don’t see it any other way.”
“They had a good reason to go after Hillary Clinton. Putin hates her,” he added.
Donald Trump has long been considered a push-over and easy target by the Russian government. His naming over the weekend of Exxon Mobile CEO Rex Tillerson (a close friend of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin) as Secretary of State, despite Tillerson’s complete lack of foreign policy or government experience, has only exacerbated charges of Russia’s desire to control the U.S. Government.
“Bob, if I’m hearing you correctly, are you saying we should have another election? How would that work? Is that plausible?” CNN’s Boris Sanchez questioned.
“When a foreign country interferes in your election and the outcome is in doubt and the legitimacy of the government… I don’t see any other way than to vote again!” Baer replied.
Top News Today
The belief that the Russians hacked the U.S. election and that Donald Trump may NOT be the legitimate winner is starting to gain steam.
Over the weekend, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina issued a joint statement along with Sens. John McCain, Chuck Schumer, and John Reed, saying “recent reports of Russian interference in our election should alarm every American.”
“While protecting classified material, we have an obligation to inform the public about recent cyber attacks that have cut to the heart of our free society. Democrats and Republicans must work together, and across the jurisdictional lines of the Congress, to examine these recent incidents thoroughly and devise comprehensive solutions to deter and defend against further cyber-attacks,” the statement read.
On Friday, President Obama ordered a “full review” of Russian hacking throughout the election campaign, so as to assure a greater public understanding of exactly what Moscow may have done to influence the electoral process.
“We may have crossed into a new threshold, and it is incumbent upon us to take stock of that, to review, to conduct some after-action, to understand what has happened and to impart some lessons learned,” Mr. Obama’s counterterrorism and homeland security adviser, Lisa Monaco, said. She added that the president wants the report before he leaves office on January 20th. The review will be led by James Clapper, the outgoing director of national intelligence.
Naturally, Donald Trump has come out against any investigation into Russia’s involvement, calling the claims “ridiculous.” He also slammed the CIA over their suggestion that his win may not be legitimate.
Is it possible that Russia may have actually meddled in a U.S. presidential election? Is it possible that their interference may have completely affected the outcome for their own political gain? If so, should the U.S. government call for the unprecedented move of a do-over election to assure a fair and legitimate democratic process?
.
.
TAKE OUR POLL:
DJ: Is it possible that Russia may have actually meddled in a U.S. presidential election? Is it possible that their interference may have completely affected the outcome for their own political gain? […] Yes and Yes. Frankly, I don't think there's any question about either. Nor is there any doubt in my mind that Julian Assange (Wikileaks founder) was more than happy to be a tool for Putin in this regard. Assange despises the Clintons – Hillary in particular.. Assange's decision to unload at least "20 individual releases of hacked John Podesta emails over a 3 week period" in the closing month of the campaign was significant because…let's be honest….those emails were quite damaging to the Clintons, to the Clinton Foundation and to the cronies who are long-time loyalists to the Clintons, including Podesta himself. DJ: If so, should the U.S. government call for the unprecedented move of a do-over… Read more »