Midterm Election At Risk For Russian Attack

While Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller continues to investigate Russia’s involvement in the 2016 presidential election, the US has been hit with a new warning: since Russia did such a great job affecting the outcome of the 2016 contest, they are now preparing to meddle in the 2018 midterm election as well.

Politics
The directors of 6 major US intelligence agencies, including the FBI, CIA, and NSA have warned the Senate Intelligence Committee that Moscow sees the midterm election as a potential target for “influence operations.”  Or, in other words, their first attempt at destabilizing democracy was such a huge success that they’re ready to take another stab at it for as long as it continues to work.

“At a minimum, we expect Russia to continue using propaganda, social media, false-flag personas, sympathetic spokespeople, and other means of influence to try to exacerbate social and political fissures in the United States,” said Dan Coats, director of National Intelligence.

CIA Director Mike Pompeo concurred that he has “every expectation” for Russia to interfere in the midterm elections, adding: “We’ve seen Russian activity and intentions to have an impact on the next election cycle here.”

Other officials were in full agreement.

“This is not going to change or stop,” said Mike Rogers, outgoing director of the National Security Agency.

The U.S. “is under attack,” added Robert Cardillo, director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

According to Coats, he believes that Russia, China, Iran and North Korea “pose the greatest cyberthreats” to the United States.

“Frankly, the United States is under attack, under attack by entities that are using cyber to penetrate virtually every major action that takes place in the United States,” he said. “From U.S. businesses to the federal government to state and local governments, the United States is being threatened by cyberattacks every day.”

There should be no doubt that Russia perceives its past efforts” to disrupt the 2016 presidential campaign “as successful and views the 2018 midterm elections as a potential target for Russian influence operations,” Coats continued.

Politics
So, what national strategy has the Donald Trump-led White House developed to put an end to the Russian threat?  None!

Yes, as far as Donald Trump is concerned, Russia never interfered in any US election and any claims to challenge this theory is “fake news.”

Trump continues to deny Russian meddling in the US electoral system because he believes an admission could delegitimize or even nullify his 2016 victory.  So, remaining in denial regarding Russian tampering is his way of remaining in the Oval Office.  Additionally, since Russia’s election meddling frequently favors Republican lawmakers, simply staying out of the way and allowing Putin to “do his thing” is Trump’s way of assuring that both he and his Republican congressmen remain in power.

Trump’s nonchalant attitude toward Moscow combined with his critical tweets of everyone EXCEPT Russia has prompted New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman to issue a “code red” for America.

“Our democracy is in serious danger,” Friedman wrote earlier this week. “President Trump is either totally compromised by the Russians or is a towering fool, or both, but either way he has shown himself unwilling or unable to defend America against a Russian campaign to divide and undermine our democracy.”

There’s more…

“This is code red,” he continued. “The biggest threat to the integrity of our democracy today is in the Oval Office.”

Ouch!

Yes, despite factual evidence from the top intelligence agencies and operatives in the world, Donald Trump continues to deny that Russia interfered in the 2016 election and that they’re planning to do the same during the 2018 midterm election.

Needless to say, Trump’s silence speaks volumes!

OK WASSUP! discusses politics:
Experts warn Russia planning to attack 2018 midterm election.