Pretty good synopsis with facts to this point.
Sorry all, this is long. I know its probably been covered here, but I wanted to share the message I wrote, which I think shows most of what we know. To be clear, this is not a discussion about if Hillary would have done it better. Its about holding the POTUS accountable, not rewriting history.
Some insist this is simply a 'witch hunt'. They may be right. But, in case they arent, I took the data from syndicated publications and did my best to remove bias and commentary while staying on topic and factual.
We know, definitely and factually, all of the following -- Two members of Trump's admin have been removed from office for their implications with Russia. A third is being pressed to resign. And Russia has, in some capacity, meddled with the general election, with preference shown for Trump.
Records show that the first of Trump's admin to resign was his National Chairman of the Presidential Campaign, Paul Manafort. He (and by proxy, Trump) had repeated contact with Russian Intelligence officials around the same time that Trump was speaking glowingly about Putin and getting along with Russia. Manafort also had under-the-table payments from Ukraine totaling $12.7M for secret lobbying efforts in the US and stashing those payments in shell-companies abroad, for which he is currently under investigation. He is also implicated in links to underhanded dealings in Russia with Putin's long-time friend for $18M. None of this is on the books and all of this Manafort denies.
Michael Flynn, Trump's National Security Adviser, resigned amid political fallout because he lied about having conversations with Russia's ambassador to Washington. He had multiple conversations, some of which were wire tapped by US intelligence, that confirmed he was talking to the ambassador concerning new sanctions the Obama administration had imposed on Russia dealing with their interference with the 2016 election, and more importantly, how Trump was willing to lift (why though?). It is worth noting that people outside of the Executive Branch are prohibited from making foreign policy. Flynn denied this and insisted he had no contact with Russia, of course, until it was later proven that he did. At which time he tendered his resignation.
Trump, during a campaign speech in July '16 said “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” actually encouraging a hack. And Russia, unsurprisingly, listened and hacked the Democratic National Convention. They then leaked information that, among some that was found to be true, some was completely fabricated in order to sway the election. This is only one layer of their involvement, however. The Director of National Intelligence, who represents 17 intelligence agencies and the Dept of Homeland Security jointly stated that Russia had influenced the election. The published and declassified report said:
"We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election. Russia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate Secretary Hillary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump. We have high confidence in these judgments."
Trump then rejected the intelligence report, suggesting that Democrats were simply "reacting to their election loss" and further attacked US Intelligence agencies. He makes no mention nor does he take responsibility for his words which may have spurred the whole thing.
Jeff Sessions, while he was a surrogate for President-elect Trump, met with the Russian ambassador on two different occasions -- in July and September of 2016. The latter meeting, in his Senate offices in September, was during what intelligence has called "the height of the Russian cyber campaign" to influence the election. It is worth mentioning that Sessions was a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and it is not illegal to have contact with the Ambassador to Russia. What is illegal, however, is lying under oath during his confirmation, also known as perjury. He was asked on two different occasions whether he or anyone in the Trump campaign/administration had been in contact with Russia, and he said no. He even clarified that he, himself, was a surrogate of Trump and he had not had any contact, which was a lie. To have a private meeting with Russia's ambassador while being a Trump surrogate seems suspicious. As Sen Claire McCaskill has said (and later clarified), she has been a member of the same committee for 10 years and has not once had a private meeting with the Russian Ambassador. She clarified that she had been in meetings with the entire committee and Russian diplomats, but never a private meeting. Regardless of that, the point of the matter is, he lied under oath. Bill Clinton was impeached because of his perjury charge.
Despite all of this which was written and published on Feb 14 by the NY Times, and several times more since, Trump insists that none of his campaign had any contact with Russia before the election. Another blatant lie, which has been disproved with actual facts and evidence. The question remains, however, why would 4 people including Trump lie about contact with Russia (that we know of) when each lie risks their job and ability to govern?
And after all of this, some still think it is a simply "Witch Hunt"? Now Im not saying there is certainly something nefarious underneath. But the country should be demanding a non-partisan investigation into it. Those that claim witch hunt would almost certainly advocate a 7th investigation into Hillary's emails... but dont you think there should be ONE about Trump and his administration concerning their ties to Russia??
Sorry all, this is long. I know its probably been covered here, but I wanted to share the message I wrote, which I think shows most of what we know. To be clear, this is not a discussion about if Hillary would have done it better. Its about holding the POTUS accountable, not rewriting history.
Some insist this is simply a 'witch hunt'. They may be right. But, in case they arent, I took the data from syndicated publications and did my best to remove bias and commentary while staying on topic and factual.
We know, definitely and factually, all of the following -- Two members of Trump's admin have been removed from office for their implications with Russia. A third is being pressed to resign. And Russia has, in some capacity, meddled with the general election, with preference shown for Trump.
Records show that the first of Trump's admin to resign was his National Chairman of the Presidential Campaign, Paul Manafort. He (and by proxy, Trump) had repeated contact with Russian Intelligence officials around the same time that Trump was speaking glowingly about Putin and getting along with Russia. Manafort also had under-the-table payments from Ukraine totaling $12.7M for secret lobbying efforts in the US and stashing those payments in shell-companies abroad, for which he is currently under investigation. He is also implicated in links to underhanded dealings in Russia with Putin's long-time friend for $18M. None of this is on the books and all of this Manafort denies.
Michael Flynn, Trump's National Security Adviser, resigned amid political fallout because he lied about having conversations with Russia's ambassador to Washington. He had multiple conversations, some of which were wire tapped by US intelligence, that confirmed he was talking to the ambassador concerning new sanctions the Obama administration had imposed on Russia dealing with their interference with the 2016 election, and more importantly, how Trump was willing to lift (why though?). It is worth noting that people outside of the Executive Branch are prohibited from making foreign policy. Flynn denied this and insisted he had no contact with Russia, of course, until it was later proven that he did. At which time he tendered his resignation.
Trump, during a campaign speech in July '16 said “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” actually encouraging a hack. And Russia, unsurprisingly, listened and hacked the Democratic National Convention. They then leaked information that, among some that was found to be true, some was completely fabricated in order to sway the election. This is only one layer of their involvement, however. The Director of National Intelligence, who represents 17 intelligence agencies and the Dept of Homeland Security jointly stated that Russia had influenced the election. The published and declassified report said:
"We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election. Russia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate Secretary Hillary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump. We have high confidence in these judgments."
Trump then rejected the intelligence report, suggesting that Democrats were simply "reacting to their election loss" and further attacked US Intelligence agencies. He makes no mention nor does he take responsibility for his words which may have spurred the whole thing.
Jeff Sessions, while he was a surrogate for President-elect Trump, met with the Russian ambassador on two different occasions -- in July and September of 2016. The latter meeting, in his Senate offices in September, was during what intelligence has called "the height of the Russian cyber campaign" to influence the election. It is worth mentioning that Sessions was a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and it is not illegal to have contact with the Ambassador to Russia. What is illegal, however, is lying under oath during his confirmation, also known as perjury. He was asked on two different occasions whether he or anyone in the Trump campaign/administration had been in contact with Russia, and he said no. He even clarified that he, himself, was a surrogate of Trump and he had not had any contact, which was a lie. To have a private meeting with Russia's ambassador while being a Trump surrogate seems suspicious. As Sen Claire McCaskill has said (and later clarified), she has been a member of the same committee for 10 years and has not once had a private meeting with the Russian Ambassador. She clarified that she had been in meetings with the entire committee and Russian diplomats, but never a private meeting. Regardless of that, the point of the matter is, he lied under oath. Bill Clinton was impeached because of his perjury charge.
Despite all of this which was written and published on Feb 14 by the NY Times, and several times more since, Trump insists that none of his campaign had any contact with Russia before the election. Another blatant lie, which has been disproved with actual facts and evidence. The question remains, however, why would 4 people including Trump lie about contact with Russia (that we know of) when each lie risks their job and ability to govern?
And after all of this, some still think it is a simply "Witch Hunt"? Now Im not saying there is certainly something nefarious underneath. But the country should be demanding a non-partisan investigation into it. Those that claim witch hunt would almost certainly advocate a 7th investigation into Hillary's emails... but dont you think there should be ONE about Trump and his administration concerning their ties to Russia??
