You say it "the timing of the indictments, indeed the entire Russia-gate scandal, is intended to prevent Trump from pursuing detente with nuclear-armed Russia."
For a sane analysis of the "indictment" I suggest Joe Lauria.
https://consortiumnews.com/2018/07/14/evidence-will-probably-never-be-pr...
2
Complicity, collusion - and can we start saying un-indicted co-conspirator?
Mind you, we're not just talking about Trump here - it also includes the Republican Party. (Yes Mitch McConnell - we're looking at you and your refusal to allow any discussion of Russian interference before the election.)
The July 4 visit of Republican Senators to Moscow in search of "better relations" should be right up there with Trump's call to hack Hillary's emails. Could they have given a bigger signal that they want more help from Russia for the 2018 elections?
Charles P. Pierce has the best reaction to the indictments I've seen anywhere. The Times really needs to start running his work.
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22143324/russia-indictme...
14
Also strange that he goes golfing in Scotland as if not a care in the world despite an indictment of Russian military intelligence conducting an extensive cyberattack on America.
And talking about the weather being beautiful for golf-- and of his upcoming plan to have a friendly meeting with Vladimir Putin, who directed these attacks.
Mr. Trump's dishonesty has been increasing dramatically.
A Republican Party appears complicit.
We are truly living in George Orwell's novel 1984.
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/analysis/2018/07/14/trump-has-said-13...
8
It could have been worse. Dawn Sturgess, 44, from Durrington, England is dead; boyfriend Charlie Rowley, 45, remains in a critical condition in hospital. The couple went for a after being exposed to a nerve agent while visitng Salisbury, South England.
Putin's team deny any involvement. The chemical, Novichok, " is part of a group of nerve agents considered to be the most lethal in the world, and the Russian government has been producing it for decades." Vox - https://www.vox.com/world/2018/3/12/17109266/russia-spy-skripal-nerve-ag...
The use of Novichok was deployed to kill a former Russian 'turn-coat' agent living in the Salsbury area (UK) during his daughter's visit: "On March 4, Sergei Skripal, a former Soviet and Russian spy, was found unconscious on a bench alongside his daughter Yulia."
Sergei and Yulia managed to recover after extensive treatment delivered by NHS (UK's leading globally acknowledged National (universal) healthcare system.
Two take-aways: can't trust the Russian-Putin government, and, if under attack by Russian agents, England offers excellent healthcare services - notwithstanding Dawn Sturgess death from the Russian chemical agent.
There is only one other secret service that has the wherewith-all and command structure to pull-off assassinations in G8 countries. But the Israeli's would likely take the time to avoid accidently killing people. Only the Russians seem to practice a crude Stalinist kill order.
4
Manchurian Candidate is now Manchurian President- if the word "traitor" has any meaning left in it, we have both a president and Republican leadership that are literally treasonous. Treasonous: adjective: involving or guilty of the crime of betraying one's country. Read the comments of Dan Coats, director of national intelligence from July 13th--https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/13/us/politics/dan-coats-intelligence-ru...
13
Don't worry about translating for Putin. I suspect he knows English better than Trump.
19
Republican Party: treason, with the sole exception of John McCain.
7
The DNC under Obama was well aware of it and knew of Ms. Clintons unprotected server.DNC head Schultz had DNC servers being controlled by hackers .This is all old news going nowhere.
1
Our horrible president loves to attach nicknames to his opposition. I will always refer to him as Traitor Trump. “These are the times to try men’s souls.” Are there any republicans with integrity?
11
The left believes the US intelligence agencies now? The same people who said there were WMD's in Iraq? That spies on everyone, and Snowden showed you? You believe anything they say? No, but this you do.
1
Flake voted last week to confirm the Alfa Bank lawyer (who has refused to recuse from the Russia probe) as head of the DOJ criminal division. Soon he could be in a position to end the Mueller probe. Flake is complicit. Something very very wrong is going on.
10
Mr Gowdy once said of Mr. Trump, “If you’re innocent, act like it.”
I would advise Mr. Trump, Mr. Gowdy, and ALL other Republicans, “If you’re not Putin's puppets, act like it.”
11
Anyone still using the word "meddling" versus "attack" is willfully ignorant and un-patriotic about what is going on here. I am proud to be an American and dont have to wrap myself in the flag and carry a cross to prove it.
8
Just imagine if this hacking hadn't favored and helped trump - he'd be screaming bloody murder.
11
I have been saying the witch will soon be found...
President baby is the witch.
6
A fraud and a con-man is trapping a frightened rat in the corner.
The rat will soon run up one of the pant-legs of Donald J. Trump.
There is no other way for the rat to escape.
1
Russian flunky! Russian tool! Trump indicts himself every time he opens his mouth!!
4
We desperately need someone who, in tiny sound bytes, can make the Grand Wizard in the White House, and more importantly his flock, understand that Mr. Mueller’s witch hunt is actually turning up witches, warlocks and wizards, many of whom seem to have been hell bent on destroying our democratic republic. This is not Salem or McCarthyism (whereas what the Republicans were trying to do to Mr. Strzok on Thursday seemed to come awfully close). Most in the flock may just keep on drinking the purple Kool-aid a la Jonestown 1978, but some may come out from under the spell, hopefully some of those chewing the cud on Capitol Hill.
5
Trump/Russia collusion, the hoax reason for Mueller, is the witch hunt, not Russian interference.
But the NY "Trump has a 9% chance" Times knows that.
Still feeding your brainwashed readers Anti Trump porn I see?
1
I do
When, o when will we rid our country of this infantile, racist, homophobic, sexist, xenophobic and dangerous embarrassment of a President?
6
American carnage, courtesy of the Kremlin.
3
If it walks like Treason and talks like Treason...
9
It's "Benghazi"
Russian for witchhunt..
2
This new set of indictment reveal, to everyone concerned enough to fully read it, that it is easy to hack into poorly designed networks. Relevant personnel can start right now to render secure dedicated server containing sensible info. The important servers need not to be directly connected to internet. Any link to those server could be thoroughly encrypted and secure. Personnel everywhere that have access to the system should be briefed by relevant experts on how to notice something "phishy" going on while online. Computer should be check every day if there is "something" that installed itself that is not supposed to be there. For example, take a look at your browser's search engine list. If you see "mail.ru" there is a high probability that you are "infected" by the Russian malware and it can grab anything you write on your keyboard. I believe that, using concerted policies and practices, the elections integrity can be much better protected.
2
That little performance by the GOP
Judiciary members was telling. The
states that are electing these people to Congress are either not sending their best, or if they ARE the best, these states that sent them are much worse off than we thought. They definately lived up to their unofficial slogan “Unfit to Goven”.
4
Evidently the Editorial Board did not like my comment about our perhaps regretting later about indicting the twelve military officers. They were in their own country following obvious orders from on high. We have military officers firing drones in other countries but pulling the trigger in the United States. We might expect one of those countries to indict one or more of our officers for an illegal act as interpreted by the involved government.
Our response to Russia for this incident should be a withdrawal of our ambassador at a minimum not a procedure that surely will never end in any convictions. Basically, we are in a war with Russia that is not with bullets but in electronics. The intent is to harm us, period.
3
With the appointment of Kavanaugh, the deck is now completely stacked. The POTUS got to choose who will preside over the coming legal nightmare. And on Monday, thug Putin (who authorizes barrel-bombs on KIDS in Syrian hospitals, who has rivals assassinated on British soil, who authorizes Kalishnikov rifles to Taliban who kill young Americans with them, who defies the world order and incorporates Crimea) will order his puppet to start issuing pardons . . .
9
Bring me the broom stick of the President of the United States!
5
You and your collaborators know a foreign government is deliberately attacking your nation, particularly your nation's elections, and you do nothing to stop it.
8
There is enough evidence here to indict Trump. Hopefully, those indictments will be forthcoming before the next election. Our elections must be protected.
8
How do you say "witch hunt" in Russian?
охота на ведьм
Better learn it. If Trump and Putin get their way, Russian will become the official language of the United States of America.
7
A little-noticed story came out today on The Daily Beast, "Jill Stein’s Recount Cash Pays for Her Russia Legal Defense," explaining that the 2016 (and 2012) Green Party presidential candidate is using money she collected from supporters for a recount of the 2016 election in several states is now being used to defend her against charges that she -- famous for being in that December 2015 dinner table with Putin and the guilty-pleading Gen. Flynn as well as a paid commentator on RT America, the U.S. media arm of the Russian government -- also colluded with the Russians to make sure Hillary Clinton lost the election.
The addendum to the story includes a response from today from the Green Party campaign. It calls the reports of Russian interference in the election "alleged" -- after all these indictments.
What is the role of Jill Stein and the Green Party USA in all of this? Just as these hacked emails were coming out in July 2016, Jill Stein was leading demonstrations outside the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. (She did not protest the Republican National Convention's nomination of Trump.)
Is the Green Party, or at least the Jill Stein campaign, part of this conspiracy against America?
18
The New York Times reported on March 1, 2017:
American allies, including the British and the Dutch, had provided information describing meetings in European cities between Russian officials ... and associates of President-elect Trump, ... .
Separately, American intelligence agencies had intercepted communications of Russian officials, some of them within the Kremlin, discussing contacts with Trump associates.
The disclosures about the contacts came as new questions were raised about Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s ties to the Russians. According to a former senior American official, he met with the Russian ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak, twice in the past year. The details of the meetings were not clear, but the contact appeared to contradict testimony Mr. Sessions provided Congress during his confirmation hearing in January when he said he “did not have communications with the Russians.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/01/us/politics/obama-trump-russia-electi...
If those reports are accurate, we should be expecting a great many more indictments, including specifically of Americans who have conspired with the Russians to subvert the 2016 election.
I hope those indictments are filed and announced by September 1, 2018, more than 60 days before the November 6, 2018 elections.
The American people need to know the facts before they vote.
13
If these Russian cyber-activities should be considered an act of war (as many are saying here), how many OTHER countries should we now be at war with?
2
And yet we still have machines counting the votes with no oversight. Paper ballots that can be recounted accurately are the way to go.
11
Drain this traitorous swamp! Fellow Americans: vote like adults next time please.
10
Shame on the GOP congress for not protecting the people of the US it would seem close to treason! Who do they go after little kids on the border.
7
Wow! The smell of sulfur is coming from that bubbling cauldron in the middle of the Oval Office. Look! That pumpkin-colored orb in a black cape and pointy hat circling the oval room on a broomstick is none other than....well, you know the answer to that! A witch hunt, first real one since Salem, has turned up one. Is any broomstick that Trump is flying on automatically Air Force One? Good question, and the Office of Protocol may have an answer for us at some later date. Mr. Mueller, with the aid of holy water and salt, has got his witch (or warlock, if you prefer) and soon the good folks of the Grand Jury will be able to abjure this presidential impostor. 'Til then, keep your children at home and lock your doors, America. He has a phone, and he is on the loose late at night.
6
It sure is strange how incensed Americans seem to be at Russian meddling in an American election when the USA is, and has long been, the biggest global meddler of them all.
We buy elections, topple governments, spy on friends and foes alike, invade countries as the whim takes us, and even assassinate foreign leaders.
In their triumphalist/militarist/imperial way the Washington power structure (lead by Democrats) is courting disaster when it comes to Russia. You even hear the talking heads boasting about the 200 Russian irregulars killed by American forces in Syria. I’m sure the Nazis also boasted about how many Russians they had killed before they were plowed into dust all the way from Russia to Germany.
The Russians are a deliberate powerful ancient people lead by a man of genius. We would do our country and the world a service by not pushing them over the edge. Diplomacy and compromise are the only viable ways forward when it comes to Russia.
Benedict Arnold Trump?
7
Perhaps Trump should ask Putin for asylum.
6
Very funny! Well not really unfortunately.
This is what money sans integrity gets you, a bankrupt President of the humiliated bankrupt united states with their trillion dollar armed forces that can’t win wars.
This monster and his minions may be what you deserve.
2
Amen!!
2
"How Do You Say ‘Witch Hunt’ in Russian?"
We don't need to. We only need to say "treason" in English.
15
Like Ying and Yang you have Pinocchio and Trump. The puppet who wanted to be a boy, and the man who wanted to be a Russian puppet. Jump Donald.
6
If Hillary in particular, and DNC in general were not making sausages as revealed in the hacked email messages, none of the hacking efforts would have been damning.
The indictments also show that the actors expected Trump to beat Hillary with only a 25% odds and were more concerned about Bernie Bros uniting around Hillary.
The problem is not with Trump or Republicans. Your problem is Queen Hillary.
Duh.
3
If the Mueller investigation is a witch hunt I guess it is homing in on the witch - Donald J Trump the liar-in-chief.
7
When is somebody going to finally realize what Donald Trump really is. The word in question is ,"TRAITOR." He is betraying everything the U.S. has stood for since 1776. He has put his putrid self-interest above everything and everybody. As for the so called witch hunt it seems as if Mueller has tracked down all the witches. They live in the Kremlin and answer to Putin. And that includes Trump. Move over Benedict Arnold; you have company.
15
Put a frog in boiling water. The frog jumps out.
Put a frog in cold water, then heat the water to a boil: Frog soup.
For 2 years, Trump has tweeted his innocence (cold water). He and the GOP have convinced their followers the Democrats are wrong.
It's been 40 years since Regan rewrote the GOP playbook.
It took the Russians 50 years to weaken the U.S. people and their allies to avenge Khrushchev's yield to Kennedy.
IF this had happened in any other country, the USA would insist on new elections.
IF this had happened in any other country, the American Newspapers would make this front page news, just as Hitler was front page news until his defeat by Americans.
We won the war for independence; in 1776 against the English.
We won the war for Human Rights (in 1864).
We won the war against tyranny; Hitler's Germany and Khrushchev's Russia (U.S.S.R.).
We LOST the war for our soul (we got Trumped).
This November, let us reclaim what we lost: our self-respect, our wealth.
FDR was our last great president. His plan to rebuild America was being blocked by the GOP. His solution was to add 5 more justices to the SCOTUS. He lacked the votes in the Senate. No matter how bad we get Trumped, a new President, Senate and House can undo all damage the GOP has done.
America was a true superpower under Kennedy. Our infrastructure and our people were the envy of the whole world. Today, we are a joke, a shadow of our former greatness. We are frog soup.
7
Witch Hunt in Russian is Donald Trump is President.
3
I guess I need to tell my kids that Boris and Natasha want to make minions out of us.
6
Are there enough "Americans" that are willing to toss their history in the trash bin in favour of a critter like Trump? Are there that many gullible people that actually believe the nonsense that he burps out daily? That have no sense of respect for their own country? Do they not realize that they will end up being the victims of the feckless GOP? From what I read, they seem to think it's only "the progressives" that will suffer, which makes them deliriously happy. They seem to lack receptors to tell them that this is the beginning of the end.
I hope for the sake of the US that November reveals that sanity still has a place, and that a flip of the House at least will enable some serious pushback against the current lab specimen in the White House.
7
"But Mr. Trump seems incapable of perceiving the threat..."
I do not think he is "incapable" of perceiving the threat. I think he recognizes it as a threat to our national security but he views it as irrelevant to his personal fortunes. His personal fortune means much more to him than such extraneous matters as our nation's well-being and its security.
No, he views the Russian interference as a tool with which he achieves his desired end -- his own "winning."
10
I just read Bret Stephens' article, "America First, America Hated, America Alone" as well as an editorial in The Irish Times by Fintan O'Toole. Please tell me that it isn't true that 52% of Republicans support the brutality of children at our southern borders! Stephens states that" Trump intends to bring about the collapse of the liberal international order, however if the 52% is correct, he is not far from bringing a collapse of our national order and fascism, here in the U.S. is not only possible but a real probability. I
5
Didn't Clinton look for dirt on Trump? Her campaign paid Steele for that. The "witch hunt" Trump refers to his alleged collusion with Russians. So, Where's the proof? Nothing yet. Just a prolonged, expensive investigation.
3
The Republicans silence on this is stunning. I guess next week they'll get to the important stuff of undermining our government on behalf of Vladimir Putin. Can't wait for that upstanding Jim Jordan to start pontificating about how the FBI and Hillary Clinton are in CAHOOTS! It's obviously true because Yawn Shammity said so.
8
That the Republicans are fighting so fiercely to derail the Trump/Russia investigation stems from their deep involvement with it.
On May 17, 2017, the Washington Post reported that June 15, 2016, GOP Congressman Kevin McCarthy remarked, “There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump.” He also added: “I’ll guarantee you that’s what it is. … The Russians hacked the DNC and got the opp [opposition] research that they had on Trump.”
GOP Congressman Paul Ryan, who was present at the time, cut the conversation off, saying: "This is off the record. No leaks, all right? This is how we know we’re a real family here. What’s said in the family stays in the family."
McCarthy at first denied the remarks, but then claimed they were a "joke" when confronted with a recording.
And of March 1, 2018, NPR reported that Alexander Torshin, the deputy governor of the Bank of Russia, illegally funneled money to the National Rifle Association to assist the Trump campaign in 2016.
There's probably a lot more under the surface than we are aware of aside from the GOP's determination to put a libertarian stranglehold on the court system, cripple the government at all levels, and loot the Treasury.
13
What alarmed me more than Russia's attempt to destabilize American democracy was how the media fenced their stolen emails as newsworthy, timidly admitting they couldn't verify the provenance! Would journalists have exposed documents stolen from the Watergate Hotel if Nixon's plumbers were successful? Suppose Germans hacked into plans for D-Day. Would the media have fenced their stolen documents as newsworthy? A good start at rallying our nation will come when the news media admits they became pawns of Russian espionage, even if they didn’t know who supplied the stolen material because President Obama was too timid to alert our nation. The NY Times did admit some culpability, buried toward the end of an article about the fiasco, but other news organizations have not, failing a SPJ Code of Ethics and their “special obligation to serve as watchdogs over public affairs and government and that legal access to information differs from an ethical justification to publish or broadcast.”
2
Perhaps new friends is in order.
1
I find this amusing.
The Russian interference happened in 2015-2016.
Mueller is investigating the Russian interference that happened in 2015-2016z
Obama was President in 2015-2016 and the Russian interference happened on his watch.
But pointing that out and holding Obama to account is “whataboutism” and not relevant, because it happened in the past, in 2015-2016. And also racist, somehow.
4
We must hope that our translator is a patriot and will report what actually passes between Putin and Trump during their otherwise solitary and private meeting next week. Or, if not, that the recordings which will undoubtedly be made become public.
3
N E W Y O R K T I M E S
6
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see what's happening here. Trump attacks American investigators, not Russian meddlers, because he benefited from the meddling and because Putin has the goods on him. And congressional Republicans are attacking the investigators because they have rolled the dice and cast their lot with Trump, and it's too close to November for them to bail on him now.
20
The indictment is astonishing in its details, is almost scary in that our intelligence and investigative agencies can dig up facts to the minutest degree. For example, the indictment speaks of the Russian army personnel MINING THEIR OWN BITCOINS (a very complex process) to pay for the domain name registration, hosting, and for the server in Illinois. I thought they were smart; they could have bought bitcoins under fake identifies rather than go through all this hassle, or paid for the servers with US DOLLARS which they must have reserve of.
If those accused are smart, they would hire local attorneys here and plead not guilty, and demand DISCLOSURE.
Mueller will then have to disclose SOURCES AND METHODS of gathering intelligence OR DROP THE CHARGES.
THE FAT LADY HAS NOT SUNG YET EITHER ON THIS INDICTMENT OR ON THE rigged witch hunt REGARDING COLLUSION.
2
Anyone really think they didn't alter actual votes anymore?
20
I don't believe ANYBODY changed the vote tallies in 2016? I'll need to wait for the evidence before believing this.
Trump's continuing refusal to listen to our intelligence experts, combined with his seemingly unquestioning acceptance of Putin's reassurances should raise red flags for all Americans. Ditto the refusal by Congressional Republicans to take this threat to our democracy seriously.
9
Now more then ever it is imperative that every eligible American must vote and they MUST vote for democrats! The republicans cannot be trusted in any way, shape or form. Trump must go and he must go soon.
14
Exactly, that's the only solution.
To progressives: many moderate Democrats already support lots of progressives ideals in their hearts too, it's just that they represent more centrist districts/states, so it's absurd to attack or oppose them, as that only makes things worse for the entire country.
What we have to do is to FIRST get rid of the GOP and elect Democrats instead, taking the current situation on the ground into account.
Simultaneously, we have to go knocking on doors so that centrist regions become more progressive.
Only THEN will it be possible to move faster to achieve progressive ideals, step by step and compromise after compromise, through legislative action. More then ever, just "waiting" until the ideal candidate comes along means actively contributing to the GOP-led destruction of this country. And no progressive can ever want something like that ...
4
"But Mr. Trump seems incapable of perceiving the threat, while Republicans in Congress spend their time fulminating not about the assault on American sovereignty, but about the private text messages of an F.B.I. agent investigating that attack."
All of the news media folks should begin referring to the political party of Trump, Mitchell, and Ryan as the Putin-Trump Party, once known as the Republican Party and the Party of Lincoln. They clearly have no interest in stopping the Russian interference in our democratic processes, as is evident by their wasting of taxpayer money and time by attacking FBI agents and those agencies trying to protect our democracy. Patriotism in the party has obviously been redefined as protecting Trump.
9
This administration reminds me of a company I worked at years ago that was so badly managed they filled for chapter 7 bankruptcy and went completely under, putting more than 10,000 employees in unemployment. I had worked in the headquarters and witnessed some of the executive corruption first hand, trickling down through management. Sort of like Enron, executives would lie and make stuff up for the *appearance* that they were doing a good job.
What we see right now with the GOP deflecting and dismissing Russian meddling in our election is the exact same thing. The executives don’t want people to know how grossly incompetent they are. Republicans have been doing a terrible terrible job at governing so their response is to deflect (blame democrats), lie (on Twitter, at rallies), and obfuscate (in Congress).
What’s going to happen when this gross incompetence catches up to the rest of us?
11
Trump's attacks on the investigation are hard to explain. IS it possible, Trump is so infirm that he simply cannot admit he had help to win the election? Or more disturbing, did he/his campaign actively conspire with the Russians? That seems to be the options. But what explains the lack of principles of the Republicans willing to attack career investigators and officials--even Republicans themselves--for conducting what appears to be a fair and fruitful investigation? Do they not care about their oaths of office but only what they perceive as their own short term interests? Do they not care about the damage they do to our system, our political discourse, and ultimately our strength and viability as the world's pre-eminent democracy?
5
It appears that for about $100,000 a country such as Russia can pull a lot of strings in America. "We're under attack!" seems a pretty common viewpoint here. I blame the media who are driving this and know how MINOR these spearfishing excursions, within the sea of the internet, actually are. I'd guess that at least 90% of their effects within our country are from our own partisan reporting of it. We need to inform ourselves - independently from our news outlets - to keep from being played like puppets.
1
Donald Trump and his Congressional and media friends are thrashing about like scared chickens because they're terrified that they'll be the next ones indicted. This isn't just an attack on our highly nebulous and empty-phrased "democracy". This is a direct assault on our country, as purely and simply as that can be put, and the Americans who helped it out are doing everything they can to avoid the gas chamber for committing high treason. That's all this is.
4
Trump had no campaign structure; he outsourced it to Putin. Now his concern – and why he is so desperate to undermine the investigation as a “witchhunt,” a “hoax” and blame Obama – is that he will be seen correctly as an illegitimate president, there only by rigging the election. He has no business destroying the Paris Climate Accord, the Iran Nuclear Deal, NATO, trade relations, or appointing a Supreme Court justice who will undo 100 years of progress, affirm a Unitary Executive and overturn the Constitution’s careful establishment of three co-equal branches. When he meets Putin – one-on-one in secret -it will not be to confront and condemn for cyberwar on America’s election apparatus and democratic structures, but to further the deal to keep Congress in Republican hands in 2018 and to assure reelection in 2020. The thing is, what Russia did is abhorrent and illegal but with technology, is easy. Trump doesn’t need Putin, he has Brad Parscale, his 2020 campaign manager, who came out of the social media enterprise built by Cambridge Analytica. Because they know there are no consequences for rigging or stealing an election, they will do it again, secure knowing that even if they are held to account, Trump will pardon them. Trump has violated his oath to protect and defend the Constitution more than once, but this is the most heinous, bordering on treason. An illegitimate president to begin with, he should be impeached for high crimes while occupying the office he stole.
8
My father was a prisoner of war in WWII. Right before the Russians arrived to liberate the camps my father and his buddy took the risk of a shot in the back from the Germans as they escaped because they feared becoming prisoners of the Russians.
Vladimir Putten has stolen billions from Russian citizens, he has murdered his citizens and those of other countries. He has imprisoned anyone who disagrees with him. He has invaded democratic states. He has attacked our countries electoral democracy.
For those too young or too ignorant to care, history will tell you why this man is not our friend.
6
What comments are you claiming Trump made about Rosenstein's press conference yesterday?
In addition, have you even read the indictments? And if so why do you agree with them? Check that, you've haven't had a reasonable amount of time to think about them.
Other than that, good job.
I'm I the only one here who feels that we owe the Russians a great deal of gratitude for helping keep Hillary Clinton out of the White House? As a general rule, I do not support election meddling, and that includes the USA, which does a ton of it itself. However this case, the situation and stakes were so dire, I would opine that the action was indeed desirable if not justified.
1
Wow. You don't have a general rule against election meddling. Your rule is: as long as it gives me the outcome I want, it's fine.
Can we all, therefore, assume that, had Russia done the exact same things only on behalf of Hillary Clinton, that you would be back to not supporting election meddling?
This is the problem with Trumpthink: So long as it benefits me and hurts my adversaries, it's a good thing and is therefore okay. But if I don't like the goals of the thing, it's a bad thing.
That is called having no principles or values other than believing that what you want is always right, and what anyone else might want is wrong. You are either against election meddling by foreign adversaries or you are not. That is the thing to be for or against. You can't be for it in one case and not in another.
Good lord. No wonder Trump has the approval rating he has. Who needs critical thinking skills when behaving like spoiled children is so much easier, right?
12
I believe that many Trumpistas feel this way— that the ends justify the means. This is the actual problem with the country. We have a cancerous knot of Amurrrkins who are willing to tolerate (or ignore/deny) obvious, deep corruption and political malpractice on the part of their elected representatives in exchange for actual (or more likely, perceived) political “gains”.
Like Trump and most Trumpistas, this one has sold out his integrity and his country for peanuts.
10
So, maybe it unfolds like this. Whilst Trump is in Russia, the Mueller team reveals an indictment against him. He chooses to stay in Russia, rather than return and face the music. Perhaps he knows its coming, and perhaps this is the reason he is so very, very willing to have the meeting, with the guy who ordered the interference. Bizarre? Of course, but who could have predicted any of this?
3
For a long time I have believed that the Russians hacked our state and national election systems and that they had inside help, right down to the district level in some states. I believe that the GOP is hellbent not just on protecting Trump, who was not a Republican before the 2016 election, but on protecting themselves. Why else would Ryan, Gowdy, Issa, and others be "retiring" when they are at the helm of the majority in power? I'd bet that this coverup goes deep into the core of the Republican party apparatus.
11
Even Peter Strzok admitted before the House panel before which he appeared that "there is no there there" and that "he did not want to be involved in a CI investigation" precisely because there is no there there.
After 2 years of investigation into collusion (which is not a crime as Peter Strzok said), no US person has been INDICTED FOR COLLUSION (which indictment would not make sense), why continue this charade that Trump rightly calls RIGGED WITCH HUNT?
How do you say RIGGED WITCH HUNT in Liberal Speak?
3
Uh ... you mean that if after one (not two) year of investigation into collusion and Russian manipulation of US elections, and with constant attempts by the Executive branch of the government to try to meddle with the Judiciary branch and end it prematurely, the number of Americans and Russian indicted is already higher than what you can count on both hands BUT the word "collusion" hasn't been used yet ... then somehow the judiciary would be rigged ... ?
If yes:
- any concrete evidence that the process led by early Trump supporter and Trump appointed Sec. of the DOJ Session is actively rigging the investigation?
- how do you define a witch hunt, more precisely? I'm afraid that you'll call anything a witch hunt as soon as (a) a politician you support is being investigated, and/or (b) Trump tweets that there's a witch hunt and Fox News takes that line over ... ?
4
I am growing convinced that the President and his Republican servants don't care to defend democracy because they know that 2016 was the last time voting would give them a chance for power. No longer useful to them, America is being reshaped into a totalitarian State for the sake of their retention of power.
7
Americans need to seriously consider the possibility, perhaps likelihood, that Trump is working for the Russians. This could be the biggest threat our democracy has ever seen.
12
It no longer matters if Trump colluded with the Russians before and during the election. That's what he is doing now. His entire government has concluded after careful analysis that the Russians hacked the election but Trump accepts Putin's lame denial of any such hacking and does nothing. That violates his oath to defend the Constitution and is treasonous.
11
Why is this strange? Trump will talk to Putin, and Putin will say he had nothing to do with it. Who is Trump going to believe, Putin or Mueller? Who is Fox going to believe, Trump or the NY Times?
2
Trump won’t do anything with Putin. Let’s remember that to acknowledge Russian interference in our elections, his legitimacy as President would be open to question. Trump will never allow this!
1
Trump implies Obama should have thrown Trump and his posse of criminal conspirators in jail when he started to openly solicit interference in our elections.
Trump's treason is Obama's fault because he didn't prevent it sufficiently. Entrapment! MAGA! - The Stone/Trump defense.
In Russia we have a nation that is already completely conditioned to and suffering a repressive dictatorship. Even its resistance, and proponents like Masha Gessen, sound affected, world-weary, and defeatist when discussing Putin, discounting his 'intelligence or omnipotence' - but carefully avoiding his wrath and allowing indirect supports and compromises through his surrogates while discounting American "overblown paranoia," concerning Russia's continual assault on our social networks via his bots and sock puppets.
5
I don’t know why I am surprised, but I checked Fox News headlines after the indictments headlined everywhere else and the indictment was a small type aside. the headlines read “IMPEACH ROSENSTEIN”. No wonder the country is divided and trump mis informed. news organizations in Europe have standards that they must follow by law. Which is why Fox News is not allowed to be broadcast there, but CNN is.
9
The article criticizes official concern about "private text messages of an F.B.I. agent investigating that attack."
In fact, the "private" messages were part of an extensive exchange of emails, presumably on an FBI mail system, between two agents who were also lovers and one of whom was involved with the Mueller inquiries, concerning the possibility of contributing to the defeat of Trump.
This sort of reporting suggests a less than objective approach to the issue on the part of the Times. At this point, your readers require more dispassionate analysis and less attention devoted to the predictable anti-Trump invective.
1
The Mueller investigation has found evidence that Russian hackers actually attempted to get into the voting ballot boxes.
I am dismayed that my personal vote is not safe any more, but vulnerable to tampering by a foreign entity. I am outraged that our president doesn't care about this. The very foundation of our democracy where every citizen's right to vote is now jeopardized. trump shamefully and shamelessly could care less!
10
'Tainted beyond repair' should be grounds for impeachment….
It's time for McCain and Flake (and others) to get this ball rolling!
8
I am shocked the more I learn about what went on under President Obama's watch.
1
If and when 45 meets with Putin every second they are together should be recorded and scrutinized by American agents. Every second. Sorry to say but I feel we need to be protected from our Sham of a president. Nothing he has done is good for America. He is just tearing America's institutions apart for what, his own gain it seems. Giving our Tax money to the rich and leaving our poor, sick and old to the states. Many states are having trouble even with fed help. After all it's our money not his.
10
Everyone who knows the details of this whole affair knows that Guccifer 2.0 is a creation by Perkins Coie who was also contracting with Crowd Strike to do 'diagnostics' on the DNC server. The same server the DNC refused the FBI to have access to for forensic evidence even though the RNC had made their server available.
Now you tell me, if the same 'Fixer' law firm had contracted with Crowd Strike, Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele to create, promote and propogate the 'Russia' ties to Trump....had Republican backing...the NYT would do a 180.
Sadly, this whole collusion investigation is an investigation that's never supposed to end. It's a condundrum wrapped in a enigma wrapped in a time warp...never to be solved..only to be 'ongoing.'
Trump is going to have to declassify EVERYTHING...which I suspect will happen just after after the election this fall.
You can be sure Putin will have the room bugged.
5
The reference: " ... a candidate for Congress requested stolen documents ..."; bet you that person is a republican and is sitting on a House committee "investigating" Mueller's investigation. And bet you that person is not the only one in the House.
PROSECUTE RUSSIAGATE!
3
"Why, if it prosper, none dare call it treason."
When will the TIMES dare call Trump and his defenders traitors?
4
The G.O.P conjured these devils to torment us. The contract has long been signed; their souls under lock and key. The Republican machinery will not cease to grind until it has achieved its black-hearted goal of creating a 21st century Mordor, in which every tree is reduced to flinders, blade of grass burned to salt, and all tributaries and expansive bodies of water that are our national inheritance are either returned into the clouds via droplets of tight condensation or are rendered into flammable pools for the monsters of the nuclear gods. They want us to wear sackcloths and rattle cups beneath storms of ash while they gaze imperturbably down upon us from their high windows. They will never cease their depredations until they have accumulated enough treasure to buy their way into a heaven that should be shut to them, and simply by using the methods of hell. How to shame those who lost the ability to blush ages ago? They are not out for the moral good but their own good. The putridity of their discourse, their outmoded ideas, their transparent self-interest and none-too-shocking avarice should preclude them from even attending to the lowest of public offices. Why do we accept this collection of coddled millionaire lawyers, skilled at delivering the excoriation and the mot juste in what they deign to have us believe is all for the angel of justice, when they ignore the imbalance that puts the scales out of joint? Theirs is a cause and a case to confound even Shakespeare.
1
Putin couldn’t ask for more.
3
It's not a "witch-hunt", it's a:
CRIMINAL and TREASON INVESTIGATION.
11
You know, it's disconcerting to continuously read the comments and opinions here in the Times denigrating Trump and the job he's doing. He's doing doing a great job, exactly what Putin hired him to do.
If he's not compromised he's an idiot and Trump would be the first to tell you he's smart, really smart!
God bless Rod Rosenstein! He may not be perfect but at least he hasn't folded his tent and run away the way the Republicans in Congress would love at this point. if Trump is exposed as I have no doubt he will be, they will be the ones who look treasonous or idiotic.
Let's Make America
America Again! (hats to follow)
8
“…hopefully, someday, maybe he’ll (Putin)be a friend,” President Trump said on Thursday. Turns out POTUS already knew about the latest Mueller bombshell—Russia 2.0–prior to Rosenstein’s public briefing on Friday. Perhaps POTUS is already seeking new golf partners and new friendships for when he seeks asylum in Russia to avoid treason charges.
2
So now we know one of the talking points in the one to one secret content meeting in Helsinki. How those 12 operatives will make sure to leave Trump and his associates out of the campaign meddling initiative and plead guilty, After all, those Russians operatives know nerve agents very well.
What we will not know yet is what Trump will grant Putin in exchange. Again, time will tell.
2
Skimming these comments, I don't see any appreciation for the diligence, patience, and thoroughness of Mueller's investigation.
By holding this indictment until his team had all the details, even the names, dates and specific roles of those 12 Russians, he made it virtually impossible for his critics to deny that this is what happened. Thank you, Robert Mueller. You are a true professional and patriot.
19
Yes, Con Don, it is a witch hunt.
You are a traitorous witch and WE THE PEOPLE are coming after you and your Robber Baron inherited/stolen wealth brethren who are trying to destroy OUR United States of America.
NO. Not now. Not ever.
9
Of course, Donald Trump is not alarmed by the Russian interference in our elections: they were, after all, on his side.
Trump doesn't care about American democracy, he only cares about Donald Trump. As long as Putin and his hackers remain on his side, Trump will do nothing to stop them.
The 4th article of the constitution charges the federal government to "guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government" - which among other things means free and fair elections. Congressional Republicans don't care about that responsibility, they only care about maintaining their majority - and they don't object to Russian help in doing so.
7
Yeah....but her emails......
6
I am greatly anticipating hearing or reading the transcripts of the tapes seized from Michael Cohen. I suspect the information revealed will greatly clarify the scope & intent of Trump's actions during the campaign. And remember, the upcoming trial of Paul Manafort has yet to play out in terms of information that will add to our understanding of this complex conspiracy.
I expect that, as the various narratives are woven together, it will be impossible for the co-conspirators to formulate creditable denials. We shall see, the vast majority of the information, testimony and evidence remains unknown to the American public.
9
This article was written as though WE do not try to disrupt the elections of other countries. My guess is that we spend FAR more than the Russians spend on internet influence campaigns. I wonder if we limit ourselves to exposing evidence of true malfeanse as much as the Russians seemed to have done. It's remarkable how faithfully reproduced the Wikileaks files were. Considering what was accurately exposed about the DNC, Hillary's camapign, the media, etc., outrage now against Russians (private or government) seems a tad overblown.
2
Your guesses are uninformed. Furthermore, whether or not we have interfered in other elections does not negate the danger of Russia clearly interfering and influencing ours. Does it for you? As an American citizen (I am assuming you are), that would be an odd position. Finally, there was nothing treasonous “exposed” on the Democrats’ side as part of Wikileaks. Embarrassing, ill advised, yes. We see treasonous, malevolent and imcompetent behavior every day in this adminstration.
5
Ann, why would any risks be "negated" here? I'm just saying that we are probably WORSE (by far) than the Russians are when it comes to cyber-espionage - not that the Russians actions weren't bad, at all. (Would you bet your car that we spend less on this than the Russians?)
And, again, any wrong behavior of the current administration does not 'negate' what happened in 2016; they're not mutually exclusive. I, for one, would like to know if questions in presidential debates are being given to one of the candidates beforehand.
What confuses me is why the people who own this country have not made serious moves to stop this renegade and possibly treasonous president. Do they believe they are immune from harm. History teaches us that they are not.
For example.. the people who own the skyscrapers in NYC will not let the subway fail. They know their buildings are worth nothing if they can not be filled with people every day. They would move to discredit and remove faulty leaders.
2
Quoting the editorial:
"Friday’s indictment does not allege that any Americans knowingly broke the law or that the conspiracy changed the outcome of the election."
Why would the Russians conduct a campaign like this (with or without Trump's assistance), if not to influence the outcome of the 2016 election?
Isn't this kind of conclusion feeding the hysterics of Trump, his enablers, as well as his overzealous, non questioning supporters?
I never understood this caveat since misinformation campaigns are explicitly designed to do just that. They exist in order to influence and change the minds and hearts of a group of people.
Would it not be wise to study the effects of campaigns like this and prove how they can influence the outcome of an election?
Why are people susceptible to the messages of wannabe dictators like Trump?
What is their underlying appeal?
What is lacking in our current system that enables this?
More importantly, it is also clear that both the Obama Administration and the Congress knew of these activities, yet did absolutely nothing and allowed the election to proceed unimpeded.
Why?
This I do not understand. If we are indeed being invaded, then to what purpose are we legitimizing election outcomes like this?
How can any of us ever trust the outcome of any election held in this country again?
3
I note that The New York Times and other news organizations consistently use the word “meddling” to refer to Russian interference in our elections.
Yet in another article published today in The New York Times it is written that Dan coats said: ““These actions are persistent, they are pervasive and they are meant to undermine America’s democracy,” Mr. Coats said.”
This is MUCH stronger language to describe what the Russians are doing and I believe the written indictments put our yesterday fully support and illustrates the deliberate and persistent attemps by Russia to subvert The United States of America.
Language Is powerful. And, The New York Times should seriously consider ending their usage of “meddling” in order to convey the reality of the extreme gravity of the threat by the Russians.
4
There is nothing 'strange' about Donald Trump acting strangely. He is merely acting true to type.
What is strange is the inability, in fact the total powerlessness, of a democracy to remove a corrupt president who talks and acts like a third world dictator. He, his family and his cronies are benefiting immorally from his presidency, from the tax advantages granted to real estate developers to the numerous trademark licences granted to his daughter who would never have obtained them under normal circumstances and whose imports from China have been exempted from tariffs on imports from China. Then there are Kushner's massive loans from Qatar for his bankrupt 666 Pennsylvania Avenue and numerous other instances of White House greed and clear violations of regulations prohibiting officials from abusing their privileges.
The U.S. should learn from South Korea, which not only jailed its President but also the head of its largest global corporate dynasty, Samsung.
Anything less than jail time for Trump shows U.S. democracy is not working, and that it is a nation ruled by the rich and for the rich.
6
As I see it: (1) Friday's indictment has not implicated any Americans - yet. Soon, though. (2) Trump has proven himself unwilling to defend the country to which he swore an oath to defend; he has only defended himself, doubling down on lies and distortions as needed in that defense, while continuing to alienate allies and embrace enemies. (3) Republicans in Congress have been unwilling to stop the trumpist juggernaut, allowing the would-be king to continue to destroy the integrity of the country a minority installed him to lead.
Conclusions: How much more of this can we withstand before this bad-guy Samson brings down the entire government, yielding a pile of chaos, then anoints himself emperor, saying "I alone can fix it"? Where are the responsible people with the power and willingness to stop him? And finally, what will it take for his voluntarily blind enablers and supporters to see what's really happening?
Not since the days of Nixon and Watergate have I been this embarrassed to be an American.
10
Trump is oblivious to the indictment in the sense that this would further his inclination to be contrary at all costs, which is exactly what is happening. The baby Trump balloon that is being used in demonstrations and being cast about the internet is a highly apt representation of this man and his mode of conduct. Like many others, I am sick of his lies, poor judgement, cruelty, lack of discipline, and sense of entitlement. In a word, I am suffering from Trump fatigue, and that the indictments will roll off of him as everything else does. This is exacerbated by the GOP enablers and Trump supporters, who see this as one more victory for their man. One can only hope that this is only the tip of the iceberg, and that the indictment will hearken the beginning of more revelations about Trump's modus operandi that can be directly linked to his involvement in election tampering and obstruction of justice. Trump will crash and burn eventually, as all heels do, but in the interim, so much more chaos will be inflicted on the world by this man. Can we soldier through this and all of the other things to come before becoming completely discouraged?
2
Those are his team mates. He's one of them. He identifies and his loyalty is to Russia.
Most Americans are in denial for it is so horrible to contemplate.
9
Why is the GOP base supporting this kind of extremely worrisome - to say the least - behavior of a US president?
Because Fox News and the GOP leadership have told them day after day, under Obama, that this is what Obama was actually doing.
It was 24/7 fake news, but that didn't matter. As most conservative journalists and leaders had lost all confidence in the capacity of conservatism as a philosophy to convince a majority of the American people and as such win elections, they adopted cynicism instead. So they deliberately decided to lie, in order to get votes. THAT is how they would get conservatives into the SC, and in the end, that's all that mattered, as it was the only thing they thought might still be achievable in a country that turned its back to conservatism - that and of course tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans (read: their own bosses).
Obama bowed to foreign heads of state. But he did so only:
1. when their countries were longtime US allies, and
2. when that was simply part of the local habit to greet someone in a polite and respectful way.
The GOP and FN however sold this to their base as if Obama committed treason.
So when today a GOP president is attacking our main allies for no apparent reason, all while systematically taking the side of our enemy Russia ... GOP voters simply suppose that "Obama did it too", and apart from that, we'll still have our SC ...
Putin wouldn't have any power over America if Fox/Fake News didn't exist.
1
Just remember if the term "Russian adoptions" is used, it is code for gutting the Magnitsky Act and rolling back sanctions. Trump has already shown a total lack of understanding of the retaliatory nature of Russian curtailed adoptions.
The Russian oligarch kleptocracy relies on money laundering which many countries are trying to reign in. Where does the money get laundered? Real estate transactions. Follow the money.
5
The timing of the indictment is a warning to Trump by US counter intelligence that we know what you did and what you are doing. The stone walling by a GOP controlled congress and the recent trip by key Republican senators to Moscow begins to make more sense. The shoe will soon fall with indictments of Stone and other Trump aides for conspiracy. Still to be filled in: what did the president know and when did he know it? Are the President and Republican members of Congress still actively conspiring with Russia to damage the US or is this just about the cover-up? How wide spread is this conspiracy in the Republican Party?
4
It's also strange that the supposed Grand Old Party of 'patriots' in Congress tries to derail and obfuscate the Russian investigation — which witches, if any, might be found there? I think Mueller's diligence will reveal more sordidness than anyone could imagine.
4
The attitude of the NYT opinion pages and many Democrats continues to be that Trump is an ill-legitimate President, and the role of the Mueller investigation is to find a reason to impeach and remove Trump.
The purpose of the Mueller investigation was to investigate Russian interference with our elections, but until now, nothing the investigation produced had anything to do with the Russians. Stormy Danials? How does that have ANYTHING to do with Russian interference and the scope of a special prosecutor? Most of the arrests on Trump's associate were for violating lobbyist registration regulations, which seemed to be ignored by many players and not enforced until now - again, showing little alignment to the scope of the Mueller investigation.
This is the first evidence of actual Russia action, a year and a half after Trump was elected. The investigation looked like a witch hunt until now, producing nothing related to it's purpose, and continuing the narrative for the Democrats that the election was stolen from them. Many Democrats still haven't faced the key question - how did they LOSE the election.
The other issue I have is the NSA spends billions hacking the rest of the world - Angela Merkel's phone for one. How would we feel if an NSA analyst was indited in Russia for taking e-mails from a political opponent of Putin? Would we extradite them to stand trial? We try to influence foreign elections. Spying is a dirty business.
Lesson: Secure your stuff.
1
1. This article is about russian influence in the election, so how can you say there is no evidence. You didn’t even read the article.
2. Mueller investigation has nothing to do with Stormy Daniels no matter how much Fox News tells you otherwise.
3. Yes every nation spies on other nations but that doesn’t mean we should just ignore it. If Russia drops a nuclear bomb on Seattle, we don’t shrug our shoulders and say it’s ok because we did the same to Japan.
5
This might be a good time to go onto the PBS videos site and look at the Dick Cavett show interview compilations concerning the Watergate break-in scandal, that brought down the Nixon Presidency. Nixon was another person who thought he was above the law. The GOP Senators at the Watergate hearings were seeking the truth (not covering for their tribe).
I believe we are headed for another round after Mr Mueller completes his investigations. I also think there is no way, after announcing these indictments, this investigation is near completion. Mr Mueller is getting closer to the POYUS and his people. Hence, the weak accusations of "witch hunt". It's just a matter of time Mr Trump. The clock is ticking. Hear it?
3
Let’s not forget how another president responded to being told that the country had been attacked by a foreign power.
“Mr. Vice President, and Mr. Speaker, and Members of the Senate and House of Representatives:
Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan...”
I call on Americans who want to make America great again to recall how a great American responded when our country was in peril. We should act accordingly.
4
Trump and Russia are at the scary point of having to finish what they started or else the blowback on both of them will be enormous and crippling. It all rides on the midterm election.
If Democrats win and dont treat this as a war against Russia...with Trump having 'left the gates open'...they will be equally complicit in not depending the Republic. The war is on...right now.
2
Of course Trump won't say or d anything to confront Putin! For one, he knows he's as complicit as Putin is. For two, like all bullies, he's afraid of someone who he thinks is bigger than him. Far from upholding his oath to defend the United States from all threats, Donald Trump represents perhaps the biggest threat we've faced since our founding. We can't be rid of this dark cloud soon enough.
1
If ever one needed proof that there’s a Russian asset installed as president, this is it. May this be Trump’s Waterloo.
2
Perhaps Trump knew (because of his ties to Russia) all about the Hilary hacks before he asked Russia to find the emails. Could we have a traitor in the White House? Could anyone believe Trump is merely being outsmarted? What do they have on him that would make him betray his country? How could his party be so cynical? This is a nightmare.
1
Is any committee in Congress holding hearings on the border debacle where children were separated from their parents intentionally, and there was no foresight in that the children and parents would need to be reunited? Congressman Gowdy, where are you?
4
Perhaps we have this all backwards... Trump needs Putin to help bring the liberal inter-connected world so that he can create the isolated (so called sovereign) state he and Bannon think will deliver the power they want. (I include Bannon because he master-minded much of this). It's hard to create a dictatorship when you're so inter-connected but if you can create isolation then it's yours to 'rule'.
This is problematic on every level but perhaps the worst is that the consequences of such retrenchment and isolation - while seemingly attractive to Trump and his ilk - is surely being thought through much more strategically by Putin and our enemies than our president.
3
I read yesterday that House GOP are gathering together the articles to impeach Rod Rosenstein. That’s right, Rod Rosenstein. This is the most insane and dangerous era in American politics I’ve ever lived in, and I’m closer to 70 than I’d like to be. Watching news segments last night on YouTube, I saw trump standing on foreign soil promoting his “witch hunt” fallacy, clearly speaking to the EDL and those who wish to kill the UK with their racism. I then watched Sadiq Khan speak to Christiane Amanpour, to the effect that trump not only doesn’t have any idea what’s going on in London, he’s unfit to dictate to any other country what their policies should or should not be. trump is not only a stooge, he is more than willing to fill his advisory with stooges. We’ve all watched him quote statistics that don’t exist. We’ve watched him attempt to destroy the very structure of the government set up by our Constitution. Now he’s getting help from the House. No doubt the Senate will go along. Do these people, who wish to change the land of the free into the land of people held in an iron grip, not understand where the impetus is coming from? It isn’t from their base, that’s a minority. It’s from a foreign country, one who is and has been an enemy to us for years upon years. A heads up to Congress: if you impeach RR, get ready for some of the worst blowback you will ever see. You’re trying to impeach the wrong man.
14
I have to wonder WHY are GOP members of Congress so afraid to stand up to Trump? WHY is party over country so important to them? Does Russia’s involvement go that deep?
9
Well of course he's angry. You would be too if the government indicted people that you were trying so hard to collude with.
3
It seems clear our Commander in Chief is a Russian agent whether or not he is being paid to do so.
8
He truly only cares about himself. He does not care about our country, our democracy. It is what you get when you elect a narcissist to the Oval Office. He would rather hold a private talk with an enemy and spew our allies. He has no regard for history and is dismissing all the hard dedicated work of our intelligence agencies. This meeting, yes, is an affront to our democracy and he does not care. He has been mixing with Russian money for so long now, dare we think he gave it up when he took the oath? Let me add traitor to the behemoth of descriptives we have for POTUS.
Let us hope Mueller has figured it out.
1
Trump standing at a microphone and asking Russia to hack the Democrat!s computer seems to be very clear American collusion.
11
Please forgive my bluntness, but the times require it. In a highly competitive field, this is possibly the stupidest editorial I have ever read in the NY Times. You have obviously not thought through a few things.
Russian hacking of our democratic infrastructure is not a criminal justice matter. What, exactly, do you want the president to do about this indictment (that should never have happened)? Should he ask Putin to send his officers to the U.S. to answer charges? Should the president send FBI agents to Moscow to arrest the officers? None of this will happen.
So, if criminal justice is not the right approach, should we go to war over this affair? Does that sound right to you?
The problem is that in this brave new cybernetic world, the Russian assault on our democratic infrastructure is another facet of asymmetric warfare. They do not have a democratic infrastructure for us to assault back.
I am not the man and this is not the forum to start exploring viable responses, but I do have one suggestion. Considering the childishness of this editorial, please step away from this issue and the let adults run the affairs of state.
In the meantime, I wish Silicon Valley would take some time off from their idiotic culture war, hire back a few competent engineers like James Damore, and start working on hardening our cybernetic infrastructure.
Again, there is nothing that ties Trump in with any Russian collusion. Zippo. If Mueller had something we would’ve heard by now. He has nothing because there was no collusion. Give it a rest. Period
1
"We have met the enemy. And he is us" - Pogo was right...
3
We keep coming back to the age-old question: "If Trump is innocent, why does he keep acting so guilty?"
For everyone out there who keeps saying that Mueller should "wrap it up and move on," my question is "Why?" He continues to find startling new evidence that is shortly thereafter followed by new indictments. He is doing his work and producing results. Results that every American should find valuable... if they value democracy.
If they hired Robert Mueller to find a criminal who had committed a crime against them, would they keep encouraging him to just get it over with while the crime remained unsolved? Or think of it another way. The Republican-controlled Congress created seven separate special committees to look into alleged wrong-doing by Hillary Clinton. When the first committee found no such evidence, they created another committee. And then another. And on and on and on. Where is their zeal now?
4
I’m curious - at work does anyone else have their annual performance reviews with their boss as early as July or is it only President Trump?
If I were him I wouldn’t worry, he’s going to get a stellar review.
3
I agree with most of what you wrote but I believe it's much more complex and deep. You have to remember, Putin was the head of the KGB and one of the most intelligent, determined, richest men in the world in charge of an enormous military. Sure, Russia might not spend nearly what the USA does on defense, but you better believe the war he's been fighting is covert. I personally believe he has assets working in all branches of our government and is funding many unwitting assets that bow to the highest bidder. In particular since Citizens Untied legalized buying politicians. In essence, he has taken command and control of our government and most American's haven't even considered the possibility yet. You are correct in that yes, rich business interests are going to protect him as long as he continues to do their bidding. And trust me, Putin also knows this as well. Democracy in the USA is dead, stick a fork in it.
7
I agree with most of what you wrote but I believe it's much more complex and deep. You have to remember, Putin was the head of the KGB and one of the most intelligent, determined, richest men in the world in charge of an enormous military. Sure, Russia might not spend nearly what the USA does on defense, but you better believe the war he's been fighting is covert. I personally believe he has assets working in all branches of our government and is funding many unwitting assets that bow to the highest bidder. In essence, he has taken command and control of our government and most American's haven't even considered the possibility yet. You are correct in that yes, rich business interests are going to protect him as long as he continues to do their bidding. And trust me, Putin also knows this as well.
2
The main question is this: Has Trump upheld or violated this oath:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
If he has broken his oath, that merits impeachment and removal from office.
10
Trump calls the ongoing investigations a “witch hunt,” without acknowledging that what he and his campaign did in 2016 was treason. No wonder many concerned citizens in the US are worried about his upcoming meeting with Putin. As he doesn’t allow any American official to be present, the public wouldn’t know whether he would reveal state secrets that could threaten the security of the country.
If Trump doesn’t know the meaning of the word “treason”, he should call Theresa May while he’s still in the UK. The poisoning of Sergei Skripal is still fresh in her memory, he would then find out how Russians deal with traitors.
9
I awake each morning, hope filled. I spend all day and late into the evening hope filled.
Yes, there is disappointment off and on, and a longing that spreads through me, to the very depths of my heart and soul.
I miss my country.
I will continue to greet each day with the hope that when I open the NYTimes I will be greeted with the headline: "Mueller Indicts Trump."
And more and more of the world shares that hope.
Hope, hope, hope.
15
The Russians helped Trump. Trump won the election. No reason for Trump or many in the GOP to perceive the Russians as a threat when they have all shown themselves as willing to embrace anyone and any idea in the pursuit of power. Particularly where it is unlikely the Russians would take steps to help the Dems in the foreseeable future.
The most human reaction would be for Trump to be grateful to the Russians and hope the GOP will benefit from Russian help in the mid-term elections too. Trump may well take the view the Russians helped the American people if they enabled his rise to the top office so he can make America great again.That would not be so far fetched to someone like Trump who takes the view that the Russians are not the national security threat to the US that they are made out to be. On one analysis Russian help may not be worse than help from a powerful and wealthy American family as taking help from either could be unpatriotic or patriotic depending on the circumstances and what motivated the helper. It's all a matter of perspective.
3
What is really strange is how the FBI, the CIA and all of the other tentacles of the multi-billion dollar security apparatus serve outside normal jurisdictions and beyond the control of the head of state. This is no problem when the president was selected by the permanent government, but the extremely rare outlier like Trump reveals the nature of power in the U.S. Just as during the presidential campaign a conspiracy of silence surrounded Bernie Sanders' surprising success, not a single media voice has been raised in an effort to explain what is really going on to the American people.
2
Here's why for centuries already in all democracies intelligence services etc. have some kind of independence from the president: it's called "separation of the branches of government", remember?
Abandon this kind of independence, as you seem to want, and the result is literally a dictatorship.
So you cannot possibly love and respect the Constitution, and simultaneously reject the separation of the three branches of government just because you happen to like the head of one of those branches (Trump) ...
2
The editorial states: "Good advice. If only Mr. Trump and his servile defenders in Congress would heed it". NY Times editors forget that it is applicable to them and Democrats as well. I don't think there are many Americans who oppose investigation and punishment of Russians or other hackers during and after elections. The problem is that based on the reporting in "fake news" the special counsel investigation is mainly about collusion for which there is no credible evidence so far. This aspect of the investigation is a witch hunt. It was unnecessary and it was started based on rumors and manipulation of Comey and others to discredit Trump. Trump should be really concerned with this manipulation and justified to call it witch hunt.
1
Mueller and his team have to find out what Putin has on Trump that is causing his behavior. Any other American President would be speaking from the Oval Office in an evening address to the nation telling all Americans that we have been attacked. I certainly hope that our intelligence services have planted a bug in that room in Helsinki where Trump will meet in private with Putin. Doesn't that seem strange in and of itself?Trump is not a Manchurian candidate, he's not hiding in plain sight; he's operating out in the open. Those who value our democracy better stop defending him at every turn.
8
The wheels of justice grind slowly, precisely and inexorably. That the President and Congress would put themselves and their cronies ahead of country is what's come to be expected from dictatorships and authoritarian regimes, not the United States of America.
Oh. Wait....
4
I stood at the base of Trump Tower in my military field jacket, on the day of the Women's March. I held up a sign that said, "Collusion is Treason".
I've written in these comments sections, on the Op-Ed page, about my suspicions. I started this long ago, before he stole the election. I pointed out the day, July 27th, when Trump blatantly asked for Russian interference. I said, "go back and look at that day."
I've pointed out his pattern of "preemptive delegitimization" of anyone who can expose his guilt. I was right and the pattern continues to this day, the tighter the legal noose becomes.
I've pointed out that he is the embodiment of the worst aspects of the patriarch. I've pointed out that if taken as signs of mental illness, Trump's pride, envy, wrath, lust, greed, glutton and sloth, can be interpeted both in a secular, clinical sense as a sign of severe mental pathology, and in the metaphysical sense as the manifestation of a traditional understanding of evil.
I've met the man, when I was a little boy. I've told of that, how my father drove him from Westchester to the city and the whole time, Trump compared himself to my father, tried to humilate a hard working guy in front of a young son, to inflate Trump. Who does that? It's something that was obvious then.
I've said the Trump Org launders money for organized crime figures.
I've been correct.
I wish I wasn't in a position to say, "I told you so."
Godspeed Mr. Mueller. Godspeed.
25
Let us see how Russians was able to steel some of the data. It was because Podesta unwittingly opened the attachment sent by the hackers and provided his pass word. What he and others at DNC needed was better training. Also, why Obama did not act to protect America from Russian attack before, during and after the election. It has been happening from 2012 onwards based on testimony of Strzok. Probably they thought that it was not a big deal, but a good tool to attack Trump accusing collusion. The indictment also show how reckless was Hilary's use of a private server. She was willing to sacrifice American interest for her personal interest. She allowed Russians and others to hack her computer system by keeping unprotected private servers against the guidelines, and probably got harmed personally. If Trump was able to use the hacked material leaked through Wikie Leaks, it was not his faults. It was due to the reckless actions of Hilary and inability or reluctance of Obama to take action against the hackers. Blaming Trump and accusing him of treason in this regard is the highest form hypocrisy in American history.
1
Hillary again? Get real.
1
To Trump, Republican officeholders and his base: Have you no decency?
This is not a "witch hunt." It is about a rival foreign power influencing an American election.
You all see a conspiracy to destroy Trump. I see an attempt by Russia to destroy our democracy. Check your eyesight. It is mighty faulty and that is dangerous for all of us.
11
Evidence is evidence, yet the republicans refuse to see that they are supporting Putin's boy in OUR White House. Maybe the republicans are ok with Russia taking over? Are the tax breaks and taking women's, LGBT and minority rights away worth this? I understand trump is in this for himself only, but the republicans???
7
What I haven't heard mentioned in the long-discussed matter of Russian interference with our 2016 General Election, is what Russia .... and in particular Putin ... has on Trump that, as regularly seen, Trump desperately fights to contain. If, for example, Putin were to announce that indeed there was intentional ancillary Russian involvement with the Trump's organization for gaining favorable outcome for Trump in that election, even if NOT true, it would seem at this point that Trump would be done in, including all over the world. Trump, after all, has constantly suspect credibility ... which may include his praise of Putin. In a way Putin's holding all the cards and Trump, now so vulnerable due to endless self-serving lying, knows it while helplessly getting deeper and deeper into Putin's debt. Let's face it: We're taking about an extremely incompetent solipsistic political "deal-maker" without a clue, and a highly cunning political tyrant.
11
So we have, in part from this indictment, a snippet of the timeline that demonstrates Don Jr., Paul Manafort, et. al., meeting with Russians in Trump Tower, followed shortly by Trump asking from a podium for Russians to find Clinton’s “lost” emails, followed by Russians actively ramping up their efforts to hack into the Clinton campaign’s emails.
Mueller’s indictments, along with information in the public domain found by the press and others, begins to paint a rather stark picture. The thing that bolsters Trump’s evasions is his own constant stream of outrageous behavior that makes it difficult to remember a sequence of events from last week, much less from two years ago.
I would ask that the Times create a prominently featured graphical timeline that would document current public knowledge of all events related to this investigation. The ability to quickly access such information would be key to combatting farcical claims of “no evidence,” “no collusion,” and “total witch hunt.”
There is plenty of evidence, and although the evidence in the public domain may currently be significantly circumstantial, it is more than sufficient to counter claims that this is all a witch hunt. That publicly known information raises obvious questions that absolutely demand that Mueller’s investigation continue. It also paints a picture that makes it highly improbable that Mueller does not already have non-circumstantial evidence of collusion, conspiracy and worse.
13
What is beyond question is Trump and his cringing Republican enablers in Congress only care about getting and keeping power anyway they can. Voting all of them out of office this November is now the first line of defense of our country and our freedom against these rank usurpers. Meanwhile investigation and prosecution or impeachment of any and all political officeholders from of any political party who willingly sought foreign interference in American elections must continue unimpeded.
7
Let’s cut to the chase: our overhyped democracy is in a coma if not dead. Death of the American Rhetoric course we took at Columbia!
2
Why would Trump. as President of the US, turn his back on democracy and side with Putin whenever he gets the chance? What a crazy thing to do. He must realize that he is not acting like the President, but more like a Russian in high places. supporting Putin.
Treason is a criminal offense for Trump. The reason he does this at every turn must be all consuming and he must be pretty fearful of the consequences of denying Putin anything he wants.
He calls Putin his friend. He is a Putin puppet. And the reason must be a compelling one.
Maybe he thinks he and his family will all find nerve toxin in their beds if he does not comply.
It is a bad position to be in.You are dammed if you do and dammed if you don't.
3
Trump must find a way to seize those 12 Russians and bring them back to the US for trial. If he does not he will go down in history as a feckless weakling, exactly what he falsely accused his predecessor of being. At least Obama got Osama Bin Laden.
To repeat. Trump = feckless weakling unless he performs.
4
Burning questions for all concerned: how much of Congress is already working for the Kremlin? Do Republicans even care that the USA should become a Russian puppet state,run by a Putin lackey, as long as they hold power? Are Red states Republican, Russian or does it no longer matter?
3
I will tell you why Trump is so mad. Here he is getting ready for his mid year performance review with his boss, Putin, and this witch hunt blows up in his face. Might not be getting the big bonus he was expecting.
5
How do you say Real Witch in Simple English.
How do you say America scrammed?
It is glaringly clear that Trump cares more for his ego than America. That is even more true when the evidence is provided by Trump.
1
Putin doesn't like you. He just likes that you are President as you are acting as his Fifth Column to destabilize the United States. You are causing our allies not to trust you because of your actions and words. The trade war that you initiated will weaken us and our allies. Never in the entire history of our country have we had a president more dangerous than you!
12
". . . and his servile defenders in Congress . . ." is such an apt phrase.
3
Please check your terms, it's a Performance Review, not a meeting. These things are best kept private! After all, he might get a bonus or even a hotel in Moscow!
3
Trump is America's Quisling. It is sickening watching his defenders in congress betray their country to continue this charade.
Republicans might want to rethink their support of the treasonous vile creature occupying the White House. Having defended Donald Trump is likely to become as politically unpopular in time as it is amoral today.
7
What does this say ahout Trump's Supreme Court nominations?
5
He will continue to throw up smoke and mirrors instead of working for the United States... may very well be a traitor. He continues to act like a guilty man.
He is not loyal to anyone but himself...and least of all to the United States; that was certainly on full display for the world to see this week. He is truly a puppet for Putin...
What will he give away to Russia this week?
4
Despited these damning indictments, so far, there hasn't been a word from the Republican leadership on what they'll do to protect the 2018 elections from continued, targeted, cyber attacks. We only have four short months. Why the silence??
12
Trump cannot be allowed to meet alone with Putin.
There's a reason they control the way crooks talk to each other in prison. This would be like letting Al Capone talk alone with him henchman to convey his next round orders.
This must stop!
It would be like letting Al Capone be alone in a room
5
Mr. Trump and his servile defenders in Congress are America's elected traitors. Joseph McCarthy was right, but off by about 65 years.
4
the russian commitment to subvert democracy began with lenin.
the erosion of institutions that define and protect democracy have been the targets since then.
in addition to agents, implants and transient, lenin said that the success of the subversion would be abetted by "useful idiots," americans who would contribute, unwittingly, to serve soviet ends.
the drift in our universities, from free inquiry and open debate to indoctrination is one of the most important of these services, another is the fall of the free press into partisan political advocacy and others that have been weakened by mistrust, the fbi and doj, for recent examples.
much of the groundwork is done by moles, implants who gain trust from positions within our institutions, among the most famous being kim philby and friends, who did their damage from high places...but the boots on the ground, agents who supply and motivate brick throwing sloganeers should not be underestimated, the "big lie" technique, the drumbeat repetition that makes a "truth" from a fabrication (outlined in the pages of "mein kampf")
is theirs.
the trump thing, from his election over an opponent who proved to be among the most useful of of idiots when she created the divisive basketry that sent a lot of working men and women, the once-upon-a-time soul of the democratic party, off the deep end, to the preoccupation with personal attack (at the expense of the cogent opposition needed to defeat him) is making lenin's ghost dance.
This might delay the groundbreaking for Trump Tower Moscow.
7
He's too ignorant to be a Manchurian candidate.
But he is corrupt and venal enough to get himself in dire compromising positions.
Money laundering and loans from oligarchs and corrupt Russian financiers got the best of him.
Wake up America, this accidental President needs to be replaced and soon.
11
More criminality here than in the Watergate scandal a generation ago. Trump should be impeached and his corrupt administration driven from Washington in the fashion Christ drove the money changers out of the temple.
4
The coconspirators in Congress have no choice for if the treason of their party is clearly described to Americans, they have few left in their party — just 10 to 15 million dedicated cultists. Can’t win much with that.
1
Shortly before Trump stopped off in London a woman was killed by a Russian nerve agent. Was this a warning to Trump of what Putin is capable of? This unprecedented kowtowing to a leader of a hostile foreign power by a president of the United States seems unlikely simply because there is a financial obligation or a "pee tape".
8
And how did the NYT report on this at the time? By quoting political hacks who called it a red herring, telling Hillary and her staff to just "stop it" about the Russia stuff.
Looking back at that reporting, were there no analysts that felt this was a serious threat to our democracy, a violation of sovereignty?
The Times failed us then, continues to.
5
We are a frightening era in American politics in that party comes first even over something has egregious problematic country like Russia or really any country interfering with our elections goes unchecked. Mitch McConnell refused to allow the report that the Russians were meddling in the 2016 to be released. Mitch didn't you take on oath to defend the Constitution?
Lets see the law and order party attacks the FBI, DOJ, CIA and the press.
4
this one is easy. If the GOP was aided by third parties, they'll protect the third parties from the investigation.
6
Wow. You liberals still don't get it. We don't care what the Russians did so long as Trump gets rid of you Liberals. Capice?
2
The fact that conversations between Wikileaks and Roger Stone are recounted in the indictment, and that Stone was in frequent contact with the Trump campaign and Trump himself, puts the Mueller investigation at the very door of the White House. And he’s not close to done.
4
Spoke like a true Republican patriot.
5
What you "want" is your business. Your preference for one party duly noted.
What is Constitutional and legal is the business of all Americans. Clean elections are the basis of working democracies.
1
The likelihood that Putin has vibrant, incriminating evidence on Trump is the most plausible reason that Trump is attacking our Justice Department. The column did not mention or speculate on that probability, which is unfortunate. To me he is likely to have not just colluded, but conspired with Russians to harm Clinton in the 2016 election. If that is true and would not constitute treason, I am not sure what would. How can any American not be outraged that we were attacked by a foreign power while the President sides with the foreign attackers. Trump's supporters continue to deny that there is any evidence that Trump encouraged the Russian effort, despite Trump's documented support of the effort to obtain Clinton's emails? This denial is not unlike the special counsel's investigation about Russian involvement and obstruction of justice when Trump went on TV with Lester Holt the day after firing Comey and said that he did so because of the "Russian thing." How much evidence of intent and action does anyone not in complete denial need?
If Republicans in Congress who are complicit with Trump's anti-American statements and actions prevail in November's elections this country is on a steep path to authoritarianism. All of this puts aside Trump's boisterous and insulting actions against America's allies in his isolationist little head. Putin could not dream of having the full on support of an American President to undermine our democracy, but that is precisely what he has.
9
Russia hacked the 2016 election to support the candidate that would cause maximum disruption to the US - in this case, it was GOP candidate Donald Trump. But imagine if the Democratic candidate was the one favored by Russia. After all, they are not interested in American politics - their goal is to cause mayhem. So now imagine these allegations about hacking to support the Democrat came out. What would the GOP opposition do? Exactly. They would be outraged, they would invoke history about our Cold War enemies, they would demand the Democratic president be indicted as well. And I bet that most Democrats in power would also be outraged. That is one difference between these political factions. The point is, the Cold War is not over. Russia is not your friend. Russia has no friends, except for maybe Donald Trump.
9
The Republicans are ignoring the threat to our nation, the attack, successful, on our democracy. They are traitors and a much much greater threat to our survival than any other hostile entity including Al Qaeda.
What to do? Most people disagree. So I must accept our fate.
Trump needs Putin and his hackers to get re-elected. I wonder what the quid pro quo will end up being?
2
Jefferson, I think we’re lost.
2
Republicans perpetually wrap themselves in the flag, brag about pocket copies to the Constitution in their suit coats, wear flag lapel pins and bloviate about their patriotism and love for country. Yet the Russian military launches a sustained attack on our electoral process and threatens our democracy and all they can do is publicly assault the patriotic American who led the FBI investigation into Russia-gate. Go figure.
10
Calls for Trump to cancel the Putin meeting are missing the point. Trump was summoned by his boss. One doesn't deny a bosses' summons.
Since we are not in a court of law and have license to speculate, I can state that it is obvious Trump's businesses were financed almost entirely by Russian money in the latter stages before his presidency. After huge losses from Trump bankruptcies, banks refused loans to the Trump organization, but he continued to buy properties. Even his son Erick said that Russia was daddy's piggy bank.
We have installed a man as our president who is beholden to Putin--a man who controls Russia with a Stalinist grip,
and is an avowed enemy.
The GOP majority in Congress can stop Trump cold by exerting their equal power. But they cravenly submit to an unhinged leader to feather their cushy nests. These sycophants are the enablers for the Trumpian destruction of our society. They are evil co conspirators.
8
The GOP is on the wrong side at this seminal moment in American history.
It’s not too late to stand up for our national security and our law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Republicans are making a huge mistake trying to protect this treasonous con man who hijacked their party.
6
The meeting with Putin with no advisors or witnesses, except the translators, is a huge red flag. This is not the behavior of presidents, especially a sitting POTUS, but of traitors and spies. The stakes must be very high for DJT.
19
I'd like to know more about the bravery of the translators. Will they both be Russian or will Trump's be American? Who will protect them after the one-on-one meeting? If Putin and Trump really want to keep their conversation secret, the translators lives may be in danger. Hope not, but maybe they'll need to go into some sort of witness protection program? Just asking.
5
To such strained lengths Neoliberals go to distract from the rotten candidacy of a rotten candidate, to stay in power, and to hide that their own slavemasters are Wall St. They probably spend millions drumming up this worthless prosecution.
In old school parlance hack means "trivial" or "incompetent." And that's what this cyber hack amounts to, as is stated: the election was not affected. Yes it was illegal and heads are gonna roll. But this is the same Fed cops that just charged an old drunk in a park with a hate crime for insulting a t-shirt. Reading the indictment (yes I actually read indictments not just the media twist) I am reminded of the silly ODNI report that started this ball of junk rolling, except that it had the levity to state at the end that it's "high certainty" could be completely wrong.
To the points here, good relations with Russia are worth many times the implications of exposing a corrupt DNC, even if by illegal means. No I don't support Trump. I read history. And this is indeed hack.
P.S. if the authorities can actually do all this back channel phishing and malware science, why don't they do something useful with their kills, like stopping spam attempts to get me to reveal my non-existent Wells Fargo account number?
1
Please explain specifically what the US gains from good relations with Russia while trashing all of our allies. Allies who we depend on for economic trade. Russia's economy and GDP are tiny compared to our allies. Russia is a country lead by a man who executes and jails dissidents and those who dare to run against him. A man who had gotten rich stealing from his country.
The hate crime was not for insulting a t-shirt it was for harassing and threatening a woman who happened to be wearing that t-shirt. A women who is a US citizen. Are you saying that US citizens don't deserve protection by the police?
2
As Trump tees up in Scotland over the weekend, one cannot help but wonder if what has to be one of 45's worst weeks, ever, since assuming the presidency, will impact his game, as he has mercilessly impacted the new world order.
With apologies to Judith Viorst, this would have to have been the Donald's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week.
First, the 97-2 Senate vote, rebuking the recalcitrant POTUS' attacks on NATO, reassuring member nations of the full commitment of the U.S. Then, by a vote of 88-11, another Senate rebuke for his unlawful issuance of tariffs with no national security risks to justify this action. Trump's downward trajectory continued, w/a Federal judge's refusal to grant an extension on the court-ordered deadline for all of the 100+ children five and under to be reunited (only four were). And then, London's mayor granted approval for the infamous Angry-Baby Trump balloon to fly over the thousands of protestors in the city, resulting in Trump lamenting that this made him feel "Unwelcome" in London (d'ya THINK?). And, today, Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein announced the indictment of 12 Russian military officers for engaging in a multi-year cyber attack on the U.S. democracy.
Last, but not least, Barack Obama topped the Pew Research Study list, as the Greatest President of our Lifetime, just prior to POTUS embarrassing himself in GB, on Thursday, by announcing that he had beat even Abraham Lincoln in the polls.
You couldn't make this stuff up.
7
Can we please stop the psychoanalysis and supposition? There are two options here. Trump and/or his inner circle wittingly conspired with Russia to throw the election or his bottomless pit of need renders him incapable of admitting the Russians engineered his election due to his weakness.
Whatever the cause: he has possibly committed a crime; but, we know he is NOT fulfilling his oath of office to defend the constitution.
8
Isn't there something in the swearing in of a president he promises to protect our country? This, exactly: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." I am going to yell now: HE IS DOING NONE OF THOSE THINGS. I understand that he is a man of very limited intelligence and ability, but he's clearly violating his oath especially in light of what was disclosed today. So......
16
Trump’s witch hunt is his demagogic excuse to conceal the obvious truth. He was intimately involved in participating with Putin’s campaign to subvert our democracy in order to get elected. Why?
Like Putin he shares a contempt for liberal and open democratic states, for alliances, for trade agreements, and NATO. Like Putin he prefers ethno-nationalism railing against immigrants, against minorities, against
diversity. Like Putin he admires the strong men of history who destroyed the established order to promote
their nation state and used anger and resentment to
further their goals of dominating and bullying weaker neighbors. In short, he is a Fascist who believes that the
end justifies the means. He is guilty of trying to harm our democracy and the free world that we have carefully led since WW2. I believe he criminally conspired with Russia to achieve these goals and deserves to be indicted for his role in the conspiracy. His appeasers, almost the entire Republican Party, Fox News, the Koch Brothers, the so called Religious Right need to face their responsibility for this betrayal and suffer electoral consequences as well. What a disgrace! History will judge them severely!
4
Trump is only strange when he does not act strange.
4
How can the NYT print "But Mr. Trump seems incapable of perceiving the threat..." with a straight face? It is perfectly obvious (nothing "strange" at all) that Trump exactly perceives the threat, knows that he is the main beneficiary, and is doing everything possible to amplify that threat. And doing so more brazenly every day, while the NYT continues to paint it as something less than it is.
4
Have backchannels become too hot, forcing Trump to meet with the Russians on an official State visit to discuss next steps? I don’t want to believe in a bad novel scenario, but I’m starting to wonder...
2
The president of the United States is a traitor. The Republican party as an organization, in defending him for short term political gain, is working against the United States. Can this be any simpler?
Have to feel sorry for the men and women who joined the US military to defend America against "the evil Empire" --Soviet Union then, but Russia all along-- which was trying to bring down America. They are still trying, and now our elected leaders are conspiring with them. In exchange for real estate deals. Almost as pathetic as it is criminal.
9
The appearance of the president carrying on with the meeting, aka "summit," on Monday SMELLS of trump seeking guidance from putin. "What do I do now?" So very weak.
3
12 more indicted I believe is the best translation.
3
"It sure is strange that Donald Trump is so angry at American justice for the indictment of 12 Russian military officers."
Why?
When someone you know possesses incriminating evidence regarding your sex and/or financial life, you naturally act in a deferential manner toward them.
Especially when that evidence is in glorious technicolor.
6
If Trump is granted his one-on-one conversation with Putin, I am certain that Putin has the sophistication to wear a wire.
3
The end justifies the means. Exposing Hilliary Clinton and the DNC is more than adequate to justify how the information came about.
The USA is just getting a taste of karma for our responsibility for assassinating heads of state, propping up and supporting dictators and strongmen over the last 100 years.
The best part is that we do not have Hilliary Clinton or BO near the White House.
Think about it.
1
So, the thing about this witch hunt is that we are actually catching a lot of witches. Let's keep going and get all the witches and goblins and clean up our democracy!
3
Of course he's angry at Americans exposing this toddler for all to see. He love's Putin because he helped him steal the presidency - contrary to the polls which did not factor in the Russian effect.
The GOP headed by trump gangs up to vilify "the American law-enforcement community that has been working to protect the nation ever since it first became aware of the Russian interference more than two years ago." Instead they persecute them in their kangaroo televised courts and propaganda outlets.
Compare trump's "Russia: If you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing” with even the worst private text Mr. Strzok sent to Ms. Page - reflecting only what most Americans were thinking too. One's treasonous and yielded results, the other was a normal reaction to loathsome statements by a trump. Trump added “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.” I assume he means FOX News. I wonder if Mueller has them in his sights too.
Only purpose for the summit is for the two conspirators to meet and greet and gloat behind closed doors. Trump will ask Putin if he meddled in our democracy - as they both roll around the floor in laughter. Yep! Easiest meeting yet.
Regardless of what Mueller concludes, we have no recourse or remedy to rectify for a fraudulently elected illegitimate government running roughshod on a disenfranchised majority of Americans. Russian interference is not a threat for the GOP - Russians are an asset for the GOP!
7
Juggle this thought: Rod Rosenstein makes a devastating announcement this weekend which makes Trump decide to ask Putin for immediate asylum. T&P leave Helsinki together for Moscow, AirForce1 flies home empty.
10
We should only be so lucky.
3
I’ve been thinking that could happen down the line, when impeachment is looming and he’s facing criminal indictments from New York State. I believe he would consider it, as long as he had access to funds he’s squirreled away. While he is increasingly agitated I still think he’s delusional enough to think he can slime out of his problems at this juncture with the help of his base, Republican congresspeople and senators and the Kochs et al. When the going gets tougher and the latter two groups start to waver, he’ll be in full panic mode, ready to flee.
1
Flys home with Snowden who is declared a hero.
"...it would be a great pleasure to me" wrote Guccifer instead of the usual construction: "...it would be my pleasure."
The supposedly unwitting American (Stone?), who was in communication with Guccifer but didn't know he was Russian, should have recognized the writer as foreign based on syntax alone.
1
From a metaview, 11.8.16 will be equated with 12.7.41 and 9.11.01.
All are days America stood still, shocked and weeping.
2
Up there with 9-11 and December 7. Oh really? Yeah I remember Obama telling us about it and taking strong measures. I think he was looking for that Reset Button.
Hasn't it become obvious that the republican party will stoop to any means, including publicly maligning our intelligence and law enforcement professionals to keep their grip on power? Martial Law is not far behind, especially if citizens do their duty and take to the streets in protest. Make no mistake, we are teetering on the edge of a Fascist One Party State, and possible civil war. This is NOT hyperbole. The POTUS is insisting on a private meeting with no other American representatives with the leader of the country long considered our main adversary, who orchestrated a cyberattack on our elections. Wake Up America!
2
"Double double, toil, and trouble fire burn and cauldron bubble." The "witch hunt" has been twittering and now as Act II ends the "400 lb. man on a bed" has been revealed to be 12 Russian hackers with contacts with at least one American. So, as we eagerly await Act III where our modern Macbeth has angered and alienated all his former allies, the trees of Dunsinane in Great Birnam wood are moving closer and closer
1
To the editors:
"........Remember the July 2016 news conference where Mr. Trump asked Russia to hack Mrs. Clinton’s emails? “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” he said. Another “joke,” his defenders claimed at the time. On or about the same day, according to the indictment, the Russians tried to hack into multiple email accounts used by Mrs. Clinton’s personal office, as well as dozens more associated with her campaign........"
This seems to be the hot quote of the day. However, unless there is some coroborating evidence, it's politically motivated speculation - laughable really. The New York Times and others are grasping for straws. There is no doubt that Russia interfered in the election to sway the vote toward Trump (same with Julian Assange at WikiLeaks), but evidence of collusion by Trump with the Russian government (based on what we know) is thin. Of course, Muller may have more evidence.
Whether this turns out to be nothing much (unlikely) or in fact the crime of the century, the Donald will probably skate thru without a glove laid on him.
Karma? Donald is living proof there is no such thing. A lifetime of nastiness ,rip offs and stiffing both friends and enemies and he is golden and doing some of his best work ever.
He will probably die in his sleep around 99 surrounded by his loving family, never having had a days sickness in his long life and never having one sin come back to bite him.
1
And, you know what, it's business as usual for the GOP. Imagine, for just one moment, if similar allegations had been made against Obama or any Democrat . . .
3
Stranger than these unproved allegations is the blind acceptance by media quislings. Ripley's 101.
1
U.S Code Title 18 — Treason
Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
I guess Donald figures he can afford $10,000.
4
Now if a NATO ally or, God forbid, Canada, were involved, you can be Mr. Trump would be fired up and ready to get to the bottom of it.
9
Traitorous scoundrels.
Republicans in Congress have given us a new day 'that will live in infamy'.
All of them belong in prison for their knowing complicity in this blatant, ongoing scam.
Feigning ignorance is no excuse for this blatant mockery of our 240 year old democracy.
15
Giuliani keeps insisting the Mueller team is a "group of 13 highly partisan democrats". He’s out and out lying. Mueller himself is a life long republican, appointed by DOJ republican appointees
6
He’s playing the long game...the trump family business long game where Russian loan him and his boatloads of money post POTUS.
1
How stupid do you think people are? There is an indictment of 12 foreigners, who will never come to trial, conveniently timed for the Putin summit. And the President should cancel a summit? I don't think so.
The point is the evidence revealed in the indictment, not that people will or will not be put to trial.
3
A summit for which there is no agenda and no preparation for. Zero meetings with the National Security Counsel to discuss a potential agenda or policy issues. This summit is a waste of Tax payer dollars if not actually treasonous. Meeting Putin off the record with no one to record what was said???
3
Do we have a Russian accomplice in the White House? Probably. Would the GOP and Trump's supporters care? Probably not.
12
Understanding Trump's relationship to Russia is like discovering a planet through gravitational mass. You know the planet is there even if you can't see it through a telescope. The laws of Newton tell you it's there. Who are you going to believe? Sir Issac Newton or a failed real estate developer turned game show host? I'm convinced Trump's campaign colluded with Russia as much as I'm sure an apple falls from a tree. I only hope Mueller seals the lid on this deal airtight and in a hurry. We don't want Trump getting away with treason.
11
I see this very simply: Russia attacked the United States. Trump defends and supports Russia. He is guilty of treason.
3
Russia will probably get Trump to endorse its reconquest of Crimea without a shot. I wonder what, if anything, Trump will get in return.
7
Our president represents Russia not us.
He’s a “tool” of Putin.
Private meetings between them should be massively protested.
Now that’s a protest march I’d attend.
10
Could we please accelerate the wheels of Justice?
2
How serious—really—was the Russian hacking? Former U.S. intelligence officials say all nations that possess the capability engage in cyber-sleuthing., but they charge Russia intelligence operatives “broke the rules” when they “weaponized” the information they collected by giving it to WikiLeaks. However, the most damaging information the Russian hackers revealed was that the Democratic National Committee stacked the Democratic primary deck against Bernie Sanders, a revelation that force the resignation of DNC chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Had a U.S. news media outlet broke the story, it would have been regarded as triumph of investigative journalism. It did energize Sanders supporters, but never became a major issue in the general election. (The only email that counted in the 2016 presidential election was the classified State Department email the FBI found on Hillary Clinton’s and home server. The weaponization of disparaging or incriminating information gathered by computer hackers will probably become the norm in future elections. The best safeguard is having nothing to hide.
For goodness' sake, will you please, at long last, stop giving Trump the benefit of the doubt. He doesn't "seem incapable of perceiving the threat." It's not a threat to him. Russia helped him. He was happy to have their help. He asked for it on national television. We have an email where his son gladly accepted an offer of Russian help. And Trump has been working openly, without the least effort to hide it, to return the favor ever since.
Editors, you need to acknowledge this. You have a responsibility to your readership, and to the country. "Seems to be engaged in a treasonable quid pro quo," ok. We don't quite have dispositive proof yet, but he sure does seem to be doing that. But you're still applying normative expectations to the man, when he long ago blew those norms to shreds. Please, please step up, and acknowledge that truth.
5
Hey, come on! Trump's gotta do what his control tells him. That's the way the spy game works.
6
The only conspiracy Trump is concerned with is the one to make it difficult for him to license Trump Towers in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
1
The President of the United States publicly asked Russia to hack Democrat computers during an election campaign and later that same day 12 Russian operators did just that.
Just think about that for a moment.
Trump invited them to break American laws.
If I ask you to rob a bank, I can be charged as one of the bank robbers for being part of that crime.
If I ask you to murder someone, I can be charged as being part of that murder.
So the President of the United States could and should be indicted right alongside the 12 Russians that were indicted for hacking the American computers.
Why wasn't he?
16
He can't bear the idea that he didn't win the election on his personal charms.
2
I feel like most of American and even the press - including the NYTimes - is still catching up. Putin won. It's already happened. They are not having a "summit" meeting, they are meeting - intentionally (and amazingly!) in private with no other Americans in the room - to conspire. It's that simple. And they are doing it right in front of everyone who is still looking backward to figure out how it happened. They have moved on with their plans. We all better catch up now because its only going to get worse. GOP where are you??
3
Showing surprise at Trump's reaction to the 12 indictments is naive. The media obviously must lay out the facts of the story, and the president's reaction is clearly outrageous, but it isn't surprising in the least. By now any semi-informed person with more than a half dozen neurons to rub together knows that Trump is a liar. His avalanche of public statements reveal a man not so much disdainful of the truth as wholly indifferent to it. There isn't some complex calculus to his decisions of when to lie. He says what furthers his perceived interests at the time, and the veracity of his words is of no more importance to him than the planetary status of Pluto. (The only exception to that is if someone falsely accuses him of something - then he loses his mind in outrage. I've seen that combination of attributes only once before, in a pre-teen psychopath.)
Trump knows the Mueller inquiry is a serious threat to him. His statements referring to the inquiry are designed to foment distrust. The audaciousness of the lies he employs in that effort reflect his debilitating narcissism and his intelligence deficit, but the real target of his lies is his idiot base of supporters. Their spite and xenophobia are playthings for Trump, and he sees them as his best defense against Mueller. Would Trump, cornered and desperate, invoke insurrection to save his own skin? If you have to ask, you haven't been paying attention.
11
Completely agree, Rob - I can see this happening. Cue the villagers with their pitchforks and torches (plus semi-automatic rifles and MAGA caps ...). Heartland of ‘murica”. No wonder one of the ongoing fascinations is zombie apocalypse. Scary, really.
1
"But Mr. Trump seems incapable of perceiving the threat," -- He perceives it, but not as a threat. To say he is incapable of perceiving the threat assumes he is merely incompetent when he is complicit.
6
It is also strange that so many on America's liberal left are outraged about Russian attempts to meddle in our elections but they are indifferent when FBI employees attempt to meddle in our elections. We have prima facie evidence from Strzok's texts and emails that he and other actors planned to meddle in the 2016 election. 'We we'll stop him', 'insurance policy'..... These don't speak merely to Strzok's disdain for Trump, they speak to intent to undertake actions. I sure wish the left would care as much about Strzok's meddling as they do about Russia.
Utter nonsense. In fact, there is NO evidence whatsoever that Strzok took any action in his professional capacity to influence the election and in fact, he had plenty with which to do so but he did not. It would behoove you Trump supporters to start dealing with reality, facts, proportion, proportion, and to start asking yourselves, if this were Obama/Hillary, how would I feel about it. For example, you all call Hillary Clinton a liar, but Trump lies FAR more than she ever did (she is actually one of the more truthful pols, in fact), yet you completely dismiss his lying. So, for every lie Hillary tells and you zero in on as evidence that she is unfit, you excuse over 3,000 in one year AS PRESIDENT, from Donald Trump. Strzok did not meddle in the election. Period. And that you would even equate an American citizen expressing a private opinion about his own presidential election to a hostile foreign country meddling and committing CRIMES to do so, crimes you Trump supporters expressed serious concern about happening when it came to HC's personal email server, is beyond contemptuous.
1
If having opinions and biases means one cannot do his or her job well, then Comrade Trump and every politician, nurse, farmer, pilot and dog groomer should resign immediately. In other words, everyone should resign or be fired in this Faux News-based crapshoot. The Reprobate Party has not shown any evidence that Peter Strzok’s personal musings affected how he actually conducted his job and doing it lawfully in the standards of the FBI. When the Reprobates were formerly known as Republicans, they celebrated Mueller and Strzok for protecting this country and, in Strzok’s case, for exposing Russian spies in our country.
A great many Republicans did everything they could to keep Trump from being elected. But in the end, those very Republicans rallied behind him to protect their party’s interests at the polls. Now they back any monstrous thing our would-be dictator does for fear of losing their candy store of long-dreamed legislation.
The Mueller investigation has a mountain of evidence, guilty pleas, plea bargaining, and indictments. And it will come out fully when the case is ready like any other investigation of a sitting president. If the investigation, really was a witch-hunt and without merit, Trump would not be so obsessed with ending it. He would know he was in the right. But he most certainly doesn’t. Reprobates were immediately willing to savage Mueller, a life-long Republican, for having the gall to do his job protecting this country.
No amount of facts, no testimony or evidence will ever change your views will they? Strzok gave a straightforward account of what happened, of the context and ultimately of his lack of judgment. But my god...how anyone could watch that inquiry and continue believing in a deep state conspiracy is beyond my comprehension. Trump would argue the sky is green and the right would follow, accusing Democrats of having a secret pro-blue agenda...It’s truly astounding to witness from the outside. And scary as hell.
How can Americans heed Rosentein's crucial advice if they don't know about it? I just searched the words "Mueller Indictment" on Fox and NYT websites, respectively. Fox: 23 stories since the investigation began. NYT: 626. The indictment story in Fox today is about whether or not Roger Stone is the American referred to in the document - and this is buried below a huge lead about Lisa Page's 'cooperative' testimony (of course). No detailed explanation of the indictment's contents that I could find. Americans who tune their tv sets or web browsers exclusively to Fox are being kept in the dark, by design. Maybe the flying Trump Baby will get their attention, but something absolutely must break through this suppression of the truth: Our survival as a democracy depends on it.
6
Putin and Commey delivered the White House to Trump. I do not call that serendipity.
Trump publicly called Russia to hack the Clinton campaign. Russia did it. 12 military Russian operatives indicted by our justice system and, we still asked ourselves why Trump loves Putin and probably fears him too (like a loving submissive wife married to a despot).
So the real "European" trip agenda is about two main issues, that one to one talk in Finland (to grant demands Putin may have?) and, of course, money. Do not forget the golf club pitches.
Brussels and London were about creating as much controversy as possible as a distraction to the real Trump goals.
3
Trump will probably inform all of us that he definitely took the matter up with Vladimir but Putin absolutely denies it! So what's a fellow to do -- except blame it all on Obama?
1
Donald a Trump is very capable of being furious with an enemy; however Russia has not been his enemy. America's enemies are not his first concern.
1
However erratic Trumps behavior is, there is one thing that has been extremely consistent. He has not only consistently avoided criticizing Putin he has held Putin up as someone to admire and be "friends" with.
At a year and half into his presidency this is no longer looking like a quirk or coincidence. This looks like a man owned by Putin.
At the same time he has consistently attacked and criticized all Allies of the US. He has also made kind or admiring comments about other strongmen like Duterte and Kim Jong-un. How is any of that good for America or promoting American values??
Perhaps if Trump feels so threatened by this "Witch Hunt" he will simply ask Putin for asylum. I don't know can you impeach a President who defects?
3
So now there is a Congressman noted for his collusion with Russia in winning a seat. But of course. That could explain much of why this GOP Congress is turning a blind eye to the attack on the very foundation of our democracy and the shredding of democratic institutions and alliances by this president. If Putin was able to help get Mr. Trump elected -- a president of the United States! -- imagine how easy it would be to place unwitting or not Russian agents in to congressional seats. This may run deeper than most of us ever suspected.
1
Trump actually has it backwards. Because of Nixon and Clinton we tend to think of Special Prosecutors as being about making sure there is no cover-up and that no one gets off because of their position in government or their political connections. But as far as collusion or involvement of Americans in the Russian hack goes, the wording of the indictment and of Rosenstein's carefully worded announcement are both exculpatory. When you consider that in the context of Strzok's testimony and contemplate what might have happened if the investigation had been left to him, it's apparent that Trump has been lucky to have Mueller.
As a taxpayer with no particular political agenda, my first thought was that it didn't take a Special Prosecutor to run down these Russian hackers. The plain old FBI was probably up to that task. But Strzok made me a believer in the need to at least try to find prosecutors and investigators who can manage their bias and emotions. I don't think that Trump, as President, has to cooperate with Mueller. But it's a mistake to discredit him.
I'm facing now what I call an overload of hideous coming from Trump and his ilk. It seems likely that the hideous will keep coming and coming until we can get Trump and his GOP co-conspirators going away, far away from us/U.S. At my age, I hope I can live to see the day.
Is it possible that the reason Trump is so enamored of Putin, is a simple fear of blackmail( Steele dossier)? It seems simplistic, but, what else could explain his illogical denial of Russian interference in your election and his fawning? I cannot fathom the reasons. Surely, it is more complex than that. What could it be?
Putin pulled off a well-executed plan and our law enforcement officials are at odds with our President. WOW!
Let's forget about the Republicans, who are weak. What is incredibly scary is that the Democrats are no better. Why they continue to let Trump control the narrative is a complete mystery to me.
3
I try and imagine if all of the efforts on the part of the Russians was directed at helping Ms. Clinton secure the presidency.....bots, fake news stories, hacking into Trump’s and the RNC’s servers and emails. And then I try to imagine the Fox pundits, the majority of the Republican Congress, the base, being so......disinterested and dismissive.
It really feels like we’ve fallen through the rabbit hole. This is Russia. Our ridiculous nuclear inventory exists largely because of Russia. NATO exists largely to protect Europe against Russia. Republicans (John Bolton anyone?) have been warning us about the threat from Russia for over sixty years. We don’t spend over 700bn/yr on our military to protect ourselves from Cuba.
Why aren’t Trump’s ‘dealmaking abilities’ rendering much of these costs obsolete?
It’s truly an alternate universe.
3
"Think patriotically as Americans" Get on board and man our defenses. We are in an all out war that must be won for our democracy to be sustained. The Russians are coming. The Russians are coming. The Russians are coming again. This is a battle for all our freedoms hard earned by those that have fought and died to keep us free. We stand by our democracy, even if our president won't. We stand for freedom of speech and the press, even if our president doesn't. We stand with our intelligence agencies, even if our president can't. We stand 'free' and America is 'the home of the brave'. We will fight and this "may be our finest hour", despite our president being in love with Russia and autocrats like Putin. We will fight "on the beaches' or in this case on our computers, writing every Congressman to prepare to do battle with Russia, this part of 'axis of evil', even if our president won't. Why is he president? He doesn't even like America, its laws and values. He is trying to turn us into Russia, a failed state that jails and kills opponents and terrorizes neighbors and allies, with bullying and outright attacks. No more. We want the country that we love back and we are taking back, no matter what this 'so-called' president does. He does NOT represent the majority of Americans. I doubt that he even represents the majority of Russians. The peasants will rejoice all over the world when he and his oligarchs are gone and done stealing from the coffers of our planet.
1
Indictments of numerous Russians but no Americans. If there is something that implacates the Trump campaign, now is the time to reveal it. Russians interfering is a serious issue, but it isn’t collusion between Trump and the Russians.
Trump is not the problem, we have had incompetent, immoral and criminal presidents before him. The problem is an (apparently) entire Republican Party that is willing to throw the United States and its constitution under the bus to retain power. Folks, this is how democracy dies.
4
I guess that he is not angry over this bad presidence. We may regret that we have indicted these twelve military officers for acts performed in their own country against us while they were doing their duty under orders from above. We have military personnel all over the world, some performing work that could easily be considered breaking the laws of a country that we are operating in without a declaration of war.
We should break off our diplomatic relations with Russia if we are so outraged that Putin would allow his military to interfere with our elections. Of course this would be awkward in that we need them to bring our Astronauts back from the International Space Station. I hope we have not played any dirty tricks on the Russians to cause them to not trust us.
What might Trump say to Putin? Besides handing over state secrets I imagine he'll say: you've gotta protect me. Mueller is getting closer. I need them off my back. I can't love you like I want to. I can't repay you like I promised. And Putin might thank him for essentially ruining rule of law, isolating the country, making the US a laughing stock and keeping the GOP in line with tax cuts that will explode the deficit in the future and conservative justices that have no support from the American people. But he won't let him off the hook: Donald, you own the witch hunt.
Forget Trump's response. It's always the same "witch hunt." Why aren't reporters nailing the Mitch McConnells and Paul Ryans for their lack of outrage, courage to do something?!? Dog them and report every nonchalant shrug so the American public can see just how apathetic these people are about betraying our country. Make no mistake. Doing nothing is as much a betrayal as actionable treason.
4
I am loath to accept conspiracy theories -- right-wing or left-wing -- but it is beyond strange and incomprehensible that an American president would chose to take the word of a Russian dictator over the evidence provided by American law enforcement and American intelligence agencies.
What hold does Putin and Russian intelligence have on Trump?
There's more here than the alleged sleazy sex of the Steele memo.
Given Trump's history it must involve money, large sums of money.
Ill gotten money? Laundered money? Criminal enterprise money?
I hate to say it but, I believe, Trump would sell this country "down the river" for a fist full of brass rubles.
4
Mr Stephens and his ilk of never trumpers who are alarmed and dismayed at the current state of affairs ( with justification and warranted fear for the future) - still find time to bash liberals and democrats in most of his articles ( thought not this one), and fail to place blame where it lies and its not trump.
Trump is but a man and a bully with no intellect, no moral core, but made stronger daily by the entire republican party.
The silence of those no longer in office, but once held stature in the party ( the bushes for example ) remained silent for a very long time as this hulk of disorder grew larger.
The party still enables him hoping to get Ginsburgs seat and so will risk the entire foundation of our democracy to this madman.
Brett - time to place the real blame where it lies. In the enablers , in faux news and the greed of the McConnells and the Ryans and the Gowdy's.
Trump does not act nor exist in a vacuum.
What's really disturbing here is the attempt by the Russians to hack voter rolls, machines, and documentation. This is no hoax; this a direct threat to the democratic process. It's a grave concern to the nation that the President of the United States trivializes this threat and dismisses it with a Tweet.
1
All sites and computers that have URLs, public IP addresses or public gateways are probed.
It will be interesting to compare Trump's meeting with HIS ally to the NATO and G7 meetings with AMERICA's allies.
1
All evidence indicates that Trump and his people are traitors, at worst conspiring with, and at best cooperating with, a country that never really changed after the “fall” of communism, and is now one of the most evil in the world. The ruthless totalitarians never went away - they just pretended they did and bided their time. There are citizens in every formerly Soviet-bloc country who know this. Unfortunately, leaders of both parties here were blindsided, and now the Republicans are looking the other way, complicit in the treachery. Now it’s time to clean house.
3
Trump's salient characteristic is his dishonesty, as evidenced by his constant lying. He has no allegiance to our country, only to himself.
Please stop saying things like this about our president the Russian investigation :
"But Mr. Trump seems incapable of perceiving the threat."
No, he doesn't. Mr. Trump is very, very capable of perceiving threats. We all know this to be true. And he is meeting with the leader of the nation who attacked and continues to attack us to discuss how to handle the threat to his presidency.
Please stop ignoring what is right in front of us. It is almost as if you and many Americans are incapable of perceiving the real threat to this country: a lawless president.
2
The editorial provides a link to a Friday morning press conference clip in which Trump cites FBI agent Peter Trump Strzok’s recent testimony before the House Judiciary Committee as proof that the investigation of the Trump campaign for possible unlawful collusion with Russia is a “witch hunt.” Trump had stated many times that the investigation into Russian hacking is appropriate and should continue.
After two years of investigation, no evidence of unlawful collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia has been surfaced.
The Editorial Board ask us to Remember “the July 2016 news conference where Mr. Trump asked Russia to hack Mrs. Clinton’s emails? ‘Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,’ he said. Another ‘joke,’ his defenders claimed at the time.” It was, of course, a joke. Trump was referring to the 30,000 email deleted from Hillary Clinton’s private home server. That the editorial board present it as “proof” of collusion indicates the witch hunt label might be appropriate.
The Mueller investigation has produced 28 indictments but not a single indictment against the Trump campaign for unlawful collusion with Russia to interfere with the 2016 election.
Trump, Giuliani, Hannity...they're all in too deep now. They can't back-peddle much of their nonsense nor will their noxious fumes dissipate innocuously; they are inextricably bound to their efforts to distract Americans from growing revelations that the Trump campaign was complicit in a brazen attack on our elections. And like the proverbial "corned animal," they will become more viscous as this reality closes in around them. Those who still harp about the Clinton emails are like smokers - rather than confronting their destructive addictions to tobacco, are satisfied enough to defer the inevitable by taking another puff, with congressional republicans happy enough to provide a light. Take a deep drag America...
3
From day one trump has made no secret of his admiration for Putin and his disdain for the American justice system. Just how far does he have to go to prove his allegiance is to Russia rather than the U.S.? As the so-called leader of our country, his behavior can only be viewed as treasonous.
2
IF Rod Rosenstein briefed Mr. Trump about the upcoming indictment of 12 Russian military officers prior to the NATO meeting that would mean Trump had actionable intelligence about the attack on our country and the Russian-state connection perpetrating them.
Wouldn't it would stand to reason that Trump would go to NATO with eyes wide open regarding the Russian threat and the obvious need to maintain a strong NATO deterrent? Where the United States would want to hold their NATO allies in close embrace and goodwill and NOT to be trashing our partnerships with them or the alliance we built with them since WWII.
Knowing Trump was briefed and armed with this knowledge it should have triggered a completely different response this week than what he displayed. Unless of course the President is in cahoots with his buddy Putin and owes him.
What could it be that Trump would value over loyalty to the job? Maybe the vast amounts of money that he has taken from Russians over the years when American banks refused to continue loaning Trump money for his losing businesses? Eric Trump bragged about the insane money that was pouring into Trump deals a few years ago. What's that saying? "Never bite the hand that feeds you?" It couldn't be as simple as that...could it?
4
These are indictments not covictions. We are going to war based on a special prosecutor's say so?
Besides Obama had the ssme information regardiong Russia - no safety there. Diid you complain then?
It is good, the defence of the second amendment by Trump and the GOP.
It might be useful, very soon, for all the right reasons for a change.
I imagine that before this is all over, Trump will not be the only Republican politician who ends up indicted.
1
Hands down, the most corrupt president since Richard Nixon, and probably ever.
Add to that the defiance and unselfconscious arrogance.
I’m so tired of all this “winning”.
1
Can you imagine any other president calmly going forward to a summit with Putin after these indictments?
These 12 intelligence officers and the previously indicted Russians are either directly employed by or beholding to Putin.
What other conclusion can we come to other than Putin has something(s) on Trump? The Presidency of the United States has been compromised. If not, please provise another explanation.
Where is the outrage? Why are Republican leaders silent? Where are the Republican hawks...Republican patriots?
The inevitable conclusion I have come to is that for Republicans and many American citizens, Russian bad actors are acceptable as long as they help out the GOP. They are implicitly suggesting that Democrats are worse than Russian spies and dictators.
To these Republican politicians and Trump supporters there is only one thing to say: YOU ARE TRAITORS to your country.
5
The audacity of Trumping along with business as usual and going ahead with the summit in Helsinki with Putin just confirms that Trump will be Trump and that is why he remains courageous and triumphant.
The indictment of 12 military officers may seem like a big deal because it confirms that the dirty secrets of the democratic party during the 2016 presidential primary were exposed not by the NY Times or the Washington Post or CNN but by citizens of a foreign nuclear power.
Had it not been for these Russians who most likely shared their findings with wikileaks which the made it public we the people of the USA would never have known the truth about the knifing in the back of a popular independent running as a democrat Bernie Sanders by the top 3 democratic party officials who were colluding to ensure their preferred candidate's nomination.
Trump has to admit that the Mueller investigation has not been a "witch hunt" because it has awakened the sleeping giant, US to the dangerous cyber attacks on Americans.
Three times in 3 years, my accounts which I thought were secure have been hacked. Twice my credit card account was charged by criminals who went on a spending spree and once attempt was made to log in to my most used email account. If the one of the 2 most political parties in the USA can get hacked where does that leave the forgotten little guys in the heartland of America?
Attacks on cyber security of Americans should be seen as equivalent to a blatant act of war.
1
In my opinion, the only reasonable conclusion one can draw from these latest developments and the lack of outrage from Trump is that he is in Putin's pocket. Trump either has been the recipient of a massive amount of laundered money to finance his holdings or he is planning on a future Trump-Russia brand of hotels and golf courses. The sad fact is that his Republican supporters are enabling a truly dangerous and treasonous man.
4
Mueller and Rosenstein deserve a medal for their actions protecting the Rule of Law.Instead they receive threats from the President and Congress.Time for the voter to stop supporting the Republicans
4
there was also the smarmy-touted, then abruptly canceled, press conference that promised a blockbuster re HRC, remember? now becoming relevant to what: mens rea? accessory-after-the-fact? the origins/timelines on that (snag in timing or coordination or fear of being linked?) will be part of next steps says my crystal ball. i did predict the Helsinki Humdinger....no tariffs on Russian vodka yet?
The truly frightening part of this is if you ask a Trump supporter about their views on Vladimir Putin, you will get the stock answer that: "He is a strong leader - like Trump."
2
It’s a witch hunt alright. Trump is the witch. The GOP is too cowardly to exercise their legislative power to balance this out of control, dangerous man who’s brought our democracy to danger. Trump appears, remains in the teeth of the evidence, beholden to Putin... The GOP is derelict in their sworn duty.
3
This would explain the seeming fear of the investigation.
Every film fan knows that GRU minions are yellow...
1
The Editorial Board should consider taking a less obtuse point of view.
Fox News is driving Republican politics in our nation. Fox News refuses to take the Russian Interference in 2016 election seriously.
Meanwhile, Republican Congress also refuses to take this illegal & criminal interference seriously.
The Republican controlled WhiteHouse not only refuses to take the crimes seriously, but also actively courts the accused government.
This is not a time to mince words. The Republican do not "have difficulty responding". Rather, they certainly ARE responding to exposure of the 2016 electioneering crimes. They are responding by circling the wagons of the GOP - Putin cabal & fighting for all they are worth against: American law, American voters, and American national integrity.
Party of traitors is what the tRump-led GOP has become.
4
"Party, family,country", a Renewed Congressional Republican mantra.
Trump was overheard telling May: "Nobody knew witches could be so complicated".
The publicly known information alone grows more and more damning. Trump's witches are real. Trump's rigged election is real. Whether or not this is treason according to the Constitution, it is treason according to the everyday meaning of the word. Russia helped elect Mr. Trump, and Trump has furthered every conceivable desire of Mr. Putin. Sometimes Trump asked Putin for that help, or suggested specific courses of action. Trump for his part has steadfastly resisted doing anything at all that harms or punishes Russia. His ire is directed solely at Mr. Mueller and the DOJ and the FBI. This is a conspiracy in the everyday sense of the word.
re “He, his congressional allies and his propaganda arm are waging open warfare on the Federal Bureau of Investigation in an effort to tarnish it before its inquiry into connections between the Trump campaign, family and associates and Russia can be made public.” “Tarnish” you say?. Why beat about the bush? It’s a heluva lot more than “tarnish”! It is outright OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE for which trump is directly culpable along with GOP congressmen and senators. trump has negligently and deliberately done absolutely nothing to stop the Russian cyberattacks. This is COLLUSION in plain sight. And again involves much of the GOP in Congress. For all the talk on wingnut radio and cable news, it's the GOP that is becoming a real and credible threat to the nation. These are clearly indictable offences for which Mueller I would hope at some point will press charges.
3
Did George Washington foresee this situation in his Farewell Address?
1
You say witch hunt in Russian as witch hunt. That is how our Russian president says it. There is no plausible explanation for Trump's worsening behavoir towards the world and praiseworthy behavior towards Russia than that he is a Russian agent or he solicited and received Russia's help to make him the US' first Russian president. I am decidely not talking about national origin here. I am talking about the ownership of his brain. He is now Putin's wind-up doll.
How long before Trump starts using the term "fake laws"?
2
Can you please list which states had hacked voter information and which particular state had half a million voters' personal info, SS numbers, addresses, etc leaked??
If our "representatives" and our "president" wont get excited about protecting the American vote, then at least let us tar and feather these people who have blown off their oath to serve the Constitution and the American people-we'll confront them at the local level. This is just outrageous breech of trust for our officials to blow this off.
5
“Putin likes me”
Trump’s reason for not believing our law enforcement or our judiciary in his delusional world where a foreign government could not hack an election even with actual not pretend guilty pleas is “but Putin likes me”. Paging Dr. Strangelove.
Does Trump know his old campaign manager is in jail???
3
Trump’s first words to Putin in Helsinki on Monday: “Everything is going according to plan. NATO’s shaken by my criticism and disrespect. The British PM is likely not long for her job. We couldn’t do better than to have Boris Johnson replace her. The timing of the DOJ indictments against our comrades is a bit unfortunate, but our GRU comrades have nothing serious to worry about since they are beyond the reach of American prosecutors. Also, I had a relaxing weekend at my golf club in Scotland ... shot a course record 51 with the automatic gimmes I get for paying the salaries of the poor shnooks who work there. If you’ve got some time, Vlad, we can jet over to the club on Air Force One for a quick round.”
1
Time to dig out, dust off and watch The Manchurian Candidate (from 1962…starring Frank Sinatra).
Increasingly, something about Trump’s demeanor causes me to wonder if he’s really THERE!
Why can’t he keep track of what he, himself, says from day to day?
This ain’t normal!
What or who is ‘pulling his strings’?
What is also interesting, which I've not heard anyone mention, is that, despite later saying that he had no idea if it was Russia who did the hacking...or China, or a 400 lb. man sitting on his bed, on July 27, 2016, it was Russia he called upon to find some missing Clinton emails, not China, and not some 400 lb. man. It was also clear by the syntax of his public appeal to Russia, that he knew they were looking, or would be, by saying simply that he hoped they would find those emails. Oh, he knew. He knew it was Russia, and he knew they were hacking.
1
Here's what Trump will say to Putin in Helsinki: "Wait until after the election. I'll have more flexibility then."
Mitch McConnell tells President Obama that it would be wrong to go public with the interference of the Russians in the 2016 elections. Why??? Everyone was talking about Hilary’s email server. Where are McConnell’s allegiances in this mess?
2
The silence of Republicans in Congress is also deafening. Where is their outrage about this coordinated Russian attack on the 2016 election? Oh yeah, Republicans are only outraged at the US intelligence community for uncovering this attack, just like Trump.
4
Kelsey Wroten.... Great Graphic!
It certainly does beg the question as to why the Republicans are putting everything on the line to protect Trump rather than our democracy. When will this nightmare end? Trump needs to go and the Republicans need to be removed from power. It's the only way.
6
Given the indictments issued yesterday by Mr. Mueller, no reasonable person can deny that the Russians interfered in the 2016 elections and sought to advantage Trump’s candidacy.
Given this context, Assistant Attorney General Rod Rosenstein speaks the truth: “it’s important for us to avoid thinking politically, as Republicans or Democrats, and instead to think patriotically as Americans.”
Republican legislators, however, will not “avoid thinking politically” in the face of what they regard to be an existential threat. They know full well: If Donald Trump were to go the way of Richard Nixon, the GOP would go the way of the pterodactyl. Hence most GOP legislators will remain silent while Trump touts his personal relationship with Putin, pursuesmhis own plutocratic interests, neglects his oath to protect the US against foreign adversaries, denigrates western allies and attacks the the press, the FBI, the Justice Department, and the US intelligence agencies.
Trump’s legislative enablers and supporters, however, focus on the existential threat that looms, but neglect the threat that is at hand. They fail to recognize the full gravity of their party’s situation.
As John Boehner, along with many other conservatives, has already acknowledged: “There is no Republican Party.”
The GOP is already extinct. Months ago it devolved into the Trumpublican Party.
6
Bill Kristol said something today about Robert Mueller that sent chills up my spine:
"He . . . knows . . . everything."
I understand there is a long way to go, and there are many, many more questions to be asked and evidence to be gathered. But I am more convinced than ever that this narrative is gaining steam, and I am more concerned than ever how our nation will deal with the very real possibility that the President was treasonous. Think about it. A traitor.
21
Why is nobody saying out loud or in print what is most obvious to an objective observer based on what he says and does. Donald Trump is most likely a Russian agent and has been for years.
6
It's actually a warlock-hunt and so far we've caught nearly three-dozen warlocks. Go get 'em, Mr. Mueller!
1
I can only hope the release of these indictments of Russians is a building block, strategically placed by Mueller to shore up trust in his investigation for later use when he adds some Americans to the house of deceit, dirty tricks and treason. I also hope that at least a couple of the "witches" he catches are leaders of the coven.
169
Trump was informed a week ago about the attacks by Putin and the Russians. His response at a rally a few days later? Putin's fine. And the so called Republican "patriots" stand by while he flushes democracy down the toilet.
7
The 2016 election should be called what it is, a coup d’etat by Trump and his subsequent and current Republican co-conspirators.
8
“Mueller, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the truth.”
I can settle for that.
3
Question: What happened to all the people who used to care about America. For sure, there are none in the White House. And there don’t seem to be any others in the GOP—at least not in Washington D.C. What we get from the D.C. contingent of the GOP is those who slithered out from under the Joe McCarthy rock this week to attack Peter Strzok and prove to all that, indeed, they have no sense of decency. Like lemmings, they follow their their "witch hunt" leader.
4
And this is not impeachable?
7
Oh, we are in such deep, deep trouble.
He'll be the ruination of the United States.
It's going to take a lot to bring down fascism in the United States. This editorial gives me hope because it shows that the NYTimes is getting serious, becoming more courageous. So I want to say to you and to ALL of the Fourth Estate (the Press) to KEEP SEEKING THE TRUTH. And keep in mind what Atticus Finch said to the jury in his final plea in To Kill a Mockingbird: "I'm no idealist to believe, firmly, in the integrity of our courts . . . .That's no ideal to me, it is a living, working reality.....In the name of God, do your duty."
6
I hear Trump differently.
Maybe its what I want to hear?
I hear .....collusion with HIM is a witch hunt.
Most around here hear medling is automatically TIED to the Trump campaign...
Medling has been going on for years now.
Remember Obama said , " cut it out " to Putin.
Of course there was medling.
Liberals and the press should prey every day for proof of collusion or they have wasted 2 years of talk, a lot of ink , and air time.
Joe, yes - you are hearing what you want to hear. Trump NEVER makes the distinction in his remarks that you state. He always refers to the entire Russian investigation as a witch hunt and a hoax. He has been stating vehemently for the past year the entire investigation should be shut down. And no, meddling like what happened in 2016 has not "been going on for years". What happened in 2016 was unprecedented in its scale, scope and sophistication. And of course, in its ability to to have a Presidential campaign so willing ("if it is what you say it is, I love it" - Don Jr.) to receive help from Russia. Wake up.
2
No pointing figure at Trump will ever convince him of his folly.
The super narcissist has such an overwhelming ego, even if an angel appeared to him to tell of his folly, he will still blame OTHERS.
I have reached a point where it is total waist of time and effort to alert this demi-god . He has made a Faustian bargain with the devil, who will eventually get him...
4
Would prefer to see a rundown of how much the Mueller investigation has cost the taxpayer--some estimates speculate it is between 30 and 40 million and counting--and how this sum could be more usefully spent on, say, fixing up sub standard housing in the 5 boroughs so that we don't see any more fatal conflagrations in firetraps like the 1 in the Bronx in Jan. that cost lives of 12. Times newspaper ran a tremendous series on that problem as well as the plight of the old,infirm being forced out of their apartments by their landlords. Do you, collectively, really think average New Yorker cares about these Russian hackers, and will your editorial really change hearts and minds?Focus also on the egotistical mayor whose priority is not the citizenry,so many of whom r hard up, but on creating a sanctuary city for " indocumentados"at citizenry's expense, and visiting the s.w. border when his mind should be on problems here in the city.Should have been arrested by ICE for an illegal border crossing which is perhaps what he wanted to gain publicity!Your preferences re which news to cover r all wrong!Do ur own sondage in the streets of the city and ask average bloke whether he knows or cares about those 12 Russian hackers.Hunch is that responses to both questions would be negative!
Wow! Seems almost 'reality TV' in it's speciousness. I suspect indictments will go on falling in justice's hands, and not only Russians. Trump's big mouth attempt to buy the conscience of his base by demeaning Mueller's efforts in defending the country is meant to kill the investigation, or at least render it obsolete. Ought Trump not be called a 'fifth columnist', as he always favors Putin. while thrashing his own "intelligence personnel", as further proof of Russia's interference becomes crystal-clear?
1
When a President-Elect is sworn in he takes the oath "to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Donald Trump has broken that oath. He encouraged Russia to find and make public Hillary Clinton's emails. He castigates the Dept. of Justice, the FBI etc. for doing their jobs.
That is treason.
Donald Trump must be removed from the Oval Office and sent packing.
6
12 new indictments. Add those to the previous 13 Russians and three companies for election interference/disinformation. Add Manafort, Gates, Papadopolous and Flynn - That's 29 individuals indicted and counting...
3
On numerous occasions since March 2017, Trump outbursts characterizing the investigation of Russian influence/ meddling as a “witch hunt” have been followed closely by a statement on the same topic, also referencing “witch hunt”, by a prominent Russian spokesperson (most recently: Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, on June 29, 2018). I see three possibilities:
- Pure coincidence [yet all the good spy movies tell me to
immediately reject that idea]
- The Russians want us to think they are scripting Trump
- The Russians want us to know they are scripting Trump
5
Compare the cyber burglary by the Russian operatives of Putin with the "third-rate" burglary at the Watergate complex by Nixon's operatives.
2
How odd, indeed, that the party that led a fanatical cold war against Russia (then the USSR) is now acting as her agent. The Republicans are self destructing.
10
Now that we all can clearly see that Putin is Trumps handler what will be the future of this traitorous relationship. And to what extent will the Russian party... I mean... the Republican party submit themselves to Putin's rule. You would think that there would be a more American way of getting a Republican into the White House.
1
This is what David Leonhardt wrote on July 11, 2018: "First, let’s try a little thought experiment: Whenever President Trump starts talking about NATO, imagine what Vladimir Putin would want Trump to say. Then compare it to what Trump actually says. The two are often frighteningly similar."
So Donald Trump is outraged and directs anger at his fellow Americans.
How many stages of grief are there? Americans are stuck at the first stage: DENIAL. The word begins with T. Take your pick: . Traitor. Treachery. Treason. Turncoat. Keep going...
2
Prepare yourselves when the family indictments come down. Narcissism knows no bounds.
1
“I don’t think you’ll have any, ‘Gee, I did it, you got me,’” Mr. Trump said during a news conference hours before the indictment was announced.
Trump has a shrewd sense of limitations. I would ask: did what, Mr. Trump? Got you for what? Haven't you already admitted some foreknowledge with your statement during the election that you hoped the Russians had hacked Clinton?
However that might be, Nancy Pelosi (whom I don't particularly like) asked the relevant questions: what do the Russians have on Trump, politically, financially, and personally? My answer: Putin must have a lot, to fashion Trump into his disrupter-in-chief of America's relations with its allies. I can't think how a former KGB operative could create more chaos among the democracies of the world than electing Donald Trump to the highest office in the US.
So let's rephrase the question to "Gee, what have you got on me?" Let's hope we find out in Mueller's good time.
7
Perhaps, but he also has great admiration for other political strongman. Look at how he sucked up to Kim in NK. I believe that the Russians probably have some sort on him but he is temperamentally more like Putin than any Democratic leader. They probably didn't need to try too much to feel him in.
I haven't seen anyone seriously use the words "treason" and "traitor" to describe the conduct of our president and the man himself. Why is that? In this day of hyperbole, it would almost seem to be euphemistic to use that kind of language.
2
Who knew that all these shows depicting the take over of the Oval Office by a genuine form of the Manchurian candidate would become our new reality.
6
Trump will have his private meeting with Putin and then announce he has solved the problem.
1
Not so strange. He is a villain in so many ways. Greed, environmental damage and climate change denial, his sexual abuse of women,and abuse of people with physical disabilities. He is just about everything that a person should strive not to be. Vote
7
Trump and the GOP are really a disaster. Russia calls this fake news and Trump agrees going against his own country. This is what he should be impeached for. This is the same as going to dinner with the emperor of Japan on December 8, 1941.
8
The real question with respect to the FBI is who was in that nest of Clinton haters in the New York office pressured Comey to release information on their investigation of her. Did their prejudice leach into other aspects of their work? Were their leaks, presumably to Giuiliani, in violation of any laws and FBI policy? If Strzok is fired in the coming days and months, they should be nervous. The Democrats are coming back some day.....
1
The threat to our national existence does not begin and end with President Donald John Trump. It begins with the treasonous, treacherous Congress of the United States. It is this body, never more august, that is digging trenches around the 45th president—to shield and protect and, yes, to nurture his administration as it now, its objectives clearly understood, fix their bayonets out at “We, the People.”
The red rage in which this president now finds himself, as Air Force One sets its course for Finland, must be frightening to behold. He must shortly face the architect, the man who would subjugate Trump’s country to Russia, making it a mere and mean servant, kneeling humbly and abjectly before the dreaded hammer and sickle.
From Khrushchev’s “we will bury you” prophecy in November, 1956; from John F. Kennedy’s stare-down of that same Khrushchev six years later as late October gave way to the last frontier of nuclear annihilation; from the ashes of a Cold War in which Sputnik and satellites and desperate races to the moon stood as Armageddon’s backdrop to our national experience. All that was the buildup to a man-child president who would serve up his country to its fiercest rival? In how many ways had Donald Trump not violated his “sacred” oath, ending in “so help me, God?”
Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan and all the hyenas on The Hill remain silent. They, too, are the “witches,” their torches roasting Old Glory.
It’s not just Trump. It’s the Republican Party. All of them.
5
2 years ago, if you asked the Fox News cohort who was the US's biggest friend and biggest enemy you just might hear an answer of NATO allies as our best friends and Russia as our biggest enemy. Now, thanks to one man's spectacular propaganda skills and their own uncritical thinking, the answers to the same question would be the exact opposite.
7
The only explanation for Donald Trump’s behavior that fits all of the facts is that he is a Russian agent. Kim Philby the sequel. God help us.
5
The day Trump exclaimed...
"Russia, if you are listening...."
...he knew he had an audience.
Why he is not behind bars already is truly mind boggling.
20
"...because Putin likes me"
Typically one sees the mentally deranged talking to themselves walking up & down streets or in reruns of "Law & Order. But no.
We have one in the White House whose twittering"self-talk" invades and assails our consciousness daily. Perhaps he is so far gone, he'll start confessing via twitter.
2
Sure seems there are still whole bunches of living, breathing, hacking, lying, colluding witches continuing to be found in this "fake witch hunt".
1
>
None of these new indictments will change Trump's support.
His supporters simply don't care if he was involved with Russia; just as long as they won, full stop.
Moreover, the GOP doesn't hate the Russians anymore now that the Russians are a bunch of oligarchs and not a bunch of commies. How Putin runs his country fills the GOP ranks with envy. Putin doesn't have to put up with bleeding heart liberals, he kills and/or jails them. We are one baby step from this too.
The only thing that can fix this catastrophe are 2018 and 2020 electoral landslides. Even that is questionable. Landslides are the only real obstacle political dirty tricks can't overcome.
The GOP's plan is always to keep it close then call in the Roger Stone(s).
That's how they won 2000; where James Baker is quoted as saying the day after that election "get me Roger Stone". W then gets re-elected with shenanigans in OH..... Now we have this.
The GOP believes, maybe correcting, as the numbers begin to work against them, that they have to cheat to win.
9
Monday: Me, on television, to my cleaning person: "Mary, if you're listening, I hope you dust under the refrigerator."
Friday: Me: "I don't know who cleans my house or what day it's done. It could be Mary. It could be Carlos. It could be some 400 lb. armadillo in a French maid's outfit. But I don't believe that Mary cleans my house, on Mondays..."
Anyone buying that?
4
Trump, his family and associates are so close to being found for Treason. But as long as so many Republican Congressmen are influenced by Russia and seemingly in Russia's camp....
If only the Democrats had the spine to replace Pelosi with the a younger more visionary and aggressive leader......
5
Who is Trump the President of ? He is not mine.
1
He isn't angry at the indictment. He is angry that he has been embarrassed in front of his peer, Vladimir Putin. You misunderstand the motivations of a narcissist, but I understand why the NYT continues to analyze is behavior as if it were rational, which it isn't.
4
No hurry, Mr Mueller. Trump perjures himself on Twitter every day in the court of public opinion.
2
"The only reason left on the table is that Trump and family have something to lose if this investigation continues to its ultimate end."
I sincerely believe Trump's connection to Russia is as simple as Putin knowing how much Donald Trump is really worth. There may be much associated with it (e.g. money laundering with cash sales of NYC condos), but his greatest fear is losing his reputation as a high-flying billionaire.
1
Across the last 46 years, there have been many instances where I was vehemently opposed to the policies and politics of various presidents because I felt that the country would be headed in the wrong direction. I never has any reason to question the patriotism of the president and had no reason to suspect (except in the final days of Nixon) that the president was deliberately trying to subvert our democracy. That's all out the window with Trump. He is attempting to run the country like he ran his private company - like a fiefdom with himself at the top and everyone below him subservient to his wishes and whims. His court jesters in Congress - McConnell, Ryan , Nunes etc., - dance to his tune. We will need years to correct the damage being done to this country and our standing in the world.
2
The USA, France and the UK should react and forfeit all the Russian money held in the banks on their jurisdiction as "liquidated damage" in order to send a clear message to Russia: Don't ever dare to mess against with our democracy!
1
Two brothers are walking with their mother in the dark when she is suddenly attacked by a shadowy figure. As one brother lunges after the attacker racing down the street, the other one trips him.
Which one would you vote for?
1
How do you say "witch hunt" in Russian? That's easy "Benghazi".
1
Does anybody wonder, if after Pearl Harbor, FDR wanted to make nice with the emperor of Japan?
2
I think the answer is: охота на ведьм. I am urging my Republican friends and family members to learn Russian, and am offering my assistance although my high school Russian is very rusty - about 47 years old
1
"........ Putin likes me"
Donald, it was just another of your delusions then, and it still is. Sort of like those giant inauguration crowds we keep hearing about.
Putin may put fools and tools and traitors to use, but like them? Not a chance.
3
охота на ведьм says "Witch Hunt" in Russian.
But Mueller is not looking for a woman who flies on a broom, he is looking for anyone who attempted to subvert our democracy, or aided and abetted those who did it by knowingly obstructing the investigation.
Is there a Wicked Witch of the West Wing or not?
1
Here's how:
ведьма ved'ma
And the pitchforks, torches, tar, feathers and rails are very close to getting to Trump himself. Let him call this a "witch hunt", as even members of his own party are now speaking out against him. Some calling for him to not meet with Putin.
But, Trump will go to Helsinki, to meet with the Dark Lord, to see what pointers he can get to stop the investigation, and executive order his way to dictatorship. Trump just needs an incident, to declare marshal law; something like what happened in Turkey or a 9/11 like scenario.
The Justice Department, and FBI, need to act quickly, before Trump stops the investigations, and starts pardoning those already indicted. Or, has the Supreme Court do it for him.
The bottom line, between the Russians, Trump, and power/wealth hungry oligarchs, in this country, the very foundations of this country are under attack. So, this is far more than any "witch hunt".
7
Sweet justice would be if Mueller were able to wrap up his investigation on Halloween, the night of ghosts, goblins and witches.
2
Trump and Putin will win only if allowed. Hillary receivd millions more votes that Trump. Only a defective election method put him in Washington.
There will remain people who are willfully blind and pretend to ignorance. Dictators always find their followers who choose to follow evil.
But most Americans see through Trump's fraud. As the Republican members complicity in the Trump fraud is revealed they will be kicked out on their butts.
The election season is just starting up. All that is needed is to start showing how Trump's Congressional supporters refuse to stop the Russian mole in the White House.
4
Who knew in 2016 that the GOP's "never Trump" rump meant "never Trump called to account" for his high treason against the United States of America?
3
Thanks for your piece, New York Times. Two thoughts:
(1) In all these United States, is there a single human being. . . .
. . ..that talks LIKE A FOOL. . ..
. . more than our president?
I am sorry to say it. But so help me! it's the truth
". . ..should never have been written (stupid) because Putin likes me."
Folly--POURS from this mans' brain into his mouth. From there, it pours into tweets--into press conferences--into off-the-cuff remarks. It pours into the political discourse of our country.
We live in a basement as it were. With a broken sump. We spend our time either trying to reach the plumber. . .
. .or mopping up.
And there's a lot to mop up.
"Putin likes me." Really?
The Economist ran a cartoon last week. Caption reads "Trump reduces his adversaries to tears."
The picture shows Mr. Putin and Mr. Kim Jun-Un. Wiping away tears.
Tears of LAUGHTER. As they share our President's blundering attempts at diplomacy and Realpolitik.
(2) PATRIOTIC, Mr. Rosenstein? Today's Republican leaders and Congressmen PATRIOTIC?
What universe do you live in?
These men made their choice long ago. They will INVARIABLY put party over country.
By dint of might efforts, Mr. Rosenstein--unflagging perseverance. . .
. .. you MIGHT get blood from a turnip.
You won't get patriotism from these men.
Not in a million years.
Give it up.
5
Clueless, vindictive, mentally ill, racist, amoral, the list of adjectives goes on and on to describe not only the president, his advisors, his administration, his entire family, the republican party, and the people that voted for him. The Ugly American novel come to life but magnified many times over. Come November vote to abolish these anti-American's forever.
3
It's pretty clear that the craven GOP is fine with anything Russia does, so long as it helps them cling to power. And Fox "News" is only too happy to aid and abet them.
We are cautioned never to attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity - but given the level of stupidity on displaly, you have to wonder if malice is the more likely explanation.
3
Trump is either a Russian mole or his narcissism is far worse than we even imagined and he is totally divorced from reality. Neither alternative is attractive.
Trump is a threat to the safety of this nation and our institutions yet Republicans in Congress are willing to keep this ignoramus in the White House because he is happy to sign anything they put in front of him.
It will take a smoking gun produced by Mueller followed by millions marching on Washington to get these villains to finally do the right thing. I only hope there is still something recognizable of what we once called America when that day finally comes.
5
The president is outraged by these indictments, not because foreign criminals against American democracy have been positively identified by the Justice Department, but because he fears that his election win will be tainted for all time.
The president who once mocked his predecessor as being an illegitimate and unqualified occupant of the White House is now faced squarely with being exposed as a fraud and a fake.
The dirt that the then-nominee wanted to shame and destroy Secretary Clinton is now at his own doorstep. His urging of Russia to find 30,000 Clinton emails may well be his epitaph that he wrote with his own utterances.
The arc of the moral universe is long and is bending to the conclusion that this president is damaged goods. He is a man with nowhere to run or hide. His own Justice Department is closing in on him and his Russian benefactor whom he’ll meet next week has compromising information on him. He sold out America for 30 pieces of silver and now the bill is coming due.
7
Some time ago Sarah Palin said that she could see Russia from her kitchen window (or words to that effect). Just wondering now if she can see that they have landed & are surrounding the house, metaphorically speaking?
2
We must find a way for a witness to be present whenTrump and Putin meet on Monday.
How do we do that?
2
Its because Putin owns Trump. Everyone knows it. Even Kevin McCarthy and the Republican Congressional Caucaus. Sad!
6
The GOP sold their American souls for two Supreme Court justices. Democracy is now dead so that women can't have abortions and "Christians" don't have to bake cakes for gay couples. Seems like the kind of trade off a simpleton businessman named Trump would accept.
4
If it is DOJ policy that a sitting US President cannot be indicted for treason, then DOJ policy "is a ass."
1
The policy was for real presidents. It must change, if only for this inhabitant of the White House. Heaven forbid there should ever be another cabinet or White House inhabitant of this ilk.
Even though we all have failings, the very glue and oil that makes for a healthy nation is made up of trust, honesty and integrity. These three pillars of society are so lacking amongst leaders whose decisions materially affect us all. The Trump administration and the current version of the GOP is especially lacking in this regard.
4
Way too polite, Editors.
Trump has shown almost no interest in holding Putin accountable for Russian interference. His Administration dragged its feet on naming new Russians to sanction. He is willing to accept meekly Putin’s denial of involvement.
Trump has been inconsistent in most areas but has been remarkably consistent in his calling Mueller’s investigation a witch hunt and, until recently, in casting doubt on Russian involvement in the election meddling. He would rather call into question the consensus of the Intelligence Community, than challenge Putin’s. All of this, in spite of the overwhelming facts.
In fact, his nonchalant, dismissive attitude towards the Russian election interference of 2016 has resulted in our singular lack of preparedness for the Russian onslaught against the 2018 elections. He might just as well hang out a welcome mat.
The strongman bully suddenly turns weak-kneed when it comes to Putin.
Why? That is the question for which there are only very unpleasant answers.
4
"Friday’s indictment does not allege that any Americans knowingly broke the law or that the conspiracy changed the outcome of the election." True. But the indictment also leaves open the possibility that some Americans DID knowingly break the law and that the conspiracy DID change the outcome of the election.
6
охота на ведьм
2
This is not a "witch-hunt."
This is the 2018 version of Watergate, only this time involving a foreign power. Will be interesting to see how the intelligence community will manage to tap into the no-witness meeting between Trump and Putin to prevent any further erosion of american security. One thing is certain, Putin is ready...
5
It's coming. This indictment is leading the way to the Americans who were involved with these Russian spies. Trump's reaction and that his meeting with Putin is still on tell a tale all their own. Get ready to think and feel as Americans who want to preserve our country and its freedoms.
7
Isn't it time to dismiss the charges against Reality Winner, who has been held in a Georgia county jail for over a year for trying to warn us about many of these identical attacks?
4
"Making America Great Again" is not the Trump Administrations goal. It hardly matters what Hillary did, or Obama did, this administrations is without doubt a circus doublespeak. We know it is part of a global plan to control energy and sow political discord in the west, undercut the public sector, block the migration of brown people whose countries have become destabilized. The Republican party has lost its character and Russian has made its way into American policy. What does Putin have on Trump and how is Trump able to silence all of them?
1
Having lived inside the Soviet Sektor of a divided Europe where freedom was always on the other side of a Wall, and invisible eyes and ears controlled the minds of the people, I have no illusions of what Russian Intelligence is capable of when it comes to infiltration -- which makes the fact that this president is so reluctant to see the truth about Russia in general, and Vladimir Putin in particular, all the more amazing...and yes, strange.
3
If only Republicans would put democracy and nation over their own self-interest. After all, aren't they public servants? No, they are corporate servants. We really need to get rid of money in politics. Support candidates that refuse to be bought. When candidates are supported by people like us, they are accountable to us, only. Imagine that.
3
Remember how Benghazi somehow wasn't the fault of terrorists but was Obama's fault until he won reelection.
And then it became Hillary's fault.
Some still call her the Butcher of Benghazi. As if.
Republicans never got upset about the actual terrorists, or the myriad Americans who die in service.
Nope. The only priority for this GOP that has gone all-in on Trump is political propaganda.
They had their chance if you recall the 2012 Autopsy wherein they determined they needed a bigger tent to appeal to an increasingly diverse America.
Instead, they went with a war on diversity to Make America White Again, chanting "blood and soil" and "Russia is our Friend!"
It would be just if Trump's fall were the GOP's end.
Otherwise, their lust for personal partisan gain could be the end of all of us.
6
If FBI agents must answer in the public square for minor actions that have already been exonerated in review, why should the President be exempt from answering, in public , for every American citizen to hear, questions that go to the very foundation and integrity of our government?
6
Trump doesn't want his election to be anything other than a landslide of adulation and a mandate for disruptive chaos. Any information that shows that most of us did not vote for him doesn't exist; only the map of states showing his electoral victory. So the Russian hackers? Never happened. Must be a political ploy to undercut him.
Trump exists in absolutes. Only he knows what is good and right. Only he has the gut instinct to figure it out. No on is better or smarter than him. Except, apparently, the entirety of the Russian oligarchy.
5
Beyond Trump, how many Republicans now owe their offices and paychecks to Russia? How many Republicans fear that Russian contributions through the NRA will be exposed? How many RNC and Republican email accounts have been penetrated by Russian security? Every Republican office holder is a human being and everyone has a secret they would not want to become public information; maybe an infidelity or two, a drug or alcohol problem, profit from insider information, a favorable real estate deal or partnership, a family member with unlawful behavior. So far, the Russians have kept this information secret. But fear of its release could certainly keep people in line and complicit in the destruction of American institutions and political norms of behavior.
The Russian threat to the United States is real. It is not over. The 2016 election results are suspect, especially in states were exit polls and ballot tabulations differed.
Watergate and 9/11 are nothing compared to the subversion of the Republican Party, our elections, and our government by a hostile and aggressive foreign power.
Are there no Republicans in the Senate or House of Representatives who will do their duty to the people of the United States and who will honor their sworn oaths "to support and defend the Constitution...against all enemies, foreign and domestic?"
6
It started on Obama's watch, continued through to the successful election of Trump.
Rosenstein did not say that it did not change one vote. He did not say that no other Americans were involved. Take another spin-free look from a reputable news service.
Mueller had three charges - to investigate Russian interference, any Trump campaign collusion and then anything else he ran into while conducting his investigation. It was the Trump collusion issue that has been a witch hunt and continues to be - yesterday's indictment, similar to the previous indictment of Russian operatives, is meaningless. Mike Flynn is charged with lying although oddly the FBI didn't think he lied in his conversation with them; and Manafort is charged with a series of financial crimes unrelated to the campaign; and that poser Popadopolous is charged with lying about when he met with a particular party that seems to have been put in motion by an FBI informant.
Trump may be every bit as incompetent and mean-spirited as the liberal media claims, but to date we have paralyzed and hindered our own national interest chasing nothing more than a partisan allegation. It is fundamentally wrong and the question raised is whether Mueller will concede at any point that his hunt for the great white whale has failed, or will we continue to go down the road of waste simply because Mueller and the egos of his team won't admit there is nothing there.
So how big of a thumb did the Russians have on the election scale? This indictment indicates we will soon find out.
Trump continues to deny Russia's meddling even took place in the face of overwhelming evidence. The Republican controlled congress is more interested in an atmosphere of chaos than in condemning Russian interference in our election. Thursday's hearing with Trey Gowdy not allowing Mr. Strzok to answer questions he just asked him and then threatening to hold him in contempt for not answering questions was telling in that the Republicans really don't want answers, but simply a chance to grandstand. Alternative facts are the order of the day and anything less than flattering reported about Donald Trump is fake news, even if it's accompanied by audio and video recording. Trump supporters and Republicans spend their time making excuses for an incompetent president absent of coherent policy in any area and a demonstrable history of outright lies. These people also think the U.S. and Russia should be friends but never, ever can tell anyone why. Russia has absolutely nothing to offer America other than discord and perhaps some loans to the Trump family. They bring nothing to the table but this somehow escapes Republicans and Trump supporters. These people are willing participants in the attack on democracy and have no idea of the extent of the damage to the American experiment in self governance they're aiding and abetting. This entire matter is surreal and will not end well for the nation or the world. A lot of people here should be in jail.
8
Trump is outraged by anything that casts doubt on the legitimacy of his election because his concern is only for himself and perhaps his immediate family. Therefore he feels compelled to discredit anything that does not support his greatness. But the real villain in this drama is not Trump, who appears to have basically been a failure for most of his life. The culprits in this sad episode are the American public, many of whom are intellectually lazy and disengaged. That allows a con man such as Trump to work with Republicans in Congress to further repress the very people they claim to support. At the founding of the US Thomas Jefferson said that a representative democracy can only work with an educated and informed electorate. We are currently proving just how right he was.
11
In fact, there was an old Greek guy who said much the same some 2400 years ago. Plato, The Republic. Seems we humans are mighty slow learners.
Trump's private meeting with Putin should be monitored, given that he likely won't cancel it. To quote Trump: If you're listening..."
One can only suspect that the US president will be there hat in hand to get something from Putin which allows him to save his own skin while it presents the appearance that he (Trump) has thrown his weight around and gotten something significant from the despot who has him firmly in his grasp.
1
If anyone know what a hoax is, it would be Trump. I give you Trump University as an example.
A President who sides with Putin, instead of the American people, who believes what Putin tells him, instead of the American Intelligence Community, who treats our Allies with disrespect but defends Putin's statement that the Russians had nothing to do with the hacking of our Electoral system, should be tried for Treason.
I am beginning to believe Trump may be a Russian spy, doing Putin's work for him.
The Republican Congress is not defending our country against the Russians hacking or Trump, who is putting our country in danger every minute of every day.
They need to stand up, as their job requires them to do, and declare Trump unfit for office and do it now. The Republican Congress is showing the world they cannot govern, so what good are they.
If there is a "witch hunt" going on, it is a witch hunt of the voters, by the Congress and Trump. They are selling us down the river.
10
So we have this president who constantly attacks the Justice Department and the FBI while praising the likes of Putin and other authoritarian leaders. How can Republicans continue to support such an unpatriotic leader? Time to vote them out in November.
2
“...it’s important for us to avoid thinking politically, as Republicans or Democrats, and instead to think patriotically as Americans.”
A Trump appointee with integrity? A pearl before swine? Who knew. That one would even feel the need to make a statement such as this in the wake of such frightening disclosures – that its truth would not be self evident – is a sign of how much our country has devolved since the catastrophic 2016 election. Are we seeing a tiny beam of light at the end of the tunnel?
1
Some truth is self evident. Some lies appear true. Life is busily trying to keep them separate. Political warfare is busily trying to keep them mixed up. Humans like to keep busy. The war goes on...
Mr. Trump recently observed that he considers Mr. Putin to be his competition, not his nemesis, not an enemy to democracy and thus the United States. Did he mean to say competition, or compatriot?
We both read and hear that "they're coming" back, as if they left in order to reorganize and regroup. They never left. We need to be aware, informed, and willing to think about what we read and hear.
The twelve persons indicted are merely the men behind the curtain. What's truly frightening is that the people doing their work believe in it because they do not know democracy or true freedom. So, they can't properly evaluate their actions and ground their choices in knowledge of what it is that they sacrifice for Russians: Hope, freedom, and a bright future for their children.
1
Covert social media tactics were more effective than a free American press --is that what we're supposed to believe?
3
Manipulating Facebook, an addictive, intensely personal site whose users feel compelled to check it far more frequently than they read their newspaper, was more effective than even the Russian agents who ran the Facebook campaign to demonize HRC had dared to hope.
This manipulation was abetted by an active drumbeat of "don't trust the press" emanating from the candidate and others, a drumbeat that continues to this day and will intensify as new indictments, of Trump campaign figures, arrive.
So yes, in this case, a GRU disinformation campaign very similar to other campaigns the Russians had used in other countries, carefully targeted, met with a small but adequate amount of success, to Mr. Putin's great delight.
According to Pew Research, only 5% of Americans place any trust in the "news" services offered by FB and other social media. A separate Gallup Survey found that the more people interact with social media the less they trust it. Users also concede that social media tends to be a partisan echo chamber --not a mind changer. More generally, and long before "the Donald" hit the scene, trust in our mainstream press has been at consistent, historic lows. While you could be right in suggesting "small but adequate" influence, there is no data that support that conclusion. In fact, there is plenty that say otherwise. She wins and no one cares. But she lost, no one saw it coming, and so media touts its own manipulation as an excuse?
I know people in the Obama Administration who were working on this problem at the end of the term and were very alarmed. James Comey kept quiet about it. He talks about it in his book. So the FBI actively helped elect Trump. Don't forget what Comey did 11 days before the election.
8
The real question here is does Donald really believe what he is twitting or is he that deluded. If delusion is the answer we have a much larger problem than previous thought.
2
How do you say “Country First” in a language that Republican leaders can understand? Except for a statement from the bedridden Senator McCain, there has been deafening silence from the rest of the GOP’s “profiles in cowardice.” These latest indictments could have been announced after Trump returned from his European trip, but Rosenstein is clearly trying to send a message. In addition to his explicit call for patriotism, the timing of his announcement just before the Trump-Putin summit on Monday was an implicit plea to GOP leaders to press Trump to call off the summit. Rosenstein sees and knows where the Mueller investigation is headed, and it probably does not look good for both, Trump and Putin. It’s time for Senate Majority Leader McConnell and Speaker Ryan to speak up – we are in an active cyber war with Russia and this is not the time for a “feel good” ego-placating summit!
21
If there is no blue wave because our voting systems were hacked what will you do? When there is no paper trail because the easily hackable voting machines are made to be hacked.
Will this bring us to a new civil war when the Republicans gain seats in the house and Senate?
18
What happens to judges with a life long tenure when the "president" who appointed them is found to be an impostor or illegitimate because of his crimes, from the day he took office?
Are we stuck with the Trump-Putin Court for the next generation? How valid will the decisions of such Judges or Justices be or the laws that the illegitimate president signed?
Every day this impostor remains in office makes things get worse; and if Russian meddling elected Trump it also elected Pense who would also be an impostor because his silence is tantamount to putting retaining power over the national security.
21
How about we apply Okkam's razor: The simplest explanation that explains the phenomenon and is not refuted by the known facts. He wants the Russians to interfere because it got him elected. He knows it and they know it.
11
Maybe if Trump supporters would take the time to substitute Hillary Clinton's name on the odd behaviors of Donald Trump they would see what everyone else sees.
If Clinton were off ditching our Allies, giving passes to dictators, missing deadlines for separating children from parents, chatting up an ex- KGB agent/dictator who we KNOW interfered with our election and now 12 of his military offers are indicted for interfering with the ONLY mechanism that Americans have to pick their leaders, they could see how bizarre things are.
Trump says stuff on tape that he denies even with the tape playing his words in real time, whines about "Witch Hunts" while being the witch hunter par excellence, and no one says a word about possible dementia - Clinton stumbles on a sidewalk and trumpers are suggesting hospice care or Parkinson's.
Let look at all this. It aint adding up.
49
To all the patriots who have died fighting in all the foreign conflicts associated with the Cold War, as a citizen of the United States, I apologize. I am deeply sorry that so many of our fellows now find more in common with authoritarians than with liberal democracy. I am deeply sorry that the fall of democracy came not from the threat posed by the domino effect of communism on foreign shores but by a president* and his posse of the red, by the red and for the red who openly invited and cheered the red wave of authoritarianism to our homeland shore. What exactly did the tens of thousands of Americans die for in Korea, Viet Nam, Afghanistan and Iraq? Why was there not protesting in the streets by all Americans instead of celebration of way too many with the stealing of private email accounts of their fellow Americans by a foreign nation and the trumpeting of those accounts over 100 times by Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign. "No collusion" says the Putin collusionist number one. *stolen
18
How soon we forget. Those who died fighting communism and fascism. The tax dollars spent building decades of military superiority. The far flung bases staffed by generations of Americans. The aircraft on alert and ships sailing the world to be at the ready. Don’t they teach history in schools anymore? Aren’t grandparents telling their stories anymore?
2
I've said it before and I'll say it again: if Trump isn't Putin's stooge, why is he acting like it?
25
Putin's puppet must be terribly afraid his master will not be pleased. After all, Donald's quite familiar with mob bosses who ax people they aren't pleased with. If that's the case it explains all of Trump's behavior.
7
You know where this is going, don't you? Eventually there will be irrefutable proof of "collusion." The answer will be: So what? This is just our Russian friends helping the American people by promoting the one presidential candidate who alone can fix everything.
5
No question Russia has instilled a puppet dictator -- these indictments and Trump's response are proof! The 12 Russian hackers are responsible for one of the most catastrophic political campaigns in the history of America, if not mankind. Forcing Hillary Clinton and the DNC to rig the primaries and physically stopping Hillary from campaigning in Michigan and Pennsylvania is unforgivable.
2
I am a U.S. Army veteran. I am starting to feel that my service to the country that I love may have been in vain. Russia has attacked America, perverting our democracy by interfering in our democratic processes. They have vowed to continue to do so. Neither President Trump nor any GOP member of congress seems to be concerned at all with this attack. By their silence, they are aiding and abetting an enemy of the USA. How is this not treason?
38
These crimes occurred during President Obama's watch. Why didn't he take action while they were happening? Telling Putin to "knock it off" was a minimum and ineffective response. This was a definite act of cyberwarfare.
1
This can’t be happening. The lyingest cheatingest man ever to hold national office is fully supported by one of our only two political parties. Members of that party also got elected by cheating—gerrymandering, voter suppression, dark money. Now we are set to have the third branch of government captured by the same cabal! The congress and the presidency can be put right by the voters, but the supreme Court will bedevil us long after my children are grown. Just like the early days of FDR, they will declare every piece of progressive legislation unconstitutional. I fear we are in for a generation long fight.
It is all so opposite of our democratic ideals. The voters don’t want these people in control, but Republicans don’t care a flying frijole for the will of the people. They only want their narrow little tribe (27% of the people says Gallup) to rule.
Stop being so civil, Democrats. Act like Pearl Harbor just happened, because it has.
29
When officials at the highest levels of our government get away with participating in, or ignoring this level of corruption and lawbreaking, this tells us much more than their tainted character.
Oh, to be sure, they are absolutely corrupt, but in all our hand wringing, we are missing the importance of their actions. We have a Republican Congress or Trump who will remove Rosenstein before the November elections. This will effectively end Mueller's investigation, as Rosenstein's replacement will order it so. Then Trump and the Republicans will have the wind at their backs for 2020. They know that half this nation will believe all their lies, and already believes Mueller's investigation is a "witch hunt".
So what we have here is not a corrupt dictator seizing power in the face of majority opinion against him. Instead, half of our citizens want Trump to do exactly what he is doing. They are among the most heavily armed of us, and this is no coincidence. If Charlottesville taught us anything, it is that Trump voters will not stop at anything to keep him in power. I attended a rally recently opposing Trump's order to place brown-skinned infants in cages. All of us who opposed this action were unarmed. Trump supporters, though, showed up with their weapons. They will literally take up arms against those who oppose Trump - bet the rent on it. We who detest this "president" are looking at only two options at this point - leave, if we can, or live under a totalitarian regime.
13
Helsinki, Finland is less than 100 miles from Russian territory.
I recommend cancelling the summit for Trump's safety.
4
Why won’t Secret Service men be in the room with Trump and Putin? At the minimum, he should have recording devices planted on him so that we can know what treasonous talk goes on between the two tyrants. Why should he be allowed to meet in private when he is under investigation?
Considering he’s spending our tax dollars for his trip, we should demand that he come home because we don’t do business with cyber terrorists. Or at least he does to win elections.
Lock him up!
8
Mr. Trump is a character who would make Charles Dodgson proud. You probably would recognize him more easily by his pen name, Louis Carroll. We are all as confused as Alice at the tea party only this time we have the Mad Hitter to replace the Mad Hatter.
In just the same style, the Republican grilling of Peter Strzok this week would also fit right it. For all his bluster, Rep. Trey Gowdy might as well have been reciting Jabberwocky.
Rod Rosenstein has told us in no uncertain terms the enemy is at the e-gates. He and his agents are doing all they can to throw off the breaching ladders and grapples being thrown at us.
Our government has renounced sanity in favor of the epistemology of the psychiatric ward. Up is down, top is bottom, truth is falsehood, wrong is right.
Naval architects design ships in such a way they may right themselves if they become inverted albeit at a cost. For example, the 16 inch gun turrets of our former Iowa class battleships were not fastened to their barbettes. If the ship rolled, they (and the crew inside the turrets) would fall to the bottom of the sea along with their massive weight, theoretically returning the hull to an upright position.
We are listing badly and are in imminent danger of capsizing. What will we give up to right the course of our country?
11
Don't you get it, the Russians helped enough to get Trump elected. Neither the Republican party or Trump can admit this fact. Also to do something to prevent this in the future is to acknowledge the Russians helped Trump. Plus they want their help in the future. Winning the presidency is worth treason.
24
Why the mystery?
Trump has a reason to obfuscate.
Putin has "Kompromat" on him, likely financial malfeasance such as money laundering or worse.
That is why he is doing his bid, but it will eventually come out.
None to soon!
6
It's rich to hear Trump keep throwing out words "witch hunt," when he has been behind any number of actual witch hunts: President Obama's birth certificate, Hillary Clinton's criminality, wrongdoing from the Clinton Foundation, a deep state conspiracy against him, etc...
Trump knows what a real witch hunt would look like, and the indictments aren't it. No wonder he's scared. He can't hide his dirty hands forever, so he besmirches the integrity of those uncovering dark secrets.
10
I'm still convinced this cooperation and coverup between Republicans and Russia is a continuation of the Republican policy of "The New World Order".
6
This activity by the Russian government occurred on Obama's watch, where was that president's administration to stop this activity? As Rosenstein said during his comments yesterday; this activity by the Russians did not change one vote nor were other Americans knowingly involved. To bad you did not report that comment. There was no collusion.
1
I can not do any better than the esteemed Dr. Krugman who writes in your pages recently that " if Trump isn’t literally a Russian agent, he certainly behaves like one on every possible occasion."
20
The "witches" The Resistance seeks to bring down aren't Russian. They are desperate to show that DJT himself actively solicited and accepted help from the Russians in order to steal the election from HRC. If you have *any* evidence of DJT participating, read: colluding with, the Russians to deliver that outcome please bring it forward. Otherwise...no matter how many phony indictments v. Russian citizens are handed down, this is indeed a hunt for witches.
1
I am calling for a complete and total shutdown of all Russians entering the US until we can figure out what is going on...
The moves made by putin detailed by Rosenstein constitutes an act of war. It should be treated as such.
Russia if you are listening, our president cannot be trusted, but we bet you knew that already.
38
They did it from computers in Russia. No need to physically enter the US.
"American sovereignty?" What's that? Long ago Republicans accepted as a matter of faith that only they are "real Americans." Now most of the members of that tribe and pretty much all of their leaders have accepted Trump as undisputed Chief. It's also pretty clear that they have accepted the alliance of Chief Trump with Chief Putin and are beginning to accept Chief Putin as the somewhat senior Chief. That seems to be what Chief Trump wants. Given that, and the fact that the Republican tribe mostly controls American Government, exactly what is left of "American sovereignty?"
4
We will see whether our Red State friends return their stooge congressmen to office in November.
This election will be a harbinger of whether the United States can recover from the repeated insults inflicted upon our democracy by voters too ignorant to be trusted with a ballot.
I have serious doubts myself.
5
If our voting systems can be hacked by outsiders think how much easier it would be for an insider, a rogue or corrupted Diebold employee, to swing an election. We MUST go back to publicly counted paper ballots.
8
I am glad to see Justice is still working for democracy. Unlike the GOP-led Congress, who have formed a circle of obstruction of Justice around the president, DOJ plods on despite the anti-democratic fervor in the Legislative Branch and in far-right media. If there is evidence of criminal acts, those responsible should be held accountable, even the President of the United States. There is little Americans can do with a president whose dog whistles have turned to barks as he appeals to white supremacists at home and abroad, as he takes children from parents at the border and apparently holds them for ransom, as he turns back asylum-seekers to certain death, as he bullies and threatens centuries- and decades-old allies pursuing the favors of dictators and autocrats, as he threatens economic stabilities of this country and countless countries with historically ill-advised tariffs. When pundits speak of Trump appeasing his “base”, one can ask what base he is trying to appease, American or Russian?
3
I listened to Rosenstein's entire announcement today. He was clear about what was and was not in the indictment and the role of law in our country. His ability to explain what is real, what is fact and what is rumor was so refreshing after being bombarded by the disingenuous self serving prattle of the President that I felt hopeful that our country might be able to put the nightmare Trump and his party have visited on us in the rear view mirror.
6
Trump is taking advantage of democracy the way he has taken advantage of taxation laws, labor laws on his various projects, bankruptcy laws, ethics laws and probably laws I am not aware of. He is cunning but stupid enough to believe that he is a genius that will never be caught although his actions scream treason. I believe a secret tape will be made of the meeting with Putin by the Russians and it will be used to further entrap him. He is stupid enough to walk right into it. He may think he is as clever as Putin, but he did not earn his stripes the way Putin did, he bought them, and when he couldn’t do that, he cheated and lied. When Trump behaves in this very careless manner, he not only endangers himself, he endangers us and democracy. And I agree, in the past we have been far from innocent when it comes to disrupting other countries’ elections. I hope we take a long look at this type of behavior and respect others’ right to choose their type of government and elected representatives.
2
This is all getting quite disturbing. We could have a constitutional crisis coming soon, in which millions of Americans take to the streets to bring down a government, like they did peacefully in South Korea. I think there is a good chance of that at this point.
5
“It’s important for us to avoid thinking politically, as Republicans or Democrats, and instead to think patriotically as Americans.”
"If only Mr. Trump and his servile defenders in Congress would heed it."
Asking for the Trump White House to act patriotically would require them to care more about America then enriching themselves.
3
Mr. Trump either 1. Is afraid that Putin may destroy him with evidence of actions that go well beyond shame -Mr. Trump has no shame- or 2. Mr. Trump is Putin’s pupil advancing similar tactics which led to Putin’s position as president for life. Nowhere in 1 or 2 is America first. It’s a con job.
9
My fear is we’re thinking too small by assuming Mr. Trump is only after some more millions, more towers, more golf courses. Frighteningly he may be after what Putin seems to have attained: many hundreds of billions of dollars and a level of dictatorial control of a country and an army. Why would a raging narcissist stop at a billion or two? Haven’t we seen and heard enough to know Mr. T will not stop. That no, after the election he didn’t ‘become presidential’ as some assumed.
He is after the same spoils Putin has achieved. Why assume he’s not? Why provide him the benefit of any doubt about that? This is more, much more, than about tax cuts. He’s achieved those. Do you really think Trump cares about turning over Roe v Wade? It’s just a bribe for the base.
Putin’s roadmap to power is Mr. T’s guiding principle. Divide, conquer, bribe, blackmail, discredit, threaten, sow fear, enable the ‘patriots’ with guns. He confers with Putin to make sure he’s doing it right.
It’s very clear.
I never thought I’d need to say WAKE UP.
2
This indictment is effectively worthless and totally politically timed. This timing proves the DOJs bias. So shameful! The Russians will NEVER be extradited and they know it. This is a simple political stunt. The Russians have done this before but nobody cared. Why not?
2
The behavior of Trump and his complicit Republican Party over the past week is ample proof that they are all totally involved with the Russian hackers, and counting on those very same hackers to corrupt the 2018 election and keep them in power.
5
The only threat Trump perceives is personal, not national. He is afraid that what Putin has on him will come out. For him, it's not America First, but Trump First.
We need to tell Trump, "You're Fired!"
6
Despite all these indictments Nunes and his committee could find no sign of Russian involvement...i think he and some of his fellow colleagues should be worried about what future investigations are going to uncover.
8
Thank God for Mueller and his crack team of investigators. With Trump using every underhanded trick he knows to manipulate the media and distract us from the awful truth of his betrayals; with Republicans in Congress falling over themselves to protect Trump from legal jeopardy; and with the Democrats seemingly incapable of landing any effective blows, all we have to pin our hopes for justice on is the Special Counsel. He's the only one that Trump hasn't been able to distract, intimidate or impede. He's just calmly going about his work saving us from a Trump-Putin cabal that is bent on bringing NATO and the civilized world crashing down. Today’s indictments were perfectly timed to wake Americans up to this existential threat.
3
The President clearly supports Russia more than his own country. That's been evident from the first few weeks of his term. It remains up to Mueller and Congress to identify whether it is illegal to be unpatriotic and the President, or just SAD.
5
Mueller's team and Rosenstein seem to be upholding American hopes all by themselves, after a terrible swing from behind.
Republicans in congress are plain accomplices of this madness. What were senators doing visiting Russia? This is beyond disturbing. We are back with what is left of community New England (now dispersed in many forms) against the authoritarian and Caribbean south. And boy did they struck hard.
Somewhat luckily, their candidate could not keep his mouth shut and started tweeting away that he had a secret red army behind him. But please Mueller, can you go faster? How, how can this anomaly of a person and candidate, and at the very least ultimate money launderer, be making decision on behalf of the rest of us?
6
The circumstantial evidence for Donald Trump's being a blackmailed stooge of Putin at best and/or a greedy traitor at worst is overwhelming. Enough of pretending otherwise.
The press needs to start saying so. The Democrats need to as well. So do any Republicans who still place their country above themselves and their party. They need to start calling out Republican members of congress for their aiding and abetting Trump' betrayal of the USA because without those congressional Republicans Trump would be nothing.
Enough of timidly beating around the bush about Trump's obvious corruption as OUR country is being betrayed and crippled by that moral and ethical deviant who stole into the presidency with the criminal assistance of a foreign foe.
5
If there is any truth that Trump and his cohorts are testing the waters toward a fascist regime, look for Trump to fire Rosenstein in the coming weeks. Putin will likely tell Trump how incredulous he (Putin) is that a president would allow an investigation of a subordinate into his affairs. The incredible detailed report concerning the hacking will surely not be lost on other guilty parties.
3
Trump is guilty of treason, and all those that either support or work for him directly, are guilty of misprision thereof.
Now, let's see those tax returns.
6
Is there no end to this? Cannot a day go by when Trump doesn't expose himself as the adolescent ignoramus that he is? It's even become a question of "Whose side is he on, anyway?" But that's a question that answers itself: his and his alone. Nothing and nobody else matters. Those who befriend him - or seem to - are to be used. Those who oppose him are sworn enemies. Our president is a thoroughly ghastly human being.
6
And question remains and lingers and lingers. What do they have on him?
3
American has changed. With open immigration we now have large communities where English is optional....and many of these are Russian or Israeli/Russian. I work with many of these people and they are in the US for a better life. But they are no different than a Russian in Berlin or anywhere else. The notion of the national state is crumbling. A citizen of Gambia, or El Salvador is as much a part of the US as anyone else. Who would turn back a hungry Congolese mother with four kids at the US border? With modern communications and transportation a child in the Congo is no different than a child in Chicago. How about we focus on the real issues such as overpopulation, global warming, world poverty etc? This hysteric campaign seems designed to provide Hillary Clinton an excuse for her campaign's efforts to derail the most qualified candidate in the Democratic primaries, and her just punishment by the voters. We can hope Trump and Putin will make moves towards peace. I suspect the people that do not want peace in Syria.....Saudi Arabia and Israel are working hard to prevent it. The last thing they want is more Russian energy supplies. And Trump is so blind he does not see the pressure for an oil embargo against Iran to be simply a strategy to hold up oil prices without cutting production by the Saudis. We have the best government Tel Aviv and Riyadh can buy. If Trump had any courage he would push for a hefty gas tax in the US.
The evidence that Putin hacked the election are so obvious that it’s laughable. Nothing happens in Russia without Putin either knowing about it, or ordering it in the first place. That’s a Fact.
To get an idea of just how far down the sewer the Republicans are willing to go to continue to support our so-called president, all you had to do was watch the circus side show on Thursday. The time has come to finally STOP making excuses for our Republican friends and family members. If THEY don’t understand by now that they’re the real villains in this play, they never will. It’s now time for the adult in the room to send THEM to their rooms, without food, TV or games until they grow up.
4
“But Mr. Trump seems incapable of perceiving the threat...”
No, he’s counting on it. It’s the only way he’d win in 2020, and likely, how Respublikanets would retain control of Congress in November.
4
Mr. Trump seems incapable of perceiving the threat.
Trump thinks he is untouchable as he has gotten away with so much in life. As far as Russia and Putin he knows he has nothing to fear as long as he keeps playing their lapdog.. Only we do.
2
"Mr. Trump seems incapable of perceiving the threat"
Why? Because he's too dumb or something? He and his administration know exactly what's going on, as do the Republicans in Congress. They are collaborating with Russia to damage American democracy as much as possible, from elections to institutions to policy. Whether it's because Trump is beholden to Russian blackmail or debt or whatever, it's happening. And the Republicans in Congress are happy to help it along because it secures their hold over all three branches of government, as well as state governments.
NYT editorial board: stop playing into the false narrative the White House is spinning that Trump is too incompetent or stupid or chaotic or distractible to realize what he's doing. He might not be a genius, but he knows.
7
the real question is whether this investigation will penetrate to the mob/money laundering connection between trump and Putin's russian mafia.
trump has been laundering russian money since the 1980s (see David Cay Johnston's IT'S EVEN WORSE THAN YOU THINK).
putin has been don corleone to trump's fredo for three decades.
this joint trumputin presidency is merely the endgame.
so let's not forget it's tied to the domestic theft of our elections through "strip & flip"---the Jim Crow stripping of our voter rolls & the electronic flipping of the voting machines. secretaries of state like kris kobach & local election boards have been stealing our government for the 1% since at least 2000, when al gore walked silently into the night.
between kobach and trumputin's mob marriage, our democracy is being crushed for the profit of big corporations and the global underworld.
the primary beneficiary is the fossil fuel/ nuclear power cartel, which needs to keep energy monopolized. the ultimate enemy is King CONG (coal, oil, nukes, gas).
thankfully, solar and wind power continue to advance.
and thankfully, the people are fighting back. let's hope there's enough time.
2
Being in the land of the Magna Carta, Winston Churchill, the Blitz, Queens Elizabeth and Victoria, and "the king's speech" was sadly insufficient to inspire in President Trump a sense of humility or deference towards history, the special relationship, Britain's war dead, or democratic traditions--though what might humble our Ozymandias is hard to say. Of course it's telling that he did not express outrage or indignation at an assault on our electoral process, but instead condemned the investigation which brought this crime to light and is now pursuing its perpetrators. The White House response to the special counsel's indictments is even more revealing. Its press release had neither praise for Robert Mueller nor calumny for Russia; instead, it stressed that today's indictments do not allege knowing collaboration between any American and Russian officials, the commission of a crime by an American citizen or Russian influence on the outcome of the 2016 election. This statement reminds me of an archetypal grade-school scenario: the stern first-grade teacher turns a gimlet eye on young Bobby or Suzy, who immediately blurts," I didn't steal Jimmy's lunch!" President Trump and his administration would do well to remember the words of another great Briton: "The lady doth protest too much."
P.S. Go France!
2
By indicting Russians, Meueller guarantees that this case cannot be quashed by Trump.
Trump cannot pardon the Russians. They can be convicted in court, and the trial will be a riot. I can't wait.
Even if Trump fires Mueller, the investigation has now yielded considerable results. It is in the courts. Trump can't shut it down no matter how much he stomps and raves.
Let the games begin!
3
The enemy is within.
A rw extremist party controls our 3 branches.
It operates with voter suppression and gerrymandering to hold power.
It has its own state media monopoly Fox News controlling information for millions of voters.
A mega donor oligarchy finances our elections.
The Constitution can mean whatever the powerful want it to mean.
A base of voters will support their authoritarian cult type leader--no matter what.
The political opposition and our checks and balances are accused of operating as 'witch hunters', with no legitimacy.
America and Trump have much in common with Russia and Putin.
3
One of the totemic images of a certain kind of America is embodied in John Wayne: the tough, macho anti-commie guy who stood for 'real' American values. It's more likely that John Wayne had a friend he knew was gay than a friend who would have been pro-Soviet Union.
Since so many of Trump's supporters fit that mentality, and those taboos, and the connection between Trump and Putin's Russia (at whatever level happens) is more than obvious, it is hard to understand how they can accept that their version of John Wayne can be subservient to an ex-KGB man. It is not unlikely that they don't know what the KGB was, and probably Fox News commentators don't either.
1
And at the same time the USA can turn over to it's agents who have been engaging the in the influencing of elections all over the world. That would be fair right.
1
With all the talk of impeachment, there is no talk about what actually happens once the 25th Amendment is invoked.
The founding fathers didn't envision (or think that far) that once a corrupt President is removed, that the Vice President AND the ruling party that has control of BOTH houses of Congress could be complicit as well.
There are no do overs, and quite possibly that is also what the culprits had envisioned as well. Put in place Supreme Court justices to rule for generations, while stripping away the fabric of the United States all together. (let alone rolling back all sorts of protections,laws and regulations within the government itself)
To them it is little cost if a few people (or even a lot of people) go to jail while the theft is in the Trillions and the culture has shifted radically right.
This is the worst case scenario which is looking more real.
6
Trump's reaction is not surprising. You are right that he is 'incapable' of accepting the truth (or at least of acknowledging it). This is narcissistic rage. He NEEDS to believe that his win was all because of his own magnificent, wonderful, never-seen-before-in-the-history-of-the-whole-world greatness. The very suggestion that someone else helped sends him into orbit. That will not change.
What is sad is that his sycophants (staff, cabinet, congress, Fox News), who are not necessarily pathologically narcissistic, continue to support his sick beliefs at great cost to our democracy.
7
Whatever excesses Trump has shown of aggressive defiance, we haven't seen anything yet. As the net tightens around him and his co-conspirators, we can expect to see a level of angry attacks and accusations never before witnessed in presidential behavior. From his loyal base, which buys his phony claims of victimhood, we can expect a rising wave of anger that could include violent protests, as their esteemed, can-do-no-wrong leader cheers them on.
5
It's not so strange that Donald Trump is angry about any story that in his simpleton mind, waters down his "victory" over Hillary Clinton. This is a man obsessed with not only winning over an opponent, he has to completely destroy that person.
His obsession over undoing anything President Obama did can be traced back to the 2011 Washington dinner when Obama humiliated Trump. It was then that Trump decided to run for the presidency.
His further obsession over Hillary Clinton is a reflection of that same mindset. Honestly, I don't think Trump is competent enough to have directly enlisted Putin's help in the 2016 election. That would mean there was a plan. Trump had no plan other than wanting to lose so he could be the martyr and engage in a lucrative media deal with Fox News. No one was more surprised than Trump when he actually won by the thinnest of margins.
So here we are. His relentless attacks on the media (unless of course, reporters are "nice" to him) are from the same playbook: destroy anyone and anything that is critical of Trump or demeans what he considers his accomplishments.
6
The GOP is a sad, pale ghost of its former self. Now the Freedom Caucus is moving to impeach the Deputy Attorney General in response to this, we can assume that they are fellow travelers with Trump, who has effectively shown himself a traitor to his country. It only remains for the investigation to present the rest of the evidence that proves this beyond a reasonable doubt.
4
Anything that destabilizes democracy and the Western alliance helps Trump and Putin. It's clear they've made a self serving pact that helps them and their oligarchs. Like vampires they recognize each other as needing to drink the same blood to survive.
2
Trump and his enablers in the Republican Party are putting us all in imminent danger, and for what? Tax cuts for the major corporations and the very rich? They don't seem to realize that Russia and other "non-friendly" countries are capable of doing terrible damage, such as breaking into our electicity grid.
The Trump supporters blithely go along with what can do great harm to the United States. Guess when the average IQ is 100, those on the lower end are easily duped.
1
Maybe if the GOP brethren get their SCOTUS quickly, they’ll consider focusing on the true enemy and do the right thing to save us all. For as bad as the legal pick maybe don’t distract from the issue of our enemy of Russian interference in the coming elections. We all need to get real, Democrats and Republicans FOCUS for this country’s soul.
2
I'm more disgusted with the GOP than Trump, who is just doing what criminals do to try to save there butts: issuing a string of constantly changing lies. The GOP, however, is complicit with their continued attempts to cover up Trump's crime. Yes, I know he's innocent until proven guilty, but does any reasonable person really think he is innocent at this point. The evidence is overwhelming.
7
Trump will never be mistaken for someone who is capable, or seemingly cares, about thinking too much about anything substantive, but even a simpleton would have to acknowledge that what these Russian operatives did was egregiously wrong by any account, and also constituted a significant threat to our national security. So how can anyone who cares about this Country call Mueller's investigation a "witch hunt" or dismiss it as POTUS repeatedly has summarily done and continues to do in a shameless display of arrogance and callous disregard for the precious principles defining our form of democracy.
2
Not only do " ... Republicans in Congress spend their time fulminating not about the assault on American sovereignty ... " but Mark Meadows Republican chair of the freedom caucus has prepared a House bill that would impeach Rod Rosenstein (Axios), to avoid the possibility of embarrassment for the President to do it.
Yet the majority of Americans want the Mueller investigation to proceed, an investigation under supervision of Rosenstein.
Conservative Republicans just plain don't care what Trump does, how he got into power, or the details of Trump's July 16 planning meeting with Putin to disrupt the 2018 elections. (Why else would the meetings exclude American observers -- just wait, their previous meeting had that format.)
For them the end justifies the means and the rule of law applies to Democrats. An imaginary Deity approves their efforts which justifies anything they want to do regardless of brutality or ethics. (How else can you characterize a government that will snatch breastfeeding children from their mothers with documentation so incompetent that it makes it very difficult to re-unite families. They hadn't planned for that.)
4
It is past time to stop pretending that Donald Trump is simply "willfully ignorant" here. A real president could be ignorant, but only a compromised one would continue to defend Russia in the face of this evidence.
7
Every piece of legislation and government action since January 2017 is suspect, tainted. From banking deregulation to baby milk, the welfare of ordinary people is being trashed to the benefit of the dominant minority: a distraction or pay off for allowing Russia to direct America’s foreign policy.
4
I can see why Trump is livid.
The United States has a long history of interfering with the internal politics of other countries. When the USSR disintegrated in 1991, Bush 41 didn’t crow and promised Gorbichov and Yeltzin that the US wouldn’t expand NATO. What did Clinton and Albright do? They humiliated the once mighty Russia when it was weak by expanding NATO into the Russian sphere of influence. While not as strong as the US, Russia isn’t weak anymore and she is seeking vengeance. What better way than to do that than sowing confusion and doubt about the American electoral system by hacking and leaking e-mails and spreading disinformation? One thing the Russians didn’t do was stuff ballot boxes the way Richard J Daley and Lyndon Johnson did in their heyday.
But many American people were unhappy with the political establishment of both parties and demanded change. By promising change, Trump outmaneuvered 16 “Establishment” primary opponents and defeated a much better funded and organized HRC. The people voted for change; they weren’t “tricked” by the Russians. There was no evidence of vote fraud.
Now the sore losers who blew off the “deplorables” (who, in turn, voted Trump into office) are trying to use the Russian disinformation campaign as a political weapon to delegitimize Trump’s victory. Disinformation or not, Trump won by dint of his own efforts and the incompetence of his opponent.
Construing Mueller’s indictments in a way to delegamize Trump is a witch hunt.
1
I'm so tired of the story that the Russian interference didn't affect the vote so no foul. By the same logic if I empty my AR-15 at you and miss it's no foul right?
Is Trump worth giving up our democracy?
2
I don't think that Trump is only angry at American Justice. I have a feeling he is also angry at the American people that have not fallen in line and are criticizing him. It shows in his constant lying to everyone that he disrespects all of us and holds most of us in contempt. Besides being dishonest he is also arrogant about it and unapologetic. It's like he's dumping garbage on us and thinks we deserve it because he holds himself above it all.
I so look forward to his takedown.
3
No Americans involved. Wrong. Trump's refusal to either secure our next election from another foreign onslaught or to accept the findings of our intelligence agencies and work with our allies rather than our enemies.....we know one American IS involved....even if just from stupidity and arrogance.
4
Obviously Putin is exerting his ownership rights over Trump.
Nothing Trump does surprises me, at least not when he acts in a vile and despicable way. I suppose if he did something decent and honorable I would be shocked, but what are the chances of that?
4
Trump has been an incompetent president, lied to the American people repeatedly, alienated our friends, and fawned over our enemies.
Worse than that, he’s enriched himself and his family and cronies at the expense of those he’s supposedly trying to help,
He’s betrayed the constitution and the values that truly make America great and pandered to the most base instincts of the human race.
Whether he colluded with the Russians or not, he should be impeached for violating his oath of office.
5
Trump has done absolutely nothing to stop the cyberattacks. This is obstruction of justice, in plain sight. Much of the GOP in Congress is clearly complicit with this. For all the talk on wingnut radio and cable news, it's the GOP that is becoming a real and credible threat to the nation.
12
Frankly, I'm embarrassed for my country. Voters must never forget that all of this was brought about by Trump and his Republican party. It's time to clean house.
4
In the face of the Russian threat to America’s electoral system, Assistant Attorney General Rod Rosenstein states: “it’s important for us to avoid thinking politically, as Republicans or Democrats, and instead to think patriotically as Americans.”
In a normal political context, Mr. Rosenstein’s words would ring true. Unfortunately, the Republican legislators know full well: If Donald Trump were to go the way of Richard Nixon, the GOP would go the way of the dodo bird. Hence most GOP legislators will remain silent while Trump touts his personal relationship with Putin, neglects his oath to protect the US against foreign adversaries, denigrates western allies and continues to attact the FBI, the Justice Department, and the US intelligence agencies.
The possibility of Trump’s impeachment or resignation does indeed pose an existential threat to the what remains of the Republican Party. Trump’s legislative enablers and supporters, however, fail to recognize the full gravity of their party’s situation.
As John Boehner, along with many other conservatives, has already acknowledged: “There is no Republican Party.”
The GOP is already extinct. Months ago it devolved into the Trumpublican Party.
6
Given the GOP's complicity in all of this, the scarier thing is if it's ultimately proven to be true -- clearly, the GOP has thrown their lot in with Russian subversion of American democracy. So, we know who they'll side with once this all gets out. What happens when the ruling party commits treason?
The GOP has been waging war against American democracy for decades, so, when push comes to shove for the GOP, if it's a matter of them going away, or American democracy, it's clear which side they'll choose. In truth, they've already chosen it, and now, it's a matter of the consequences of that decision being played out.
9
Come on, you don’t suspect that the timing of this quite moot indictment (let’s try these suckers in absentia!), coming just days before Trump’s first meeting with Putin, may have been politically motivated? You really think this represents the disinterested motion of justice? Really? The notion seems to me absurd on its face.
2
"“it’s important for us to avoid thinking politically, as Republicans or Democrats, and instead to think patriotically as Americans.”"
The evidence of your eyes and ears demonstrates conclusively that a significant proportion of the House GOP are incapable of, or unwilling to, agree with that thought.
There will come a point where the media will have to explicitly say so. One cud argue that point came long ago and the media failed to do their duty.
5
Trump is not incapable of perceiving the threat. Mueller is the threat (to him). Russia is his help.
I’m amazed that two of my conservative friends, ones that I can actually engage with in mutually respectful political conversation, basically say, so what? Collusion is not a crime. Both are military.
7
I like the idea except for the real possibility that Trump and Puto may stage the whole thing--at this point, not out of the question.
I remember hearing Trump say, "Russia, if you're listening ... " and thinking how odd that was. When has any other political candidate called upon a foreign country that is not considered a friend to the US to find emails from an opponent? He didn't say, "North Korea, if you're listening ..." or "Syria, if you're listening .. " He didn't even call upon a friend to the US to get Clinton's emails: "Australia, if you're listening ... " This, to me, was the greatest clue Trump dropped that linked him to Russia. I hope and pray that Trump and his minions pay the price, in the end.
9
Isn't it well past time to admit and state the obvious? The media, including NYT, continue to pussyfoot around that which is blatantly obvious. I understand and respect journalistic prudence, caution, professionalism. But Trump's strenuous insistence on making US intelligence agencies and the Mueller investigation the object of scorn, even as he cozies up to Russia, is an outrage, especially in the context of clear evidence of Russian tampering with our election process. If he meets with Putin at this point, under these circumstances, he is guilty of collusion with the enemy. If that doesn't meet the constitutional definition of "high crimes and misdemeanors" nothing ever will. But, and here is the searing question, what is the constitutional remedy when congress is entirely complicit? The founding fathers didn't provide us with an answer for that one, because it was utterly unthinkable. And yet, here we are. It's called a constitutional crisis, the likes of which this nation has never seen. And may not survive.
41
I guess we can put the issue of collusion to rest.
The Resident requests that Russian hackers find Clinton's e-mails and two Russian teams begin to do so on the very same day. That is pretty much the essence of collusion.
21
"You might expect..." does not apply to the Trump presidency. Promoting a losing business venture in Scotland is even more unpresidential and legally dubious than his refusal to be blindly obedient to tradition and support the DOJ, even if it is an arm of the executive branch as it is in this case. We expect the President to be a partner to the American people, to all the American people and not a partisan antagonist as Trump proves himself to be. What Trump has done is proven that he is successful at holding onto power and simultaneously, that American are not only perfectly fine with that, but prefer it over a more rationally minded, better educated, and more humanitarian one. Trump is America and America is Trump. That's what democracy means. To challenge Trump is to challenge democracy. And democracy isn't ready to be mindful of itself in America.
6
PS. The Founding Fathers presumed that the government would be run by rational people, students of the Enlightenment, people who had the ability to think individually. Trump presumes the opposite. And we are proof that, at least for this present time, he is as right about us as the Founding Fathers were about themselves. We can't really call this country "The United States of America" anymore, sorry Fathers, your children gave away the cow.
For whom and what is Trump working? Not for the majority of Americans. Not for democracy. Not for decency.
34
Mr.Trump 'S connections to Russian operatives goes back years to his days as a real estate and casino developer.After some bankruptcies the banks were loathe to loan him money so he turned to oversea banks, presumably, Russian.When Trump decided to run for president the Russians were only to happy to help because they knew he would honor them for past favors.His seeming blindness to their efforts on his behalf is not innocent confusion.It is a deliberate effort to bury the truth that he did accept Russian favors and does now feel beholden to them.We need Mueller's report before the election in November.
15
Senator Angus King, independent from Maine, and Maine's former two-term governor, is correct in calling for Trump to meet Putin in one openly televised meeting. Trump would confront Putin about Russian interference in US elections. Trump would publicly warn Putin about the consequences if such meddling occurs again. This is how an honest politician thinks.
47
Trump seems ready to sell out this country in a heartbeat. He probably owes the Russians money. That the Russians propped up his real estate empire is well known. The Republicans should never again accuse any Democrat of being unpatriotic.
54
Trump's response to each new revelation in this investigation has been the response of a guilty man who has something to hide. There is no other reason to go to such lengths--impugning his own intelligence services and Justice Dept, taking Putin's side at the expense of longstanding allies--unless he feels the need to placate a foreign power that has leverage over him and sow doubt about an investigation that he knows will ultimately knock on his door. Because this is not over: Mueller has established that a crime was committed by the Russians (even Giuliani admits this), but they didn't do it just for kicks--the next phase will show us which Americans benefited from this illegal activity and were involved in the crime.
31
Of course Trump's anger and indignation is directed back at our judicial system. Trump's distaste for democracy has been made clear time and time again. From the moment he whined about not being able to have a military parade up Constitution Avenue to his consistent undermining of our NATO allies Trump's end game is becoming clearer. Narcissistic, mentally unfit Trump has his sights on creating a totalitarian state.
6
Whether or not Trump is guilty of this collusion with the Russians, he is simply awful and has to go. The best scenario is that in the 2020 election he loses the electoral (and therefore popular) vote by huge margins. Unfortunately, there is this "Base" we have to contend with. Who are these people. What planet are they from? One can only hope that they are insignificant.
12
"But Mr. Trump seems incapable of perceiving the threat [of Russian meddling]"
There is really only one thing that explains trump's behavior and "perceptions" - he is a foreign agent. That is the only logical explanation. Whether an agent through blackmail, financial leverage, or sheer intention, he is an agent of the Russian government. Literally every action he takes and every word that he utters damages us and our security.
7
I agree. Monday’s meeting with Putin is simply about a Russian agent’s periodic checking-in with his handler for further orders.
1
Mr. Trump is fully capable of understanding the treasonous nature of his actions in aiding Russian attacks on the United States. He also is aware Republican Party leaders will continue to embrace his efforts undermining democracy because the GOP will thereby maintain its grip on power. In the future, perhaps the name of the Republican Party will be deemed synonymous with shameless hypocrisy.
29
The box Ryan and McConnell are in is that GOP voters wholeheartedly support Trump
They are politicians and know their base loves Trump.
These voters would be furious if Trump were impeached or even named as a un-indicted coconspirator.
They would see it as deep state subverting the electoral process.
It would take a GOP leader of high principles to stand against Trump. There are such people, McCain, Corker, Flake to name three
But Ryan and McConnell are not made of that kind of stuff.
7
I'm not at all baffled that Trump is still calling it a witch hunt and still going ahead with the private meeting with Putin. If he did otherwise by chastizing Putin or even canceling the meeting, Putin might get angry at Trump and expose him; Trump wouldn't want that now, would he?
Putin has Trump in his pocket...
18
They were indicted just as Trump is about to meet Putin. Not exactly a congenial gesture for this meeting. Imagine for one minute that Trump has committed no criminal conspiracy with the Russian government. Calling on them to expose the Clinton email is dastardly, but is it a crime? Am I the only one who has noticed that, to date, Trump has not been accused of a crime? Communicating with Russians is not a crime to my knowledge. Making promises to foreign governments if you get elected I don't believe is a crime. He couldn't actually consummate these deals until he takes office and then it's just called foreign policy. The only thing I am sure of is that Trump has played friendly with what our intelligence establishment believes is an adversary. But, they don't get to decide who our adversaries are, Trump does. What if he really believes we should make peace with our enemies (antagonists) in this case Russia, since it a waste of time and energy to make peace with our traditional allies. What if his attitude is: If Americans are dumb enough to fall for Russian propaganda, it not his fault.
2
I believe aiding in hacking our elections is a crime, no? He hasn't been accused yet, but seems to me we're hearing the theme from Jaws. And the rest of your argument about making friends with our adversaries & 'wasting time' being friends to our friends, is quite backwards.
So it is a crime to to expose the e-mails if you stole them. No you art the only one who has noticed that Trump has not been accused of a crime YET because the investigation is not over. Communicating with a Russian is not a crime but tacking money from one to help an election is, as already stated the investigation is not over. Lets remember that 3 million more people voted for Hillary than voted for trump, so most of the American people were more intelligent than .......
And trump decides who is an adversary and who is an ally based on what? Facts? History?
I wish that you never get to live under a “soviet” model regime where everything is based on the “insight” of the dear leader.... because inadvertently this is where you and your group of people that still support this terrible human being are taking all of us...
If I could go back in time, say to the nineteen-eighties, and tell myself that, one day, Donald Trump would be President, and the Republican party would be running interference for the Russians, who'd helped elect him, and the Democrats would be questioning the patriotism of the Republicans, because the Republicans seemed strangely unconcerned that Russian spies had influenced a U.S. election... I'd assume that my future self had gone utterly mad, because none of those things would have sounded like something that could ever be true.
Life's strange.
9
Putting (or Puting) aside Trump's own legal risks, these indictments are a fairly strong statement that Trump's election might not be legitimate (and by extension, are not strictly the result of his efforts). Of course this angers Trump.
Parasites are the opposite of patriots. There are no exceptions.
28
Reading all the comments alleging that Trump is an agent or puppet of Putin and that there is a deep conspiracy between both I must say that this possibly is a bit overdone.
It would mean that Trump would be capable of having made an utterly complicated deal with a brilliantly intelligent person to his benefit (think again :-D).
Couldn't it well be that there really was no actual collusion personally between both (yes, proven there was by his aides).
Couldn't it well be that Russian intelligence rightfully analysed that having such a psychopath character in the office would be perfect for Russian interest so they - just from their side - took decision for that meddling?
I seriously think that it was not even necessary for anybody to ask Russia.
However, Trump did more for Russian interests than all the Russian president and intelligence could ever hoped and have achieved on their own.
11
Nobody can deny it any longer: this may be the weakest president we've ever had.
All that Obama did was literally bowing for foreign heads of state, and he only did so when those countries were important allies of the US, and when it was merely part of the local customs to greet someone and express respect.
Trump is bowing for foreign heads of state too, but not merely as a polite way to greet someone, he does so when it comes to content, AND for our enemies rather than allies.
Attacking one of America's most important institutions, the FBI - responsible for having kept us save day after day - just because certain Americans working for it have political views that lean Democrat rather than GOP, all while being happy and bragging about the idea that Putin likes him ... and then using these totally irrelevant facts in order to refuse to go after foreign indicted enemies just because what they did helped his own personal career ... WHAT could be MORE incompetent, when it comes to national security?
And then we're not even talking yet about the fact that after nearly two years in office, he hasn't been able to obtain ONE SINGLE deal. Not one.
Not with foreign allies - and of course not with foreign enemies.
Not with Democrats.
And even not with his own party in Congress: no repeal and replace Obamacare, no comprehensive immigration reform bill, no wall, not one single bill that according to independent studies will increase employment or accelerate the economy. NOTHING.
17
........and where are his tax returns? Are they still being audited?
To condemn Russia for meddling in the USA Election is like the pot calling the kettle black.
The CIA has been engaging in the exact same behaviors that Russia is alleged to have done during the election all over the world for many years, and much worse. The only difference is that the USA is much more powerful and influential. In fact, the tools the USA uses to influence elections is probably much better and much more effective.
USA Private corporations, who donated massive amounts of money to Trump are clearly the reason why he was elected.
6
INDICTED Russian meddling in U.S. elections -- with evidence provided chapter and verse.
It is unlikely the Russians will be brought to trial; that does not obviate the blatant evidence.
I particularly liked the way Rosenstein announced the indictments at the exact moment Trump was supposed to be meeting with the Queen. Now I know why -- they figured not even Donald Trump would pull out his phone to tweet lies and propaganda while having tea with the Queen.
The timing of the indictment announcements also explains why Trump was late.
God bless the Queen. What a stoic, ninety-two years old, standing out there in the summer heat, waiting for the most boorish man in the world. Keep calm and carry on, indeed.
7
Of course Trump doesn’t want to admit that the Russians were aiding his campaign. It makes him even less legitimate as a president than the fact that he lost the popular vote.
9
This drama is unfolding deliberately and inexorably. The evidence is compelling.
In the end:
Mueller and his team will be seen as the patriots and professionals they are.
Trump and his cronies will be exposed as the venal traitors they are.
The Republican congress will be shown to be the willing enablers and accomplices they have been and continue to be.
Fox News will be discredited as propagandists and purveyors of “fake news.”
Do we have the character, as a Nation, to accept, own, and act on the evidence?
Will we protect and honor our democracy and our institutions?
Yes, we will. Our survival depends on it.
43
Joseph Stern: From your lips to God’s ears.
Trump's actions all along are akin to a teenage punk who's arrogant enough to think he can get away with anything. Trump should meet and confront Putin, but not alone. We're well past expediency now in pursuit of political goals. We don't have to answer the ultimate questions quite yet - we're clearly almost there. Trump is simply incompetent and not acting in the national interest. Then there's the autocratic issues including discrediting the press. Surely that is obvious to most objective observers? Republicans now need to do what's right for the country, and that means distancing themselves from Trump now. It's time to step up.
43
Trump's world view is completely determined by friends and foes. Anyone trying to get him elected is a friend, because he is the best president we have ever had
Anyone criticizing that effort is a foe
Nothing but his fragile ego ever matters to him
He has actually found success this way, in his own mind at least
Why would he change now?
5
I do not understand why Trump's behavior does not qualify as criminal. The man swore to uphold (the U.S., not Russian) Constitution and protect it. If a president engages in behavior that endangers the nation -- which this certainly is -- why is this not criminal? Perhaps some lawyers can enlighten us on this.
42
I am astonished at the mildness of the excuse that Mr. Trump does not perceive the threat. Of course he does--the threat to his self-esteem as it is revealed that he didn't win, the Russians did. I imagine he is thinking about how to look masterful and innocent. What any enemy of the United States would like is for our country to be in shambles. Look around!
2
Putin must be laughing at how easy it is to destroy democracy in America, without firing so much as a single shot, simply by exploiting its divisions, and latent, now burgeoning right-wing tendencies.
I can only hope that the remaining democracies hold firm, though many are being threatened by the same political trends.
4
The 'witchhunt' is a far right conspiracy theory. History will say that trump colluded with the russians, and the republicans were complicit in undermining america.
5
Unrelenting Democrat hysteria about not only alleged Russian meddling in U.S. elections, but about practically everything else, is just more evidence that they still have not accepted that THEY lost the 2016 election, that they got out of touch with the American electorate. They continue to look for others to blame, they refuse to look in the mirror and point the finger of blame at themselves. I suppose we should not be surprised that they continue to move further to the left approaching the 2018 election. They still aren't interested in what the nation wants, they're still just talking to one another. They agree amongst themselves that their only mistake in 2016 was being too moderate! Voters should beware of, should fear, the energetic, vengeful lurch to the left that awaits the nation if self-righteous Dems get back into power.
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Suppose someone supports a politician who lies constantly, denies the facts of science, abuses private citizens and war heroes, cozies up to dictators and rejects our allies. Then this same someone berates people in the other party with a lot of demonstrably false nonsense about their motives and views. What adjectives might well-describe such a person? Let's try on "self-righteous" for a start.
Ronald, stick to the topic and facts. This is not about the Democrat party. It is about a hostile foreign power trying to destroy the democratic process in this country. My country; your country. And its about a president who seems at best uninterested and at worst actively trying to stop the investigation. An investigation that has produced an ever increasing number of indictments and convictions. Our country is in crisis, a crisis you seem determine to dismiss.
American hawks and Wall Street and their cronies (e.g. the Clintons) have never accepted that US manipulations failed to install another Yeltsin.
Start here.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/05/americans-spot-ele...
The Republicans are beginning to show a pattern. Bin Laden attacks the U.S. so naturally we respond by attacking Iraq. The Russians wage war on our election so we focus on attacking our own FBI.
The White House said there is no evidence the Russian interference affected the election. It is and will continue to be hard to prove. However, logic dictates that the Russians were sophisticated enough to sway a couple hundred thousand votes in key states. It's safe to say the Russians were one of the key building blocks to Trump being elected president and that without their help he would not be president.
Let's hope Mueller has proof that the Trump campaign conspired with the Russians to meddle in the 2016 presidential election. If he doesn't buckle down for another six and a half years of presidential incompetence and more embarrassment for our nation.
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