When is that guy in the White House going to wake and realize we have a problem with Russia and our campaigns. Oh no: It's just another hoax by the Dems aimed at HIM and the Presidency. Why does he even bother to appoint advisors if he is not going to listen to them? I like the pic that circulates now and again that shows him with his arms folded and him pouting like a four year old who does not want to eat the peas. (Believe me, I've been there.)
4
This is, in itself, criminal behavior by a President. Who is going to stop it? Everyone heard the experts testify on hacking not only our voting systems but our critical infrastructure. Every IT person knows that we were attacked by the Russian Military GRE with names of the criminals. You cannot have a functional democratic society when the leader and his party blatantly lie and do not care you knows.
8
I am afraid, we are living in the world of the movie: Groundhog Day.
The democrats maintain again that President Trump is a Russian operative.
Quick! Where is that thermometer?
1
I suggest that the Secret Service immediately.
Americans will let the Russians take over. They will continue to pay taxes out of fear, therefore funding the corrupt Russian takeover. That is my prediction. It has already been happening since 2016. In any case, I know that the American people won’t stand up for themselves. They are not what they used to be. Right now, they are a bunch of passive losers who can’t wait to sell their souls to the highest bidder. The revolutionaries who didn’t want taxation without representation are a myth now, and we don’t even deserve the myth.
“Meddling” is unwanted, unwelcome behavior. So, Trump is right. That Russia is meddling is a hoax. Amiright?
The ground was laid years ago. Right out the gate after the inauguration. The conditioning began. It started with the “fake news” and “enemy of the people” business. Then the failed Mueller Report then the spectacular failed Impeachment. The Don can do and say whatever he pleases. With a wave of his hand he dismisses reports of possible Russian interference in the 2020 election......couldn’t be bothered (shaking head).
3
I'm pretty sure that if he is defeated in November, the election will be a "hoax," and unless somebody frog marches him out of the Whitehouse, that will be the ball game.
42
@G Pretty sure there is a covert list of volunteers for that march among our Secret Service staff! VOTE BLUE
7
Yes, Virginia, there is a dictatorship.
49
No army of Russian spies could have ever started a revolt in our nation as Trump is doing now. Now I do believe fully that the Russians are behind Trump and are continuing after they have observed the division and near war in our country. The delivery of the intelligence assessment to Congress bypassing Trump was absolutely correct. It isn't just a partisan issue. Our nation is truly in danger from within. Thank you intelligence community. I understand better now. Just don't hurt him physically as desperate this situation is.
3
Regardless of our political differences, surely we can all agree that Brad Pitt cuts a better figure in tennis shorts than Donald Trump.
2
I guess the Russian government is thrilled about having Trump in the White House because he has done such a great job of weakening the USA: sky high debt, scorn around the world, environmental degradation, more social injustice, patently incompetent government officials. Perhaps the Russians want Bernie as his opponent because they think Bernie will be easiest to beat. Ah, but what if Putin is wrong? Bernie wins, and he is no dictator lover.
4
Hoax, Trump's all-purpose four letter word for denial of anything that contradicts him.
6
Of course he does, his motto is to deny, deny, deny.
3
It's unclear how Trump (or Bernie Sanders) could possibly know whether the Russian government is interfering in our elections. How could ANYONE possibly know that? Nobody's accused either of them of collusion with the Russians (which obviously they WOULD know about).
1
Military intelligence reports, which both of them are privy to as President and Senator, could certainly give them the proper information.
5
@Commenter we have several government agencies whose sole job is to know such things. They were briefed by intelligence officials. Your question is confusing to me.
6
Trump has been Russia’s most effective weapon against the United States and Russia has been Trump’s “secret” weapon to get elected. Of course, he is going to deny it and lie about it. That is what he does best.
26
@Enrique Puertos He will deny it because he thinks that if he wins the election, people will say it was the Russians who put him into office. Well it was the Russians who put him into office the last time around. What's new?
2
The donald is putting out bids to have the white house painted - It will be RED of course and will be called the Red House in honor of the form of government that is emerging as putin's puppet takes over our country. And donald keeps warning us about 'socialist' Bernie, when donnie himself is the real deal, but he never assimilated enough education to know the difference.
9
It’s truly incredible that any Americans would even consider re-electing Trump for a second term as their president. Here to your north such a party leader (therefore potential prime-minister) would be still-born at the party-caucus level.
17
The honest intelligent people of this country need to rebel against the travesty thrust on us by this questionably sane prez. We know he doesn’t read or take advice. Time to march in the streets, civil disobedience, etc to wake his red faced followers up to his mendacity . My personal way is to withhold my 1099 return until I see his on page 1 of the NYTs. Get a spine and follow my lead! He gets away with it .Why not you and me???
13
These pPresidential Election Cycles look like late night sci-fi B grade movies.
The 2016 Presidential Election was hard to stomach; but, now one learns that the Russians are helping both Trump and Bernie Sanders. This is straight out of The Twilight Zone; the only problem is that this is the current political reality in this country, and that reality is scary.
Th Cold War was all about stopping the Russians. What happened? The Russians are here. How and why are the again messing in our Democracy.
Trying to understand what happened in 2016 with Trump and the Russians and Putin was enough stress for a life time.
Well, the Russians have returned, Times two when one adds Bernie Sanders. Where is the protection against foreign invaders promised by the President’s Oath of Office; the U.S. Senate’s Oath and the Congressional Oath of Office. One could conclude that these esteemed politicians are really competent and comfortable just Just to let the other guy do it, which is not working!
2
Only paper ballots in 2020 !!!!!!
24
@LAM
Great idea and I support it. You know why we won't? We let the media run our elections and they like the 9:00 pm announcements. Paper ballots would eliminate the problems with being hooked to the internet, the worst possible security scenario possible. We wouldn't know who was elected until, the next day. Can America slow anything down and take anything OFF the net? Let's see!
3
@LAM We now have those in Virginia because the electronic machines proved to be unreliable in the 2016 election. Smart move. They can be counted.
4
The Intergalactic Potentate Trump is getting far more dangerous as he figures out how to use the levers of power. First, he just openly lies about the Russian (and all the other) hoaxes as being motivated by his adversaries. Then he wields the Justice department to investigate the origins of some, or vanquishes the career professionals for doing their jobs because they don't serve his personal needs rather than the peoples'. Then he pardons a bunch of folks that either serve his political needs materially ($$) or indirectly.
The questions are:
How long can republican senators stomach this.
How long before we start seeing mass demonstrations.
It's going to be a race to see which of these come first.
Our republic is clearly in danger if he wins another term.
I saw a bumper sticker today.... "Anyone Else - 2020"
14
Trump=Traitor
Prove me wrong, I’ll be the happiest, most grateful soul in America.
10
@Wyn Birkenthal I dont have to prove you wrong....
YOU have to prove you're right.
So far, at every turn,,,,absolutely nobody has provided one shred of evidence to prove you are right.
Should it shock anyone that, this corrupt Donald Trump, family, Organization who are sold to any country willing to provide them a livelihood, a higher level of status than they deserve, loans that are undersigned by countries like Russia, Saudi, Possibly China, for China why else would Ivanka have received minimum of 24 trademarks, where Trump can freely in his mind declassify whatever he feels, even if it puts the US and its allies in National Security Breeches anything other than a hoax or a witch hunt, Trump has never been or done a decent act in his life, or he certainly would not have had so many unfaithful trysts with porn stars, playboy bunnies, sexually harassed and assaulted women who had no physical interest him, this, that has come to light as well as his lame, useless, denigrating comments, to a group of naive, gullible supporters in Nevada today, should not be viewed as a novelty to the world, no, Trump actually standing up for the Constitution, the Democracy and the Republic of the United States, that would be flabergasting to all who have followed this inept, incompetent, arrogant, intellectually defunct person masquerading as the President of the United States, just maybe this is a nightmare flashback, such as a Dallas soap opera episode, and when the US awakens they will have a righteous, dignified, law-abiding Leader of the free world if only we were living in a fantasy world instead of a Trump low rated reality Apprentice episode starring the nightmare.
4
Oh, woe is me. It's the 2nd time in 4 years that I have had to agree with Trump.
Until the Democrats sweep that Joe McCarthy leftover out of their minds and frontally attack our would-be dictator, they will not gain ground. She lost it, forget it. Her handlers shour take their ear plus out, and their blinders off.
2
He is and has been working for Russia/Putin since before he was in the White House.
9
@Carol We have to remember he went to Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant which his organization owns. You can bet the hotel rooms where he and his entourage stayed were bugged and probably had video cameras also. Does Putin have dirt on Trump? Probably.
4
I know this space is for commenting on the article, but the comments from the readers are priceless.....
Heh heh heh..... The sky is perpetually falling, and the only thing holding it up now are the screams of progressives.
Mr Trump will be the president until January of 2025, and those he has influenced will be a force for the foreseeable future.
All the shrieking and pearl clutching in the universe isn't going to change any of that.
1
Lordy, Lordy!! Another hoax. How can that be? Hmmm, “witch hunt” is the next nom de plume, I believe. Cue the mic.
Trump’s not smart. It’s bad for the country.
5
No, it's not Democratic "misinformation;" it's more self-serving, ill-founded disinformation from President Dirtmouth!
6
The only hoax here is Trump's presidency.
12
Trump is bought and sold by the Russian mafia. They support him otherwise he would not have any money to live they way he does. McConnell is bought and sold by China.
Now the People of the USA know who owns them....
5
More projection from our president, who acts and sounds like a Fascist waging a propaganda campaign, undermining his oath to preserve and defend our Constitution. These are dark days for democracy and our republic — we need a massive voter turnout come November, America.
6
It's going to be hard for Trump to say if Bernie is elected there will be a communist in the Whitehouse when the communist are already there.
3
Never saw a grown man tell on himself as much as this guy
5
Yep, the analysis done by the professionals in the intelligence branch is completely wrong, Mr. Know It All... as always, you know best and are always right.
All hail King Donald!
4
Of Vladimir Putin, Trump said in November 2017, “He said he didn’t meddle. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times. Every time he sees me, he says, ‘I didn’t do that.’ And I believe, I really believe, that when he tells me that, he means it.”
What do Trump's supporters say when they hear statements like that?
- 'He's entitled to his opinion, too. He's the president; he knows more than you and me.'
- related: 'Trump's a genius at dealmaking and that means he's really good at understanding when someone's lying.'
- 'Putin's not the only leader who lies and tries to manipulate American elections. Every country's leader does. Trump is just making sure we don't ruin our relationship with Russia over something everyone else does, too.'
- 'All the negative stuff about Russia is coming from a bunch of Obama holdouts in the government. Deep State!'
- 'Democrats can't get over losing the election, so they'll dredge up anything to embarrass the president.'
- 'Big deal. Who cares what Trump says. Conservative judges and 401Ks. That's all I care about.'
But Republicans deep down know that all these retorts are just lip service. What they are really saying is: "Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah... there's nothing you can say that'll make me change my mind. Nothing, nothing, nothing..."
9
Of course they are promoting Trump
by promoting Sanders. Even the Democratic
consensus is that Sanders cannot beat Trump.
Who remembers Nixon vs McGovern in 1972?
Nixon, under the cloud of Watergate, won big and
had to resign in 1974. A socialist, progressive,
“left” leaning person cannot be elected
President of the U.S. Not going to happen.
It kills me to watch the Democrats walking towards
disaster. We the people will get stuck with Trump
for 4 more years. Imagine the havoc, the corruption,
the lies...
5
I disagree with your reasoning.
Strongly.
Our country is very different today than it was in the mid 1970s, almost a half century ago.
2
Well, I do declare, those nasty people troubling us again and the President is getting so upset that he wants to have a private yes man filled intelligence community, what will we do Rett?
Why don't fret little darlin', we'll just make our own intelligence community and find out what those rascals are doin'.
2
The Russians don’t have to work too hard if people are still gullible enough to take Trump at his word.
11
"Every time (Putin) sees me, he says, 'I didn't do that.'"
That much I can believe, and I can see the Cheshire grin Putin tries to hide as Trump struggles with the question before lapping up the lie.
Lies make Donald Trump feel at home. "And I believe, I really believe, that when he tells me that, he means it," he says, to borrow another of his phrases, like a dog. Or, say, Tammy Wynette.
Just as you can tell truth by the way it makes Donald Trump resist, glower, seethe, attack, and disparage those who dare to speak it to him.
Which is why nobody in the White House confronts him with intelligence, in any sense of the word.
9
I dunno... when the whole Russia-meddling thing first came out it seemed serious... until the evidence was presented. One can get the impression that those 'ads' were not the result of an official propaganda ministry directive but rather that of Russian college student pranks. If the official Russian government was serious would they use such obviously/comically bad Russian-person-with-accent-trying-to-speak-English syntax?
Besides... US based interests lead the way in having meddled in foreign elections over the years, so it's doubtful the complaint elicits much sympathy around the world. Over eighty(!) instances of US interference since 1946 by some counts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_electoral_intervention
1
If President Trump says Russian meddling in our election is a hoax then you can be sure they are, indeed, up to their old tricks.
3
It is telling that Putin is helping two populists. Populists = chaos. Chaos is what Putin loves.
It's pathetic that our vaunted "checks and balances" system is doing neither.
We are allowing a third rate autocrat to meddle and influence our under-informed and easily influenced populace.
4
I am so disturbed by Trump. This country looks like it is going to die not with a bang, but a whimper. We may have to rise up. We can't let Trump be our last president. We may be storming the White House to get rid of him. I want him exiled to a desert island and not brought back. Allow him a DVD player showing his speeches. He will be in heaven.
3
@Sharon Conway Are you advocating an armed rebellion against a duly elected President? If so, YOU, not Trump, would be the undoing of our country.
1
What a whopping lack of patriotism.
Are the elected Republicans going to stand by this?
2
I've never been so nervous for our country, even after 25 years in the Air Force. When it comes to Russia, there used to be a time when it was America vs Russians, we need to get back to that . When it comes to the Russians instead of Dems and Reps, it should be Americans.... Whats more Dangerous here is people in the intelligence community doing their Jobs in a honorable way since before Trump even though about a presidency . They sit behind their desk, they get in the field and obtain information that put them in danger, then their Commander in Chief makes a joke of it and he fires their leader....
7
@Kenneth Those prosecutors went rogue in order to cripple Trump and his associates.
When do we declare war on Russia for election tampering? Then a full out digital assault on them? I haven’t heard any thing regarding actions we’re taking to stop their insidious actions. And when do we figure out a way to make Facebook and other social media outfits liable for their collusion with Russia?
5
@Eric That surely is not tolerable. But on the other hand I am wondering. Has the US ever been caught meddling in any foreign elections?
In that case, the only response would just be to tighten security in the main US social networks. Flag foreign accounts, detect and prohibit the use of proxies. Etc. Can't believe those companies don't have the expertise to do that.
Trump (as always) needs to personalize & internalize any news. It always has to be a conspiracy aimed at him, always that conspiracy must come from within his own government, and has always got to have been perpetrated by the Democrats. If Trump had been in office in 1941 he’d have maintained that it had been U.S. forces (masquerading as Japanese) that attacked Pearl Harbour in order to embarrass him!
10
"Democratic hoax!?"
Is that lie 19,999 or has Trump actually broken through to 20,000 at this point?
Blue wave 2020 !
7
One way to control the truth is to take preemptive action to stack the deck with stooges who apparently don’t mind going along for the assigned and prescribed ride ... probably for some promised reward, maybe just recognition. That’s what we seem to have here with Trump and US Intelligence personnel. In the longterm this deck-stacking may be Trump’s means to cause intelligence agencies overall to be seen ... and deservedly so ... as hoax, which, of course, would give Trump the advantage he seeks through the confusion of widespread chaos. Trump works through destructiveness ... take, for example, EPA. After all, being regularly contrary in what he says keeps the nation guessing in the dark. Sounds crazy ... but for good reason to conclude at this point for him. Hoax becomes Trump’s fiendish friend. He loves that word ... along with “fake.” With Trump the truth does in fact actually and ironically matter ... because it is the critical threat to him existentially that he has to control through its vanquishment.
5
This is dangerous. That doesn’t exactly break new ground - but we cannot be hands off re this new outrage to our democracy.
6
It seems that everyone constantly lies about Trump and creates hoaxes. It's dreadfully unfair that such a perfect human being and all his colleagues are constantly accused of all manner of criminal and unethical behavior.
9
A bit off-piste here, but I need to get something off my chest with this president wiggie of yours. The only western leader in my lifetime - I am 58, who has enraged me so much, and so consistently, was ol shark eyes thatcher. When the slightly more effeminate one of the two - thatcher - was turfed out of office by her own party - because, and hopefully history may repeat itself, she went too far even by thief-party standards, I took a bottle of champagne I had been saving for a significant event and drank it in the bath while she left No 10 in her limousine. Probably an indication of how sad my life was that nothing of note had occurred previously, but it tasted good nonetheless. I consider myself a christian but when ol shark eyes finally, finally, became ol penny eyes, I went a step further. I bought a crystal decanter and glasses set, a bottle of single malt whisky, and an expensive bottle of Argentinian wine. I drank the wine and toasted the General Belgrano seamen that she murdered before starting on the whisky, with Elvis Costello's 'Tramp the Dirt Down' on a permanent loop blaring out until the wee hours. If you're unfamiliar with the song please play it, even mentally rename it Trump the Dirt Down. Elvis is from my city which she tore apart and I'm sure he won't mind. Your president deserves a similar send-off. I have the decanter and glasses at the ready and will crack a bottle of bourbon in november to say good riddance and to see the wig perma-mothballed.
9
Sorry Trump, we know how Russian interference goes. I just want the news organizations to ferret out some of it. It would be a great help, although I assume most is of the same idea as Clinton having a child porn ring in a pizza store.
Trump and the Russians are doing their very best to sow discord and create confusion. By refusing to do anything constructive about this threat, Trump creates a lot of national tension, unease and mistrust. The Registrar of voters for my county explained to my democratic club what safeguards are in place here. Of course, we are in a county turning blue and with an adequate budget for get needed equipment.
I would recommend everyone go to a gathering that holds that type of presentation, even a church. Take the conversation away from the fear mongers. Ensure voting in your area is secure. Don't read the news on facebook, find a trusted newspaper or two, and then, read them with a skeptical eye.
Regarding anything Trump says, and probably any Republican, it's all lies - that's the starting point.
6
I'm still waiting to read on the NYT about Russia also interfering in the elections in favor of Sanders.
Says a lot, doesn't it...when Putin favors a Sanders presidency. Trump built the coffin, and Sanders will nail it shut with his policy proposals.
4
Another interpretation is that Russia favors Bernie in the primaries because he would lose to trump in the general election.
8
Putin clearly favors a Trump Presidency, like he did in 2016 and for the same reasons. The noise from the Kremlin about Sanders is the same tactic as it used about Ukraine in 2016-17: a way to muddle the waters and create dissension in the U.S. political class. If Putin had favored Sanders, he would have made a move 4 years ago when it could have tipped the scales against Hillary. He didn't.
3
You got your wish today.
2
If Trump (a billionaire) wins, Putin of USSR wins. If Sanders wins thanks to “billionaire class” which took over the power in 2016, he creates USSR (United Stares Socialistic Republic) within USA. Either way Putin wins and USA loses.
1
@Trump Lib Not sure Trump is a billionaire, except in his dreams of grandeur.
2
Sanders has told the Russians to stay away from his campaign.
Donald Trump has fired the people who told him the Russians are trying to help him.
I'm not for Sanders and I'm not for Trump.
But, if it comes down to picking a Socialist or a Traitor for President, I'm going with the Socialist.
17
@James Well said James.
1
@James
None of the candidates are Socialists, though. Will you settle for a Social Democrat?
3
We can't wait for November. It's time to act NOW. This isn't just a fascinating moment in our nation's history. We're fighting for the soul of our democracy.
What can one person do? I wondered... until I connected with non-partisan TurnoutNation. They boost voter turnout among disaffected Americans, particularly young adults and minorities. There's a concerted effort in GA to silence those voices... I'm going to help get them to the mic.
13
The meddling is an influence campaign, that has the objective of getting Democrats to nominate Sanders. Trump (along with the Russians) are trying to select the opponent. In Sanders, they feel that they will have an opponent whom they can handily beat, and you know what, I think they're right. I'm a Dem, and in my view, Sanders (and Warren) are never going to capture enough of the Republican moderates to win this election. If Sanders or Warren get the nod, Trump wins in a landslide. The Dem nominee is obviously going to do well with Dems, but that nominee is also going to need to significantly win over Repub moderates and Independents. In my opinion, Klobuchar or Biden are the only ones capable of doing that.
4
It is possible that a large part of the donations to the Sanders campaign are from Russia. Although ActBlue claims that they do not accept foreign donations, it should not be difficult for the Russians to set up credit card accounts and donate to the Sanders campaign.
@SteveNC "... it should not be difficult for the Russians to set up credit card accounts and donate to the Sanders campaign."
Are you sure about that? There is no proof that is happening. On the other hand, there is plenty of evidence that Russians gave money to the NRA, to Mitch McConnell, to GOP senate funds, and that they laundered money through bankrupt Donald Trump's real estate transactions for years.
9
@SteveNC
Sure! Let’s add a conspiracy theory into the mix! That’ll help!
1
Trump accepts Putin's word over American intelligence analysis concerning election undermining our 2016 presidential election, and now disregards American intelligence warnings of similar Russian interference in our upcoming 2020 elections.
If our country is under Russian cyberattack and Trump, in concert with Mitch McConnell, dismiss Russian aggression, then who is defending the United States? They both know, I would assume, that Russia is a global adversary of America and is opposed to our interests and adverse to our democratic liberties and political rights.
If these two governmental officials are witting (or even unwitting) collaborators with a Russian government as antipathetic to our freedoms and democratic system of governance, then America is in serious danger not simply losing our democratic identity, but with the approval of Trump and McConnell, may find our sovereignty diminished to the point of becoming a client state subject to the diktats of Putin and his Russian oligarchs.
6
Of course he did. Trump and the Republicans have done all they can, to undermine our voting system and legal system. They've taken control of 3 main branches--executive, representative, and judicial (Supreme Court). Thank God that the military is still American.
If Trump and enough Republican senators are voted out in 2020, we may need the military to get them out.
Far-fetched? Think of what they've already done to discredit our elections. Think of unbridled Russian (and likely other) interference in the elections. Think of what they've already lied, cheated, and done to destroy democracy.
There's no reason to believe that they will obey the laws, after the next elections. And every reason to believe they will continue their destructive ways.
8
If trump succeeds in Nov. watch for his duet with Mitch to remove term limits. “crazy”, you reply! !!!I’m taking bets on that one.
2
As for Mr. Grenell, I realize as many have pointed out that the DNI position requires by the declaration establishing the position, requires actual experience in the intelligence field. Perhaps it should also have required the designated individual actually be intelligent.
4
He was angered that Adam Schiff attended the briefing? Adam Schiff was "chairman of the committee who led the impeachment proceedings?" The last time I checked, Mr. Schiff was still chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Maybe that's worth pointing out.
So he was angered that the chairman of the intelligence committee attended an intelligence briefing? Makes perfect sense.
16
Trump is using our government to serve ... Trump. Everything revolves around him. But what if this star in his own heavens is actually a black hole?
If an America in churning turmoil at home and abroad is your thing, then Trump is your ticket.
Why wouldn't Russia, Iran, China, and North Korea - who have invested more in their cyber abilities than we have in our cyber defense - do everything to keep him power.
The question is, why would any American.
10
@pi Failure of the education system. Not talking about Harvard here, but about public schools in impoverished neighborhoods.
1
Why doesn't he just tell the Russians to knock it off? Unless, of course, he wants their help. That couldn't possibly be true, could it?
5
Putin must be so proud of Trump going off. Mr. Trump would rather destroy our nation than address the real foe, Putin.
It wasn't the Democrats of his delusions that started any false claims. The intelligence community assessed the threat and advised the Congress.
We need the intelligence community to make fair assessments and advise us, not pander to the whims of one man over the nation. Just be sure the intelligence is correct.
Be skeptical of the timing of the assessment coming right after the failed Impeachment trial, but it wasn't the Democrats that gave the story life. There is reasonable cause to be suspicious of the claim, but think before engaging mouth.
2
First of all Sanders is compromised. If it’s Sanders versus Trump = it will be Putin in the Pocket Trump.
Your best bet to get rid of Trump is vote for Bloomberg. I cannot emphasize this more.
Republicans you blew it. You need to throw Trump out and get our country back.
2
Of course he's calling it a hoax! If it's the truth, then in Trump World, it must be a lie!
This is a direct result of Congress and the Justice Dept. not holding him accountable for his collusion with Putin the first time, and subsequent other crimes he's committed. He has all but consolidated his complete power over us, thanks to the corrupt Republicans. And now we can anticipate even more and effective interference in our election on his behalf ensuring that his tyranny will continue.
We've lost our nation without a shot being fired.
7
Russia repeatedly denied doping at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, but was proved lying and was banned from future olympics.
Why does President Trump deny Russia's history of lying and corruption? Gullibility, or something worse?
5
They all lie! Watch out for their pants catching fire.
Putin can sincerely avow “I didn’t do that” while also being the person who directed others to do it.
This is the kind of distinction that frames Trump’s gullibility which is so useful to Putinism. This is why Trump is an ongoing danger to national security.
Analogously, AG Barr can exploit the objectivity of the press by avowing that he didn’t talk to Trump about Roger Stone, while talking extensively with an assistant who has talked extensively with Trump.
The public sphere is largely a silly theater of self-serving public relations—being what a theorist of mental illness, Erving Goffman, years ago called “impression management,” now standardly called “spin control.” Truthiness has lived as long as the genre of legend itself.
“That pile is ever growing.”
4
We have reached a very dangerous time in Trump's presidency.
We are the the point that if, say, some adversarial country chose to physically attack us, Trump might decide that the rumblings of the impending attack were something dreamed up or drummed up by one of his domestic enemies.
If intelligence of something like this were to reach him, would his cockamamie instincts tell him to ignore and bury the information, leaving the country unprotected?
If these warnings that this wildly paranoid man hears about are dismissed as misinformation, we better have a safety net of clear-eyed Senators, Representatives, Pentagon brass and Intelligence officials ready to jump in and save the ship.
I hope that they are all now operating with the understanding that they cannot trust the President to believe a threat and do his job of protecting national security.
3
@Elizabeth Perfect...to a word.
1
Will a "Profiles in Courage" candidate expose Trump's tax returns, the "vaulted" telephone conversations, the other secrets we know are out there and once made public will bring him down? Someone, some brave and bold person American patriot can and will do that so that our country may be saved from the dictatorship.
10
Is there a Republican congresswoman/man, senator who will stand up to this, to Trump's nonsensical, dangerous assessment?
Once again. Who are you? Where are you? Backbone anyone?
25
@Sally S. I think those questions were already answered in the impeachment vote. The answer was a resounding "no," save for one, lonely, Mitt Romney.
7
Republican Radio Silence.
Nice GOPeople.
November 3 2020
1
Sanders got a similar warning. Unlike the clownish demagogue liar Trump you don't see Sanders screeching hoax. When you elect a child, you get 4 years of childish behavior.
27
Just breaking that Bernie Sanders has been informed that Russia is trying to help his campaign. I’ve never been a supporter of his and have feared that his far left socialism will ensure trump is re-elected. If Russia trying to help him/interfere isn’t proof of this then I don’t know what is.
10
@Tam Breaking from what sources and with what evidence?
5
@Bob Hillier The Washington Post
3
@Tam
Your spreading the fear-based mischaracterization that Bernie Sanders is a far left socialist can only help Trump, too. Stop. Please; just stop.
15
Trump's definition of a hoax: When he gets caught.
17
There are those who will never vote democratic because they worked for everything (quite a few being given great advantage) and dislike generous programs.
There are those who vote GOP and no matter how flawed Bush was they re-elected him.
Those who benefit, i.e. tax cuts
But if college educated voters will see the changes at the top of DNI (Patel now as #2?) and yet another hoax as true and believe him ..... god help us
4
Congress should share the contents of the intel briefing with the public. We have a right to know what Russians are doing, how they are doing it.
It was a mistake during the last administration to keep this all under wraps for fear of appearing partisan.
This is a matter of life and death for our democracy and we are being attacked. Since our president refuses to protect us, we have to protect ourselves and in order to do that, we have to understand the attack.
22
What am I missing here? Trump is running for reelection, and so I presume he is entitled to try to win. Must he stop trying just because some foreign government also wants him to win? If it turns out that he is colluding with Russia, or with the Russian government (even worse), that would be wrong. But just because some foreign government wants the same election outcome that he does does not establish collusion. Frankly, it is unclear to me that Trump even knows what Russia is doing, much less that he is colluding with them.
@Commenter
Yes. Mr. Trump is “entitled to try to win.”
FAIRLY. Honestly.
Fairness and honesty are not characteristics that the president has exhibited since taking office, but he is free to use these tactics to win reelection.
On the other hand, Trump is not permitted to misuse his executive powers to rig the election.
Firing and replacing our national Director of Intelligence, for the obvious reasons the president did, is a perfect example of Misuse of Presidential Authority, to gain electoral advantage
Donald Trump is an unbalanced sociopath who doesn’t observe the rules because he has neither knowledge of them nor any practical experience complying with them.
In the upcoming election, Commenter, there are tens of millions of voters who will work to force Donald Trump to conduct himself in accordance with “the rules,” possibly for the first time in his life.
7
you are missing the fact that trump denies Russian corruption of our elections. He is doing nothing to stop it, which is the same as collusion.
8
@Commenter - Yes, you are missing something, the whole point of this report. I suppose if the Russians want to help him they can, even if it involves lying and espionage. What you're missing is that Trump is trying to convince his minions that this reality is not happening, that it is a "hoax," even after the Russian misbehavior was unearthed by teams of our skilled career intelligence analysts. He's saying the truth is inconvenient to me, so I will simply pronounce it to be not true. So is the way he is "entitled to try to win" by being able tell outrageous lies and expecting us to believe them?
7
At 16,000+ lies (and counting), the president has a tell: when his lips are moving, he is lying.
By now, he should know we know!!
49
We are staring down a potential global Covid19 pandemic. Trump and Barr are destroying the rule of law....meanwhile Trump jet sets across the western US, rage Tweeting and putting on hate rallies. The world is on fire and he is watching Fox news and ranting about conspiracy theories. Lord help us.
69
@Raydeohed
Appreciate anything the Lord can do, but in the meantime can we look to someone for help with this crisis that may take a more active interest in addressing it? Any thoughts on who or what group that might be? Looking for suggestions and thoughts because it does not look like we are going to get any help from Republicans in Congress or the Justice Department.
5
Trump got reassurance from Putin that he (Putin) didn’t meddle in the 2016 election...
“He said he didn’t meddle,” Mr. Trump said in November 2017. “I asked him again. You can only ask so many times. Every time he sees me, he says, ‘I didn’t do that.’ And I believe, I really believe, that when he tells me that, he means it.”
Honest to God. The title of this article should be ”Trump Is a Fool!!”
53
@True citizen
trump is that and so much worse; but, stuck in its sundered galley, I fear that all oars are lost in this, our best-to-blame Ship of Fools.
1
@Thomas Murray I agree with what you both say!
Please tell me he can't change the rules and stay on after 2024.
He has already spoken those words.
I wonder when elected GOP officials in Washington DC will finally say to themselves: " Hmm, am I destroying our Democracy by my allegiance to this travesty of what was once a valid Republican party"?
History is already giving Mitt Romney a slight pass, akin to the McCain accolade for preserving the ACA.
Are there others who would dare to step forward?
In the least , if only for their post note in history to not reflect subordination to the worst president ever.
22
@GP Many people agree that Trump is a buffoon (I do, for example), but “destroying our democracy“.? He did win the 2016 election, after all. That sounds like democracy to me. Maybe Hillary Clinton should have won, but she didn’t. If she had tried to take power anyway (which she did not), one could say that she was trying to “destroy our democracy.“ But neither she nor Trump did that. Trump won the election, and so he is properly in the White House. Hillary lost the election, and so she is properly at home. What is so surprising about either result?
We are watching the process dictators use to amass power.
52
@MLinus aren’t you jumping to conclusions here? If Trump loses in November but refuses to leave the White House in January, you might have a point, but I have no doubt that he will leave if he is defeated.
Frankly, I couldn’t care less what Trump feels on this point. He gets to run for election (and reelection), but he does not get to count the votes or declare a winner. We have other people to handle that.
1
@Commenter He has said he wants to stay on after 2024.
He seems to change the rules when he chooses to.
Is there a way he could change the two term rule if he choose to?
"But the way it was delivered angered some Republicans"
--what does this mean? Is there more to this story, not that I'm defending the Republicans--but in fairness, need to ask.
4
@Jackson
It was announced on Faux News last night, is that a leak?
@Kemal Pamuk No one likes their mistakes rubbed in their faces, least of all senators!
@Kemal Pamuk
Is it because Adam Schiff was briefed, too?
1
The 2020 general election is, at least, a significant as any in our nation’s history. Insuring that this elaction is fair and honest is absolutely crucial.
No foreign interference. No state election’s board mismanagement. Everything above board. The fate of our democracy hangs in the balance.
Congress needs to pass emergency bi-partisan legislation to prevent the president from “doing what ever I want to do” which in any way relates to his probability of reelection.
Any and all governmental resources that might insure complete electoral fairness SHOULD be employed in order to foil any attempt, by any person, agency or government to cheat in this all-important contest.
12
@Tom W Ivanka now owns a company that makes election machines (she bought it from China!) and those machines will be deployed in the upcoming US election. I'd say there is a 0% chance this election will be on the up and up.
12
@Baruch
When are the rest of the states going to get a clue, ditch the sketchy, archaic voting machine systems, and go with paper mail-in ballots?
2
It will be a miracle if we survive another four years of Trump and still be a nation. We are approaching a point where nothing is true, if Trump says it isn’t.
16
If Trump said disinformation campaign it would sound too Russian, so he says misinformation campaign. Clever, clever president Putin.
13
“Any sole ruler, who is not required to give an account of himself, and who rules over subjects all equal or superior to himself to suit his own interest and not theirs, can only be exercising a tyranny.” Aristotle's POLITICS
23
Yet another lying episode from Donald Trump. Former Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, a Republican stated in sworn testimony about Russian tampering..."they are plotting as we sit here." And again,"The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion." If those statements by Mueller were untrue, why did Donald Trump not refute them at the time? Maybe he hadn't yet received instructions from Moscow as to how to proceed! And while we are at it, how about Trump's taxes which he stated he would disclose, never did, and now has single handedly moved the matter the Supreme Court to render an opinion in June. Donald Trump is nothing more than Putin's puppet.
31
Obviously Russia wants Trump re-elected. America is much weaker when the guy in charge is an ignoramus. I just wish more people on the right would wake up to that fact.
36
Yet this is surely a do nothing elected official.
What has he done this year!
6
Hoax, Unfair, Disgraceful, Horrible. He certainly has a limited vocabulary.
21
Yep, 200 or so at most.
2
In keeping with the rule of thumb that virtually everything Trump says is a lie, this means Russian meddling is not a Democratic hoax.
32
Is Pres. Trump's reaction to this mandated report to the House Intelligence Committee that of an innocent man?
16
Putin's pick for president fires the Director of National of Intelligence. The new director immediately begins dismantling our defenses against Russian interference.
Guessing the new director is Putin's pick as well.
GOP senators have enabled the take over our government by Russia, one institution after the next. They will not stop until we are defenseless.
Patriots remaining inside the intelligence agency need to blow the whistle and expose Agent Orange for the puppet he really is.
34
If Russian interference is only a hoax, why did Trump need to fire his acting DNI? Trump works for Putin.
29
New reports are now saying Russia is promoting Sander's campaign.
Putin is a genius.
9
This absurd claim is yet another example of a primary tactic from the Donald Trump/Roy Cohen playbook: shoot the messenger, deny everything, and counterattack with a blizzard of lies. What's most frightening to me is how many Americans readily swallow this junk and will join Trump in trashing our intelligence community. Trump's intellect is shallow, but he has managed to master the use of the Big Lie.
23
At least we are frantic about his finger on the trigger of a hydrogen bomb.
That would not help him or help him get “elected”.
But this is getting sicker by the day.
9
Once again, as with the Mueller investigation, this "hoax" consists of extensive research by probably dozens of FBI agents or similar federal intelligence analysts. And, in this case, the information is being advanced by the President's own appointees!
What I found so amazing about the Mueller report was that the analysts who worked on it went way beyond simply saying "the Russians did it." They were able to pinpoint how specific people in specific buildings in Russian performed specific misdeeds on specific days. I found this to be absolutely amazing. So you simply accept this reality. OR, if you want to accept our President's allegation that this is all a "hoax," you must believe that dozens of career federal civil servants all colluded 100% to invent this, and not a single one broke ranks to confess to this elaborate ruse.
The problem here, of course, is that Trump is still hopeful of selling his wacky fairy tale that it was the Ukrainians, not the Russians, who misbehaved in 2016, and that this was to benefit the Democrats, not the Russians. Now, not surprisingly, we find the Russians are doing the same thing in 2020. But instead of backing off Trump now believes we'll swallow the idiocy that this reality is once again a "hoax."
And amazingly, some Americans will! So the IQ test for our nation is whether enough of our people are so absolutely stupid that 48% of them would again vote for Trump this year and enable another razor-thin victory.
21
@Jerry Schulz Certainly things can change, but if they don’t, I don’t think trump’s victory will be “razor thin“ this time. It’s likely to be decisive, Quite the opposite of “razor thin.” Again, things might change between now and election day, but that is how it looks at the moment.
Trump declares anything he doesn't want to be true is a "hoax". In fact, his entire tenure in the White House has been continual, deliberate misinformation. He lies when the truth would do just as well. He lost the election, therefore his entire presidency is a hoax.
18
@Jeff M Trump “Lost the election”? Even Hillary Clinton did not say that. I wonder why.
Seriously, Trump won the election. That is why he is living in the White House. I agree he is a buffoon, but there are some of us who like his Peaceful policies. I wish he would do more to trim the national debt (so far, he has only made it larger) but I have no doubt that Hillary Clinton would have been even worse on that score. What is more important –that a president not be a buffoon, or that he adopt policies that are sound?
Not to worry. He has now installed a temporary acting director of intelligence, un-review-able by Congress, to ensure that the truth never comes out. Go back to whatever else you were doing and ignore the loss of America to the Russians. Nothing to see here.
13
Just some random thoughts:
1) It’s critical to assess trump in psychological rather than just political terms. His narcissism makes it IMPOSSIBLE for him to rationally approach any problem, like Russian interference. His mental illness makes it IMPOSSIBLE for him to ever put country first.
2) Only hard core trump cultists can still believe his steady stream of obvious lies, misinformation and deceit. How many are out there? How many can be provoked to be violent?
3) GOP members and others who are well aware that trump is a liar and criminal, but who have attached their political fortunes to him, are playing with fire. As we have seen from history, once fascism takes hold it may be very difficult to resurrect our democracy.
15
Of course, Trump's presidency is the hoax of all time. Only "the best"? I bet that Richard Grenell had to be shown where Germany was on a map.
17
The real attack here is the integrity of our elections. Trump says the Russians are not helping him and all our intelligence offices say they are.
Whoever loses the 2020 election will claim they were cheated, driving us to an ever-increasing divide. This is just what Putin wants.
It's time to get the truth out of Deutsche Bank and Trump's tax statements now, before the elections. Where did his money come from and how does it affect his relationship with Russia.
29
Whatever hold Putin and the Russians have on Trump it must be extraordinary.
The only "deep state" I see is that of Russian influence in major aspects of American life aided and abetted by Donald Trump with facilitators in the upper levels of the Republican Party.
What's the price of betrayal Mr. Trump?
17
He called it a hoax since it's in his favor.
Otherwise it would be a Democratic conspiracy against him.
11
I guess he has to call the FBI and CIA incompetent or biased to defend himself, but it is obviously him that is lying about Russia in 2016. He tried to make it sound like Ukraine did it, but no evidence supports that. The evidence says the Russia hacked DNC and Hillary emails, and gave them to WikiLeaks, and that Stone knew about it. That was after Trump in a campaign speech publicly invited Russia to hack Hillary. The election was close and Trump won because of Russia. There is plenty of evidence, and actually the US CIA and FBI are honest and use true facts.
13
@Will Hogan Agree. And Trump and his campaign knew that the Russians had the eMails and when they would release them.
4
Several news sources regularly report the number of times Trump has lied since becoming president. Maybe you could search your archives and count the number of times he has used the word "hoax" or the phrase "fake news." The poor man has so little imagination and so much guilt that he projects his shortcomings to others without taking any credit for his own lies, hoaxes, and fake news. I expect we'll soon hear the usual denials soon from Stephanie Grisham, Hope Hicks, Nick Mulvaney, the rest of Trump's righteous and upright staff and supporters.
8
This kind of claim and behavior, repeated so frequently, is only possible because about 40% of Americans have said, loud and clear, “tell us anything, Donald, and we’ll believe you”. Congressional Republicans allow themselves to be completely silenced by these Americans.
12
Trump is beholden to Putin for reasons America yet understands, but its obvious.
It was first obvious when in Helsinki Trump said he believed Putin's claim that Russia didn't interfere in the 2016 election despite all 17 US Intelligence agencies having proof that Russia did interfere.
So now Donald wants to repeat that same broken record in hopes current and active Russian election disinformation benefits his campaign.
Republicans could care less if Russia interferes as long as they win so they've shown the world that they care about grabbing power more than protecting America and our Constitution from enemies foreign (Russia/Putin) and domestic (Trump).
Don't agonize though. ORGANIZE!
Demonstrate. Donate. Volunteer. Vote.
VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO in local, state and federal elections so We The People can drain Trump's swamp of corrupt Congressional Republican enablers.
13
What kind of intellect does it take to believe that a handful of buzz words that comprise the complete vocabulary of this president - hoax, wonderful, etc. as being good examples of his ability to be intellectually competent enough to get re-elected, much less run this country for another 4 years? Perhaps we are
misinterpreting his slurred speech and inability to pronounce
words in his limited vocabulary as a sign that he is fit to lead us into 2024.
5
A House of Cards of Lies.
Trump has no choice but to pile more lies on top of the old ones.
He has ensnared himself in his own tangled web.
9
Does anyone else think that they might be living in a parallel universe?
10
It's humiliating to Trump and 43 million Americans that Trump didn't earn his opportunities and his unverified billions, and that he was not elected by the majority of the American voters and only won the Electoral College vote because of dirty politics, and that he was and continues to be helped by Russia, a foreign adversary, and that he was not exonerated by the Mueller Report, and that he has done NOTHING constructive with foreign policy. It's downright humiliating that criminals are freed and honest with student loans are in bondage. It's humiliating that the only think Trump supporters can come up with is, "Still, better than Hillary," as if they had some magic vision of something that didn't happen and can find comfort that the thing they voted against wouldn't be as humiliating as the clown they voted for. If my parents, who were in World War II were alive today to see this president, they'd wish they were dead.
14
@Max Shapiro Your post does not help us because it is just wrong on the form of democracy laid out by the Constitution. We have a Union of States. Trump was elected. The popular vote is per state and state's with greater population have more electoral votes. Instead of posting misinformation, advocate for a Constitutional Convention. Agree, we are in a big mess.
@NYT Reader
I appreciate the reproof.
The issue, for me, is why more people aren't feeling humiliated by the predicament we're in. The Trump supporters are humiliated by having to be dishonest with themselves, for example. A different president elected by the minority of voters would have tried to win them over instead of basing an entire public relations approach on humiliation. The last time the politics of humiliation was successful on a major scale was Germany following the humiliations of the Treaty of Versailles. The American "white race" is facing a humiliation in like and kind that the Nazis capitalized on. Humiliation is very powerful, but it ends in suicide. That's something our Trump's 43 million should weigh in on.
Trump wants his supporters to feel humiliated and to retaliate on the basis of humiliation, not because their ideas can compete, but because their sense of self-righteousness can, with the Democrats.
2
Instead of crying "hoax," perhaps Trump could actually provide whatever counter-evidence he has showing why he feels that the intelligence estimate on Russian interference in the upcoming election isn't true. You know, actually have a discussion like an adult. This is like having "no it isn't!" screamed at you by a two-year-old.
Plus, since all the "hoaxes" have checked out, and "fake news" means "news that is true but inconvenient for me," and claims of "executive privilege" have been extended to cover matters personal embarrassment in addition to national security...I have no idea why anyone would believe a word out of Trump's mouth.
89
@Jeff Trump does provide his counter-evidence, Putin told him it was true.
RIP, USA
25
@Jeff
Trump? Providing factual evidence to substantiate one of his claims?
If he does, it will be the first time the president has resorted to logic, reason or TRUTH since taking office!
A noble thought. But likely impossible.
12
@Jeff What he speaks IS "truth". And over 60M people believe every word of it.
4
I guess Trump wasn’t there when Putin told the world of course he supported the election of Donald Trump, oh wait he was sitting a few feet away. He obviously thinks Americans are totally stupid or something. Just ask Trump why his phone calls with Putin are in the super secret secure server, his reaction will tell you all you need to know.
57
@Chris
We need to hear all the calls that are residing in the super secret server. I'm sure they wouldn't help his re-election campaign should they be made public.
9
And why again must his translators alone with Putin take no notes?
2
There needs to be a penalty for disinformation being forwarded by the media. Should, for instance, Fox media make a statement that has no validity, there should be a fine. Sort of like how media stations get fined for allowing curse words to be aired.
Now that we know Russia is upping their ploys, disinformation needs to be curtailed with a vengeance.
There has to be a fine system put in place for media disinformation, pure and simple.
12
@GP Well we had the fairness doctrine but Reagan got rid of that. So there is no counterpoint to the lies or the crazy.
8
Who will decide what is misinformation and who gets fined? Trump’s Justice Department?
4
@GP
I am sure that Trump can appoint an acting minder for that work. There, all done.
3
Very sad state of affairs when one of our political parties (GOP) would side with the word of Putin (remember Helsinki) over our own non-partisan intelligence officials. Talk about doing Putin's bidding... at this point, why not just hand over the keys to the White House to Putin?
38
As the teetering tower of lies by trump grows ever larger and more fantastic will the somewhat less gullible among his throng start to drop off or peel away..? We can only hope. (There is No Hope for the GOP senators who further enabled this abomination.) Vote Blue & Save Our Country.
38
@tazio sez The less gullible and the GOP senators don't care about Trump's antics. They are getting exactly what they want accomplished: Federal courts stacked with conservative judges, a conservative-leaning SCOTUS, abortion on the verge of being made illegal, the gutting of unions, environmental deregulation, the list goes on. To them the end justifies the means. Tweaking the noses of liberals is just icing on the cake.
4
@T Rhodes Lies that seemingly border on the insane are weakly characterized as simply 'antics'! Treasonable lies, in other times...Sorry, I grow nostalgic.
1
If Trump says it's a hoax then that means it's true.
59
@Jan
Agreed
As a retired h.s. math teacher who greatly enjoyed teaching students their first course in Plane Geometry, I believe your comment is a profoundly useful statement.
Even though our definitions and postulates are not yet fully in place, I suspect that your one-sentence comment would qualify as a provable Theorem in a precise statement of Current American Political Truths. Jan you have clearly stated a reality which all thinking members of the electorate should consider, and then accept.
Kudos!
9
This is rich. Donald Trump—probably the biggest liar in American political history—calling his administration’s analysis a “hoax” is absurd.
His followers will believe him. The cowardly Republicans will refuse to stand up to him. These are perilous times.
Never underestimate the ignorance of the American people—or the cowardice of Republicans.
81
If only the Trump presidency were a hoax... It seems impossible that any citizen of the USA would be willing to put up with this yet he continues to maintain his minions. I guess if some people feel economically more secure and/or their pet issues are being supported they are willing to accept all sorts of self-serving misconduct from the President.
46
Donald Trump filing slow-motion intellectual, moral and economic bankruptcy for the United States of America.
Don't be fooled by the supposedly rosy economy and Wall Street bubble.
When the hot air inevitably stops flowing from this so-called President, his very real destruction of America, American institutions, the truth and the economy will be devastating.
Hit the EJECT button, America.
November 3 2020
139
@Socrates , unfortunately a large chunk of our fellow citizens will likely hit the SELF DESTRUCT button instead.
29
@Socrates ... and for trump, there is always the LAUNCH button to stir things up if he's backed up in a corner with no way out.
6
One thing we can count on with the WH resident, his total lack of imagination. The "hoax" thing is all he's got. His buildings are unimaginative, his clothes are repetitive to the point beyond boredom serving only to conceal his growing bulk. He does, however, have the crook thing down pat, enabled by his 24 hour consigliere - twitter. Almost everything he says about others is about himself, how he is acting, which is further evidence of his lack of original thought. It is his formula, a habitual pattern, his mouth always open on the fly, is to spew the same attack phrases reverberating in that canyon brain devoid of empathy.
38
There is nothing that Donald Trump will not say or do to stay in an office he never really wanted. And he will try to stay until he dies.
It’s not only that he is personally weak and mentally unstable. He is deeply afraid of what is going to happen to him if he ever leaves office.
He will be exposed for the fraud he is and prosecuted for the financial and other irregularities he has perpetrated to keep himself rolling in cash.
43
United States of America Democracy
1776 - 2020
Rest in Peace
27
@Anne
I like your confidence - he loses in nov, or you'd have put 2024.
Real news: Fake president.
Sad news: Most of the GOP lacks the courage to uphold their oath to protect America from enemies domestic and foreign.
71
Trump's words are poison, meant to serve only one purpose - the obfuscation of truth, but his unfailing strategy to lie incessantly about anything and everything that doesn't make him out to be Our Savior and The Absolute Greatest at Everything On Earth has been a blessing in disguise. If you are able to see his lies for what they are, then the truth is simply the direct opposite of what Trump states it to be (in accordance with Hunter S Thompson's 180-degree theory). In this way, Trump has inadvertently made it easier to see the truth of any situation every time he speaks. This is why I am absolutely certain that the relationship between Trump and his Attorney General has never been better. It really is a shame that half of American voters still haven't figured this out and it's an even greater shame that, in 2020, newspapers still give credence to his lies.
40
The notion that trump's own chosen *acting* DNI is perpetrating a Democratic hoax is only surpassed by the reality that the current president is in office owing to a Republican hoax.
35
Trump only picks the “best”.
2
Are we sliding into a banana republic? Why is everyone so afraid of standing up to him? Publicly? Afraid of his tweet? What if he actually gets real power with sycophants manning the crucial departments of justice, intelligence and national security? He is halfway there!
19
This is, without modifiers, open subversion of the constitution by Trump. This is the police chief, on the take, doing PR for the mafia.
He is an accomplice to what Russia is doing. Is there a process to charge him?
32
@Tara I believe the process to charge him is impeachment and removal but, apparently that ship has sailed.
7
It’s just continually astounding how no one in a political position to do so will challenge this person. Have none of them ever engaged in “what’s the worst thing that could happen to me if I do?” question. So he calls you names. So you lose your election. Have you nothing else in your life? Have you never recreated yourself from scratch? Have you never stood up for yourself and your beliefs and been laughed at or scorned or even ostracized in your life? It ain’t the worst thing that could happen to you. We live. We bounce back. We land on our feet. Later, we might even realize it was the best thing to ever happen to us. We respect ourselves.
69
@Lauren That's the problem - that what is the worst thing that could happen?
When a new administration comes in and the investigations start, what do you think they're going to find? I think it's going to be worse than any of us can possibly imagine. And that includes the fact that once all the secret servers are emptied, the paper trails followed and exposed and the breadth and depth of corruption exposed, welp, there ya go.
If a lot aren't headed to prison, instead of being the losers in any political challenges, they will be The Untouchables in society.
Their children will have to change their last names. Yeah, what is the Worst that can happen? Why are they all fighting back so hard to keep the big domino from falling?
5
"I think it's going to be worse than any of us can possibly imagine."
I certainly can't imagine...but the caged kids we STILL haven't accounted for will be a start. Our 45th President, if we can still elect one, will have PTSD on day ONE when they learn their fate.
1
Sure, and DJT is a humanitarian and an altruist.
7
So now Trump accuses his own intelligence administration of being a Democratic hoax. He has no confidence in his own appointees? Maybe Trump himself is a Democratic hoax.
11
@David Lui For my part, I wish he were a hologram from an alternate universe but, sadly, no.
6
He was elected on a nihilistic "let's burn the country to the ground" platform. His supporters seem to be getting what they voted for....
33
Are we all going crazy and fiddling while our country burns? When will Republicans grow a spine and work for our country?
22
Here we go again with the Trump disinformation campaign cry of "hoax!" When his own Director of National Intelligence has his assistant brief Congress on ongoing Russian attempts to help re-elect him, Trump first fires him and then blames the Democrats. It's truly Orwellian when Big Brother Trump claims that "truth is misinformation." And, if you believe that the "hoax is on you" now and more ominously this November. Unless Democrats start pushing very hard to preserve the sanctity of the vote--both in their own primaries which in Iowa have already been meddled with, and in the national election this November, Trump may eke out another win. The Democrats must insist on a tamper-proof vote that probably should be a backup paper ballot and guard against the real threat to their primaries by moving to paper ballots immediately.
21
Who will be brave enough to publicly expose this criminal, walking, talking constitutional crisis?
At this point, it's going to take entire government agencies to band together and publicly expose trump's crimes and betrayals.
If our intelligence agencies can't see where this is headed, maybe they do need to "go back to school", like trump said. This is a "break glass in case of emergency " moment.
36
Being a naïve despot, and one afflicted with both pseudologia fantastica and narcissistic personality disorder, Trump actually believes he "won" in 2016 by himself, despite all evidence to the contrary.
He refuses to believe that the Russians interfered in our 2016 election because a) he believes himself to be God's gift to mankind, and b) he believes Putin over American intelligence agencies, two congressional committees that investigated the issue, his own Defense secretary, director of national intelligence and national security adviser, his former CIA director (now Secretary of State), and numerous private cybersecurity experts.
So if he refused to acknowledge that interference, why on earth would he believe that it is happening again?
23
@Chris Wildman
I believe that - in his heart of hearts - Trump realizes that he did not win on his own....he needed a Russian 'push'. Without it, he'd be back in Atlantic City, ripping off small contractors.
His nightmare obsession is that he knows he's a loser.
NOT my president
8
@Chris Wildman
he is not refusing to believe
he knows the truth......he know what he has done.
he just does not like the truth he has created.
deny, deflect, defame everyone who does not fit the scenario.
This is like some kind of torture. The Trump administration provides a briefing to House members and somehow the content of that briefing is part of a Democratic conspiracy? Unbelievable.
41
Chances are that Trump nominates Giuliani for DNI, what with Stephen Miller being preoccupied with immigration and Jared Kushner with everything else.
Would any Senate Republican dare oppose?
9
Evidently the revised rule now applicable in this White House is:
"Do shoot the messenger."
I'm wondering, Senators Collins, Alexander and Murkowski...is this another of those lessons you believe President Trump has learned?
24
More of the same. Are we to believe, after almost 4 years, that there was no Russian meddling in the 2016 election? There has been unanimous agreement that there indeed was Russian interference, even if there was no conclusive evidence of direct cooperation by Trump. Are we to not believe our intelligence community? A vast hoax perpetrated by the Democrats are "the deep state" (whatever that is)? And now the same reports regarding the 2020 election. There is no "vast hoax." It would be so easy for Trump to just say "yes, the Russians interfered in 2016 and apparently are doing it again in 2020; they must cease such actions immediately, and I in no way welcome much less seek any such assistance in my 2020 campaign." Of course, Trump won't say this. He simply can't.
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@C.L.S. : Trump "simply can't" because he is in too deep. Let's see his taxes - those taxes he promised to disclose and never did - the Supreme Court will now rule on that in June - and will hopefully make Trump turn them over. Then we will see how financially deep he is in with Russia. By the way, former Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, a Republican, testified under sworn oath, about Russian tampering stating "The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion." He then expanded on that statement with a warning about the 2020 election: "they (Russia) are plotting as we sit here." If these statements by Robert Mueller were untrue, why did Donald Trump not refute them at the time? Maybe he hadn't yet received instructions from Moscow as to how to proceed! Donald Trump is Putin's puppet!
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Pretty easy. Russia gets Trump elected and no one will believe anything any American does for decades. You will be referred to the country that elected a lying idiot as leader. What do you think the rest of the world will think of you?
The Americans I met last years have started by excuse for Trump. I think if you elect him again I will only meet "Canadians" on vacation in Europe.
But you elected maybe the stupidest president in GWB, twice. And you topped that!
Guess who will be in war with Iran if stockmarket crash before November??
(tweet from trump regarding Obama reelection)
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Most of us didn’t vote for him. Don’t count us out yet because we are looking forward to the giant blue wave in November.
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@Per Erik,
Every time I travel to Europe, I introduce myself as coming from “that third world country ruled by a dictator who wants to have sex with his daughter. You might have heard of it? America?”
That line never fails to score me a free pint.
Cheers.
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Funny how an apparent large majority of federal employees see evidence he's a liar and a crook.
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Sadly we are showing that the Russians do not need to try and create conflict with misinformation. We do a good job of it all on our own.
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@DC It's Fox News' whole reason for existence.
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The Trump Administration has normalized the “shoot the messenger “ approach to law enforcement and the federal judicial system.
So much for Homeland Security. So much for common justice.
Wonder how this approach plays out at the CDC? Pandemic anyone?
This does not end well.
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According to the Macmillan Dictionary the definition of the word hoax is: “a trick in which someone deliberately tells people that something bad is going to happen OR that something is true when it is not”. Synonyms include both ploy and dodge. By this definition as a country and I include all of us of voting age regardless of political views or affiliation that we are confronted by the apparent world champion of hoaxers.
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Seriously, Trump is allowed to endlessly spew this drivel and the press reports it like it is a normal story. After the last week, everyone should be sounding the alarm bells. Sticking his nose in the justice department, getting rid of his own intelligence person for alerting Congress to Russian meddling (again). Saying it is a hoax by the Democrats. How is that even possible... it was his intelligence persons. I am sorry, but the press still does not know how to cover this liar. Stop acting like these are normal times.
Please Democrats running for President....spend the entire next debate talking about the threat Trump is to our nation. If I hear about Medicare for All one more time...I will lose my mind.
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Excellent comment, but you will be losing your mind.
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Trump’s supporters will believe anything he tells them. The republicans in congress haven’t the courage to even disagree with him. Their fear of trump has swallowed up any grain of moral fiber some of them might have possessed. They so often claimed to be patriots; yet they permit this ignorant, destructive narcissist to undermine the the rule of law. History will show that those who allowed or assisted trump to shred so many constitutional principles to be villains fully complicit in his crimes.
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One day, soon I hope, the GOP will rue the day (days) they lost their spines and obliged the bully in their midst. The spinelessness and fealty paid towards the tyrannical President Trump will be the biggest stain on their humanity and history.
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This person, Trump, is simply evil. Why why was he ever elected? Why why doesn't he believe his own intelligence agencies?
We all know why and the GOP knows as well.
The strangest time in American history. And it effects the whole world.
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This is how democracies die. The senators who voted to acquit Trump out of fear of being picked on by a bully have done us all a grave disservice. What has happened to this country, that so many have sacrificed all they had to preserve? Why did the formerly “world’s greatest deliberative body” decide to give free reign to this dictator wannabe?
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@Wayne I think a lot of people ought to go down to Independence Sq. and have a group prayer.
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Because the Senate is being “Housified” by electing low-experienced House members or extreme partisans to the Senate. The Senate should be filled with State-level representatives and not district-level knuckleheads that are unaccustomed to broad coalition building and non-emotional arguments.
This Housification is the true problem in the Senate and it needs to stop.
Donald Trump's greatest hits:
It's a Hoax
Witch Hunt
Do Nothing Democrats
Deep State
Fake News
No One's Been Tougher on Russia
Any/all of those will work for any information/narrative that Donald Trump doesn't find flattering to his own purposes. Intelligence is a "hoax" if it paints Trump in a negative light...dreamed up by the do-nothing democrats. Bah blah blah.
Clearly the Dems aren't doing nothing if they are working this hard to create hoax after hoax after hoax.
The Trump creative team could use some fresh material. They are becoming painfully predictable in their talking points.
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It’s like a game: “hoax”, “fake news”, “misinformation”, “deep state”, “witch hunt”.
I got a bingo!
36
We have now arrived at the Orwellian Moment: there is no longer an objective 'truth'.
The 'truth', if it offends the Trump Administration, is now classified as 'misinformation'.
FOX News propaganda, on the other hand - while clearly a distortion - is now classified as 'the real thing'.
All bets are off.
Buckle up.
NOT my president
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How can a report from the intelligence agencies be a Democratic hoax? That doesn't even make any sense.
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@KLP
You're not seriously trying to find any rationality in this administration's decisions, are you?
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@KLP
Welcome to Trumpworld. It is a senseless place.
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@KLP
Because, Trump's thinking goes, only Democrats are interested in intelligence.
Those Republicans welcome in his presence are interested in loyalty and coverups, two things that Trump absolutely demands of everyone around him and two things totally at odds with what an objective observer would consider the factual record.
Republicans were primed for this by Fox News and talk radio. A lie can make it halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its pants, the saying goes, which is apt as Trump tells many of his lies before putting on his.
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So I guess that pretty clearly lay's out how the Trump administration will handle the upcoming Russian cyber attacks. We all kind of expected that's how it would play out, but once again I'm shocked about how brazen he is about his corruption.
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@Chris Lawrence Republicans are giving Trump free reign to destroy American democracy while gaslighting and pretending to give a hoot.
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@Chris Lawrence Trump is a deeply, deeply sick man. And as much as I despise him, I have even greater contempt for the Republicans in Congress.
11
If Trump fires acting director of intelligence for following the law and reporting to congress Russia’s ongoing interference, not a single person offered up by trump to a high-level government post should ever get past step 1 of any nominating process. I want people in office who are loyal to the Constitution and their country. They are paid by and serve The People, not this ridiculously buffoonish so-called “President”. A pox on Republicans everywhere. May they be rightfully trounced in 2020.
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And his base will believe it. This country will never be the same again. The GOP has spent the last 30 years from Newt Gingrich on to create a vicious divide in this country. I hope when the destruction they have been leading us to happens they will finally be pleased with what they have wrought.
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@Sony
Oh, they will be. Their intention is to remain in power by any means necessary. Even if the country burns to the ground, they will not care in the slightest as long as they are running it.
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@Sony for years the GOP has operated by the philosophy “if we cant have it (the country), nobody can.”
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@Sony Newt was the catalyst for sure and continues to sow the divide on faux news.
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