Tag: Russian election interference

Senate Intel finds ‘extensive’ Russian election interference going back to 2014

The Hill logoThe Senate Intelligence Committee has released its long-awaited bipartisan report on election security and Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Among the key findings of the report, the committee writes that “the Russian government directed extensive activity, beginning in at least 2014 and carrying into at least 2017, against U.S. election infrastructure at the state and local level.”

The report is heavily redacted in some areas and is 67 pages. The Senate panel, which has been investigating Russian interference for more than two years, released a summary version of its election security findings in May 2018.

The panel released its redacted report one day after former special counsel Robert Mueller appeared on Capitol Hill to testify about his own 22-month investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible obstruction of justice by President Trump.

View the complete July 25 article by Morgan Chalfant and Maggie Miller on The Hill website here.

McConnell blocks two election security bills

The Hill logoSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blocked two election security measures on Thursday, arguing Democrats are trying to give themselves a “political benefit.”

The move comes a day after former special counsel Robert Mueller warned about election meddling in 2020, saying Russia was laying the groundwork to interfere in the 2020 election “as we sit here.”

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) had tried to get consent Thursday to pass a House bill that requires the use of paper ballots and includes funding for the Election Assistance Commission. It passed the House 225-184 with one Republican voting for it.

View the complete July 25 article by Jordain Carney on The Hill website here.

Your regular reminder that McConnell abetted Russian election interference — and is doing it again

AlterNet logoRunning interference for the occupier of the Oval Office, the execrable Rep. Steve Scalise is attacking Joe Biden, saying “Russian interference in America’s elections happened on Obama and Biden’s watch.” That’s “irrefutable” he says, pointing to a craptacular 2017 CBS News report from 2017 that vaguely references the “political difficulties” President Obama faced in addressing Russian hacking without once mention Mitch McConnell.

Those political difficulties were entirely of McConnell’s making. He’s the guy who, in reporter Greg Miller’s retelling, was fully briefed on everything the intelligence committee knew about Russian interference. He was told that Russia was intervening to hurt Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump. And McConnell told the CIA, “You’re telling us that Russia is trying to help elect Trump. If you try to come forward with this, I’m not going to sign onto any sort of public statement that would condemn Russian interference. But I will condemn you and the Obama administration for trying to mess up this election.” Continue reading “Your regular reminder that McConnell abetted Russian election interference — and is doing it again”

Jimmy Carter says Trump wouldn’t be president without help from Russia

Washington Post logoFormer president Jimmy Carter said Friday that he believes a full investigation of the 2016 election would show that President Trump prevailed because of Russian interference on his behalf and otherwise would not be in office.

“There’s no doubt that the Russians did interfere in the election, and I think the interference, although not yet quantified, if fully investigated would show that Trump didn’t actually win the election in 2016,” Carter said. “He lost the election, and he was put into office because the Russians interfered on his behalf.”

His made his comments during a panel discussion at a conference in Leesburg, Va., sponsored by the Carter Center, a nonprofit organization he founded in 1982 that focuses on human rights.

View the complete June 28 article by John Wagner on The Washington Post website here.

In Japan, Trump appears to make light of Russian election interference during meeting with Putin

Washington Post logoPresident Trump met with Russian President Vladi­mir Putin on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan, and appeared to make light of Moscow’s election interference. Here are the highlights:

  • “Don’t meddle in the election,” a grinning Trump told Putin in response to reporters’ questions.
  • Trump and Putin also appeared to briefly discuss their mutual dislike of the news media with Trump saying “Fake news is a great term, isn’t it.”
  • Russian state media said Trump “responded very positively” to an invitation from Putin to visit Moscow next year.
  • Other leaders at the summit, notably British Prime Minister Theresa May, took a tougher stand against Putin, citing Russia’s “destabilizing” behavior.

OSAKA, Japan — President Trump on Friday appeared to make light of Russian election interference, telling President Vladi­mir Putin with a grin during a bilateral meeting, “Don’t meddle in the election,” after reporters shouted questions about the topic.

View the complete June 28 article by David Nakamura, Seung Min Kim and Damian Paletta on The Washington Post website here.

Trump Is Assailed for Saying He Would Take Campaign Help From Russia

WASHINGTON — For President Trump, the special counsel report was supposed to put Russia in his rearview mirror. But with some off-the-cuff remarks in the Oval Office, he has thrust his relationship with Moscow back into the debate over the future of his presidency.

Mr. Trump’s defiant declaration that “I’d take it” if Russia again offered campaign help and his assertion that he would not necessarily tell the F.B.I. about it drew bipartisan condemnation on Thursday, fueling calls for legislation requiring candidates to report such offers to the authorities and emboldening Democrats seeking his impeachment.

The furor shifted the discussion in Washington away from obstruction of justice and back to the original issue that had dogged Mr. Trump since his election in 2016. Although the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, found no illegal conspiracy between Mr. Trump’s campaign and Russia, the president’s comments renewed questions about his willingness to profit from the aid of a hostile foreign power.

View the complete June 13 article by Peter Baker and Nicholas Fandos on The New York Times website here.

Trump: ‘I had nothing to do with Russia helping me get elected’

President Trump said early Thursday that he “had nothing to do with Russia helping me get elected” while slamming special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation in a series of tweets.

“After spending $40,000,000 over two dark years, with unlimited access, people, resources and cooperation, highly conflicted Robert Mueller would have brought charges, if he had ANYTHING, but there were no charges to bring!” he said in his first tweet of the morning.

“Russia has disappeared because I had nothing to do with Russia helping me to get elected. It was a crime that didn’t exist,” he said in a subsequent tweet.

View the complete May 30 article by Kyle Balluck and Tal Axelrod on The Hill website here.

Mueller departs with warning: Don’t forget Russia’s election meddling

Congress has been divided over how to address weaknesses in U.S. election system

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who stepped down from his position Wednesday, had a stark warning for Americans: pay attention to what Russia did to interfere in U.S. elections.

Most of the political wrangling and fallout over Mueller’s report has focused on whether President Donald Trump obstructed justice — the report, and Mueller on Wednesday, specifically said he did not exonerate the president on that score — and whether Congress should begin impeachment proceedings. Mueller himself pointed to an aspect of his office’s findings that hasn’t been challenged by either political party.

“I will close by reiterating the central allegation of our indictments — that there were multiple, systematic efforts to interfere in our election,” Mueller said Wednesday at the Justice Department, his first public remarks since taking over the nearly two-year investigation. “That allegation deserves the attention of every American.”

View the complete May 29 article by Gopal Ratnam on The Roll Call website here.

Trump says Russia did not help him win, contradicting tweet

President Trump in a tweet early Thursday acknowledged for the first time that Russia aided his campaign during the 2016 election, then walked back the suggestion in comments outside the White House moments later.

“No, Russia did not help me get elected,” Trump told reporters as he left to deliver the U.S. Air Force Academy commencement address in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Twenty minutes earlier, Trump tweeted, “I had nothing to do with Russia helping me to get elected.”

View the complete May 50 article by Jordan Fabian on The Hill website here.

Sen. Ron Wyden is tired of Republicans ignoring election security

The Oregon Democrat wants to lift the issue out of the “traditional Washington bicker fest.”

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) is tired of Republicans ignoring election security.

“[W]hat happened in 2016 could be really small potatoes compared to 2020,” said Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who sits on the Intelligence Committee.

Wyden is especially concerned that, as he said, “all of the political muscle is on the other side trying to protect the status quo.” Now he’s hoping to take his message straight to voters.

View the complete May 22 article by Joshua Eaton on the ThinkProgress website here.