My thoughts on the matter of the Russian cyber-attacks are not formed in a vacuum. I do have quite a lot of experience in network security. When I first learned of the Russian intrusion - hacking of the DNC email servers - in July of 2016, I was particularly upset that the Obama Administration wasn’t taking more forceful action; wasn’t informing the electorate of the meddling. I was also upset by the Republican leaders who deliberately dismissed the evidentiary allegation that Putin wanted Trump to win and that there were members of the Trump Campaign with ties to the Russian government who were acting, knowingly or unknowingly, as Russian operatives.
In a demonstration of true patriotism, Senator Dianne Feinstein has released to the public the transcript of the August 22, 2017 Senate Judiciary Committee interview of Fusion GPS founder, Glenn Simpson. When she posted the transcript, Senator Feinstein stated, “The innuendo and misinformation circulating about the transcript are part of a deeply troubling effort to undermine the investigation into potential collusion and obstruction of justice. The only way to set the record straight is to make the transcript public.”
She has been under attack by Trump and the Republican Party ever since.
I read – not once, but twice - the 312-page transcript of the interview which was made public on January 9, 2017. In doing so, I purposely shut out the news reports and partisan talking heads’ opinions of the ten hour Q & A testimony. I shut it all out as I did my reading of the interview because as Richard P. Feynman said, “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself. And you are the easiest person to fool.” I wanted to form my own opinion on the transcript and the ongoing Trump/Russia investigation – an informed opinion that I could share with those who care and are willing to take note.
As I read the Fusion GPS transcript for the first time, my mind made a correlation between the GOP’s interrogative intent and the hullabaloo in 1989 over ‘Cold Fusion’ (a term that became synonymous with “junk science” because the findings weren’t real). The second time I read it, my opinion became distressingly tangible: The 45th President of The United States has ties to Russian criminals and the Republican Party is downplaying those connections with a cover-up worse than Nixon’s Watergate.
The acronym IMHO stands for “In My Humble Opinion” but as I read the transcript, the ‘H’ came to mean something different to me - “In My Horrified Opinion”. IMHO, the Republican Party is willing to obfuscate the truth about Trump/Russia ties, in order to hang onto power and push their partisan agenda on the American people at the cost of our national security.
I’m not the only one with this opinion: Before Senator Feinstein released the transcript, the Fusion GPS witness and his business partner penned an op-ed for the New York Times on Jan. 2, 2018 and said Trump’s GOP cronies on the intelligence committees “…have known for months that credible allegations of collusion between the Trump camp and Russia were pouring in from independent sources during the campaign.”
Throughout the hours-long interview, the questioning of the witness from the Republican committee members was accusatory and leading; an attempt to “kill the messenger”, rather than a fact-finding inquiry of probable criminal engagements and cover-up of treasonous activities by Trump and his associates. Not once did ANY Republican representative inquire about Donald J Trump and his ties to Russia and possible (probable) conspiracy against the United States. Not once. Let that sink in.
The Russian cyber-attacks on our sovereignty are not a partisan issue. They are a National Security concern. The GOP attempts to discredit Fusion GPS’ research practices, Christopher Steele’s dossier and our own Intelligence Agencies’ conclusions about Russian interference in our elections are evidence of their willingness to sacrifice truth, justice, and democracy for the sake of their authoritarian rule.
‘We The People’ cannot and must not abide by the GOP cold fusion (“junk patriotism”) principles of deception, political pandering, and misdirection. Our free elections are still under attack by Putin’s cyber-army! Trump and his party have done nothing to defend and protect us from this Russian hostility.
Indeed, as Senator Feinstein says, “It should go without saying that foreign interference of any kind in our democratic process is intolerable and must not go unanswered. This issue must not be politicized—all Americans should be outraged at Russia’s actions.”
I am outraged. I am very outraged. If you are not outraged, you either aren’t paying attention, or you’re a complete idiot.
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AUTHOR NOTE:The initial opposition research on then primary candidate Trump by Fusion GPS started in the latter half of 2015. It has since been revealed that this work was for the “Washington Free Beacon” – a conservative news outlet. It was during that initial engagement that Fusion GPS came across alarming information on Donald J Trump’s business dealings. Once he won the Republican primary, that engagement ended in spring of 2016 and Fusion GPS was then hired by another group to continue opposition research on Trump. (See pages 63- 76 of the transcript.) Though Glenn Simpson did not reveal the second client’s identity in his testimony, it is now known that it was the DNC and the Clinton Campaign… which doesn’t make a damn bit of difference in the veracity of the intelligence reports on Trump’s criminal ties to Russia and Russia’s interference in our elections. (See pages 142-164 of the transcript.)
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