U.S. Officials: Putin Personally Involved in U.S. Election Hack

[BeyondGeography]

Source: NBC News

U.S. intelligence officials now believe with "a high level of confidence" that Russian President Vladimir Putin became personally involved in the covert Russian campaign to interfere in the U.S. presidential election, senior U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News.

Two senior officials with direct access to the information say new intelligence shows that Putin personally directed how hacked material from Democrats was leaked and otherwise used. The intelligence came from diplomatic sources and spies working for U.S. allies, the officials said.

Putin's objectives were multifaceted, a high-level intelligence source told NBC News. What began as a "vendetta" against Hillary Clinton morphed into an effort to show corruption in American politics and to "split off key American allies by creating the image that [other countries] couldn't depend on the U.S. to be a credible global leader anymore," the official said.

Ultimately, the CIA has assessed, the Russian government wanted to elect Donald Trump. The FBI and other agencies don't fully endorse that view, but few officials would dispute that the Russian operation was intended to harm Clinton's candidacy by leaking embarrassing emails about Democrats.

The latest intelligence said to show Putin's involvement goes much further than the information the U.S. was relying on in October, when all 17 intelligence agencies signed onto a statement attributing the Democratic National Committee hack to Russia.

Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/u-s-officials-putin-personally-involved-u-s-election-hack-n696146

[lindysalsagal]

1. OK. So, anyone with any power or influence going to do anything????????

We're just going to allow this?

We're just going to sell our country to Putin???

GOP???? Gonna pull your heads outta yer butts and get serious????????

The electoral vote should be stopped. Period. Only the senate can do this. They have the power.

Democracy or putocracy????? MAKE THE CALL< GOP!!!!!!!

[triron]

10. Same question

[maryallen]

18. Ditto.

If nothing is done, it's the beginning of the end.

[wordpix]

20. ditto. R's don't mind Russia throwing election for Comrade Don

and his cabal of oil men, billionaires and generals. If that were HRC working with Putin, there would be endless investigations.

Either Congress stands up to Putin or whoever stonewalls an investigation will go down in history as the worst of our traitors.

My question is, why is Pooty so hot for Don to be pres? Is it just b/c Putin has a hate on Hillary and he thinks anyone else (esp Trump who's a dolt) is better for him (Putin)? Or does he have deals going on with Trump from back when? Does Trump have properties in Russia near the castle?

[awoke_in_2003]

67. Arctic oil drilling rights. nt

[Native]

77. per NPR interviews with people in intelligence circles, it's because he can be easily manipulated

it is all about ego and flattery. according to the interviews, he is about the most perfect specimen they could have possibly asked for.

[brer cat]

96. If it had been Hillary or any other dem

benefiting, they would not have recessed and would hold hearings Christmas day to get it out in public. A republican? Ho, hum.

[LiberalLovinLug]

97. Can you imagine an equivalent of an authoritarian leftist politician

Like Chavez or Maduro found guilty of personally directing the win of Hillary Clinton?

Does anyone think the Republicans would not do everything and anything to stop the inauguration?

[LisaM]

13. If the electoral college was actually employed as a safety net to PREVENT Trump taking office

it would send a message loudly and clearly to the rest of the world that we have a process, and we won't let other countries undermine it.

The chances I think that will happen? Zero to one half percent.

Just the fact that Putin fears Hillary Clinton should be a huge factor in her favor. He's a thug and a bully, and after what happened with Pussy Riot, clearly a misogynist and sexist. I can't think of anything good in connection with him. He sounds as petty and vindictive and vengeful and thin-skinned as Trump.

[riversedge]

70. Now is the time, if there ever was a time, for the EC to prevent Trump from taking office.

[neeksgeek]

24. In this case...

"GOP???? Gonna pull your heads outta yer butts and get serious????????"

In this case... That is sadly impossible, as there is apparently no anatomical difference between their heads and their butts. Even Ben Carson couldn't surgically separate them.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

27. "We're just going to sell our country to Putin???"

No. We're going to give it to him. He won't have to fire a shot. It won't cost him a thing.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

33. Ummm... Obama?! You listening?!

[ailsagirl]

55. THEN WHY DON'T THEY DO SOMETHING???

Render the election null and void!!--

We're teetering on the precipice and it's scary as hell

I can't even find a smiley to complement my post

[MotorCityMan]

76. I keep screaming in my head "AND ALL THIS IS OK????"

and keep wondering why nobody is fucking DOING anything about it.

[ailsagirl]

93. EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bettie]

84. I'd like an answer to that too

unfortunately the answer is probably no, no one will do anything.

[Maven]

2. OMG. The president needs to address the country and lay out all of this information.

We can't pretend to be a self-governing people anymore otherwise.

[tomp]

82. yes he does. you 'll notice he's not doing it.

obama has been a total loser on addressing republican treasonous activity. he did not address the crimes of the bush/cheney, inc and he appears now, at best, to be delaying addressing trump, inc crimes.

[Chasstev365]

3. So why isn't this front page news??

Oh, Silly me! We don't live in a democracy anymore!

[triron]

11. same question

[Ford_Prefect]

4. That sounds dangerously close to an act of war, considering that espionage is

war by alternate means. This comes very close to the legal definitions of sabotage, too.

[SDJay]

5. Cities Would Literally Be Burning

if Pooty Pute had done the same thing for HRC.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

34. So true... time for people on our side to take a stand. Please tell me protests are in the works!

[RussBLib]

68. it would seem that cities not burning would be preferable to cities burning

but it's cold comfort to know we are more reasonable than they are

there should be more than a few remedies short of burning down the city, and short of taking out civilians

[SamKnause]

6. Why isn't this breaking news on every channel ???

Why isn't president Obama giving a press conference ???

WTF is happening in this country ???

I feel like a lamb being led to slaughter.

Sometimes it sucks to know history.

[BeyondGeography]

8. Maybe he's waiting for the EC vote

That's the only reason I can come up with. We need to hear from him.

[rzemanfl]

9. I'm ashamed to say I think he is waiting until after Xmas because of the impact it

could have on the economy if addressed now.

[BeyondGeography]

12. He wants the CIA report before he leaves office

I guess he can push it until then. But I think he needs to say something in the meantime, even if it's just that the report will be coming in X date and I will address the nation about it then.

[rzemanfl]

15. I suspect that is window dressing for what is really going on.

But I'm paranoid-delusional and hope I will wake up from this any minute now.

[wordpix]

51. O needs to send a letter to Congress & EC stating the EC vote must be delayed

and go public with something like: "Currently, we have recounts ongoing and the need to investigate matters related to Russia's security breaches during the election campaign. The fact of Russian cybersecurity breaches has been agreed to by 17 US intel agencies, and the CIA found that Putin himself is involved due to his desire to influence the election. Therefore I have asked Congress and the EC to delay the EC vote until Jan. _____, when the recounts are over and investigative reports are completed."

Obama needs to call on Congress for a special investigation and not just have "his own," as rabid R's and Infowars will call the CIA investigation. But if Pres O says it in a way they can understand, maybe some R's, media and Trumpsters can grasp the concept of delaying the EC vote and reasons why.

[EL34x4]

87. What recounts are still taking place?

I thought recounts were over.

[Mr. Evil]

26. Fuck Christmas!

This is infinitely more important than toys or your child pissing on Santa's lap. Christmas would be to see these traitors brought to trial and convicted.

[rzemanfl]

28. Did you ever think you may have picked the wrong movie to take your name from?

Not that I disagree with you.

[Mr. Evil]

59. I didn't take it from a movie.

I took it from Iron Maiden lead singer Bruce Dickinson's bathrobe (It was embroidered on the back) that he would wear after a concert performance. I believe you are referring to Dr. Evil of Austin Powers fame.

[rzemanfl]

60. Yes, it is amazing how popular culture tells our eyes what they think they see. n/t

[Skittles]

32. he still wants to be their friend

he won't do a fucking thing

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

35. Seriously... feel like I'm trapped in Bizzarro World!!!

[awoke_in_2003]

69. Russia want disputed Arctic territory for oil drilling

With Tillerson as SoS, we might just cede that land to Russia. The oil companies and Russia benefit, and no one does. That is my take. With HRC as president, that contested land would probably stay contested. With a Russian lackey like Tillerson, all bets are off.

[Kingofalldems]

7. He did yeoman's work for his boy Trump.

This is a national crisis now.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

37. As in Code Fuckin' Red!!!... Where the fuck is Obama on this!

[wordpix]

52. he's pondering what to do, give him a break. He has a foot out the door but

I'm sure he's very involved in this as it involves national security, which Trump has demonstrated he's not interested in. Pres. O is moving out of the WH with wife, 2 kids and a dog after scrapping with repukes for 8 yrs. as they blocked him at every turn. He's ready to leave and all this BS is happening about the election. I'm sure he's not happy about leaving the ship of state in this mess with Capt. Trump taking over.

I made my recommendation for what Pres. O needs to say in post #52 about the EC. I agree he should say something. But really, he's out of it now unless Congress asks him to stay on or he invokes an emergency doctrine if there is one. The former isn't likely with our Repug Congress and the latter could spark a second civil war a.k.a. Trumpers Gone Wild.

Obama simply needs to ask the EC to delay their vote until recounts are done and Russian hacking exposed more thoroughly. Then he should do a media blitz to explain to the nation why and how. Hopefully, we can at least get this done before Trump is sworn in

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

53. Link?

[wordpix]

56. no link, this is what I believe is going on, and further

Obama's ordered a CIA investigation and that is his purview as Pres. It's not his purview to do Congress' job. Right now the R's are saying they are already investigating in their little committee(s) and nothing will change. IOW, they're not moving too fast. We need a few more senators like McCain to come forward and demand a special fair investigation into Russian hacking.

[awoke_in_2003]

71. The constitution has no mechanism

for nulling an election and having a re-do. Like you state, he is pondering what to do, because it's never happened before. It all may come down to hoping the EC does the right thing and tosses it to the House and Senate. Should the republic survive, we are going to have to address this type of thing with an amendment.

[tomp]

81. under what law can the electoral college vote be delayed?

I believe the date is constitutionally set, no? I think all known info needs to be released immediately. Patriotic electoral voters MUST NOT vote for trump. As far as I know the only way to stop the clock on this is to get it to the House. Once in the house we can make the inarguable argument that Hillary should be president, i.e., not Rmoney or anyone else, i.e., if trump loses hillary wins.

[GusBob]

14. Why didn't our President do anything? Why won't he do anything now?

Who is he afraid of?

[wordpix]

54. see post 52 and have some humanity for our president

He tried and I live, thanks to Obamacare

[Coyotl]

91. Have you considered that a criminal inquiry is in progress, or a grand jury convened.

There are situations that legally require discretion until the arrests are made or indictments announced.

[Blue_Roses]

101. Exactly!

and thank-you!

[flvegan]

16. Is this where we "keep our powder dry" again?

I always have to be told the when/where of that whole thing usually.

[hollowdweller]

17. Can you imagine if the shoe was on the other foot?

Republican lawmakers forcing democrats into a re do of the election.

Massive protests and mobilization of militias.

Maybe even charges against the candidate, certainly a special prosecutor.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

38. Is there a precedent for a redo?! I'm all for it!!!

[Native]

79. you nailed it

[jaxind]

19. Any time...

Any time you say "the FBI doesn't agree" you need to follow it up with, "but, how credible is the FBI? We now pretty much know (since that stunt they pulled days before the election) that they are in bed with the GOP."

[WheelWalker]

21. It doesn't say much for the peaceful transfer of power if the transfer is to a foreign power.

I have to hope that this is 5th dimensional chess and that someone really is working the "problem".

[crosinski]

22. Ok, so Hillary was a badass SOS

... kicking ass, takin' names, and pissin' off Putin, and our President can't rise to the occasion and say a few words here? Our senators can't pass on a few holiday plans to take a closer look at the situation? Excuse me, but for a moment I thought I was living in America. You know, land of the free and home of the brave. I'm beginning to suspect Hillary had that same delusion.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

39. Paging President Obama... please pick up the red hotline emergency phone.

[flying-skeleton]

23. HOW CAN ANY ELECTOR IN GOOD CONSCIENCE VOTE FOR TRUMP !!!!!!!!

[pangaia]

31. too many republicans have no comscience

the rest have no brain..

[wordpix]

62. some of us are news-junkie bloggers, some are gamers or farmers or whatever

DU would be classed as part of the educated "elite" according to Trump, b/c we read, write and educate ourselves. Maybe some electors, unlike us, are not that interested in knowing beyond a surface scratch about Russian hacking, or some other DU hot topic. Our knowledge at DU with sources can trip up Trump, so he hates us "elites." In his brain, "elite" has nothing to do with money-elite but with knowing too much about him, such as tricks of his con man trade. But his blind followers are still blind and believe him. Some of them are electors.

Point is, at DU we read or view news in common and communicate about it, but some of the electors might not. So they operate in an alt-universe, where Trump's word counts more than 17 intel agencies' assessments about Russian hacking. I can only hypothesize it is some combination of terrible education, greed, and growing up in a fantasy world that causes them to be so irrational.

Also, understand it is difficult to keep up with any one thing like Russian hacking for the ADD American people who blindly follow Twitler.

[Bettie]

85. They are Republican loyalists

They have neither conscience nor good in them.

[Guyechka]

25. What needs to be found is

a direct link between Trump and Putin showing coordination of cyber attacks with RNC strategies. What about that secret server in trump towers?

[rzemanfl]

29. Welcome to DU. n/t

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

42. I'm pretty sure I remember hearing the Fuhrer-Elect on national TV practically BEGGING Putin to hack into Hillary's emails or to put out the deleted ones...

... what more evidence do we need?!

[Guyechka]

57. true, but so deniable

Trump: "I was just saying that since everyone was talking about Russian hacking. It's the media's fault for blowing my statement out of proportion."

[world wide wally]

30. Here's a good question for you:

According to the Constitution, only Congress can declare war.
What branch of government has the authority to surrender?

(Which is, in effect, what we are doing right now.)

[CentralMass]

36. To use tbe rights jargon, "commie borscht eating surrender monkeys"'

I guess the GOP will pay any price to win.

[Ccarmona]

40. For Those of Us Old Enough

To remember the "Credibility Gap,", it's back. This time it's the Right the doesn't believe. There isn't a Trump supporter who believes any of this, including their leader. It might be real easy for Trump & Putin to get away with this unless Obama stands up Right Now and designates a Special Prosecutor. This can't be left to the Repubs in Congress to do anything, because they've proven over and over they put Party over Country.

[byronius]

41. I bet there's a lot more we don't know.

Betcha. Cells of nationalist stooges salted throughout the entire government, instinctively and on authority cooperating in a way that any real American would find obviously wrong. Karl Rove used to say you never Ratfck one way, you do it a hundred ways.

Sadly, the serious damage has already been done. Otherwise decent human beings have been permanently, catastrophically disabled by the closed conservative subroutine. A moral compass that points directly south. For fifty years the monarchists have been desperately trying to destroy public education -- and what a payoff until now, now that our new Russian overlords found a way to hack that conservative subroutine to bring about a hostile buyout.

Warning: body count. And I'm sure Barack Obama's doing a hundred things no one knows anything about to try to pull the human species back from the edge YET AGAIN. What a fucking hero. Period.

Vlad, you've gone and done it now. I've heard it said that one should never underestimate the power of Russian misery. But the US has its own driving cultural memes, and Vlad's the new Voldemort.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

43. Prolly just the tip of the iceberg.

[wordpix]

64. that's beautiful, byronius: "closed conservative subroutine"

I have dealt with the subroutine in my town for 25 yrs. of repug reign so I can relate.

[byronius]

73. They just can't get out of that weird space.

And I can't go into it. Yechh.

[Blanks]

44. Enough people still voted for Trump...

In the end, that's all that really matters.

So, people were convinced that Hillary was a bad person because the Russians manipulated our news. It doesn't change the votes of the people who voted for Trump.

It casts a shadow of illegitimacy on his presidency, but without some proof of coordination between Trump and Putin, Trump didn't do anything wrong, he just benefitted from Putin's actions.

This is a good beginning of the drip, drip, drip that needs to take place in order to stall the Trump and republican congress agenda, but the fact that people were manipulated to vote for Trump, isn't really enough to take it away from Trump. As near as I can tell judging by my Facebook feed, they'd vote for him again if the election were tomorrow. They don't care if Satan himself cheated for Trump, they still want him.

[BeyondGeography]

47. It's about something much bigger

Foreign interference in our elections to gain a desired outcome that advances their interests. Do we care? If not, it will keep happening and everyone will get a chance to feel like a loser.

[Blanks]

48. It's a big deal. There's no doubt about that...

But the votes have been cast, and there's no evidence that the vote itself was hacked.

Would you like your vote changed? We can't assume that enough people would change their vote for Hillary to win if people knew that the Russians favored Trump.

Sure, we have to do something, but I don't see overturning the results as the remedy.

[BeyondGeography]

50. That would be unrealistic

But now you have a scenario where the PEOTUS is basically salivating at the chance to reward Russia for their efforts to elect him. Congress needs to feel the heat or we will be weakened before the world and we'll be begging for a repeat.

[Blanks]

88. I agree. Congress needs to feel the heat...

And I believe they will. They probably could care less about protests, petitions, riots in the streets. The press, however, will prompt them into action. The press won't act because it's the right thing to do, the press won't act because Trump is a despicable human being and bad for America.

No, the press will act because it will be good for them, good for ratings.

If you've seen Frost/Nixon, that's what that was all about. Frost saw the number of people viewing Nixon's resignation (or something) and saw that as an opportunity to get a bunch of viewers.

I'm sure members of the press saw Frost/Nixon and came to the same conclusion.

They're just waiting for the optimum moment, and then it will come crashing down. They're slowly releasing the information to keep us interested. At some point the floodwaters will come rushing out and the press will thump their chests and remind us just how powerful the press is.

[BeyondGeography]

89. Well said...their own survival is at stake as well

And people, even if it takes them much longer than it should, do tend to do whatever it takes to survive.

[Blanks]

90. The press is taking a fair amount of heat...

For being complacent in the fake news debacle.

The first release of 'Putin involved in Clinton defeat' that I saw came from the same network that airs 'the apprentice'.

I suspect they're gonna turn on him and they're gonna turn hard. Not because they dislike him, but because so many people seem to like him, and it'll be good drama.

Unfortunately, it's difficult to tell if they'll destroy him before the inauguration or after. I expect after the inauguration for optimum drama.

[harun]

61. This isn't anything new. Iranians held the hostages to get Reagan elected. Enemies

of the US system have been trying to punish us with Right Wing governments for decades.

[rzemanfl]

63. Held them for that purpose, but didn't take them for that purpose. That's the difference.

Such as it is.

[BeyondGeography]

66. That was the last thing on their minds when they took over our embassy

a full year before the election. They wanted us to return the Shah from first and foremost. Then it became an anti-imperialist happening.

[Native]

80. it will be interesting to see how Germany, et all deal with the same situation

[wordpix]

65. Trumpies are irrational as well as

deplorable

[Hawaii Hiker]

45. Is it me or is a foreign president meddling in an US election to help a candiate

not the biggest story since 9/11?

[harun]

72. It would be if news still existed.

[Thinkingabout]

46. Right now Trump may feel as snug as a bug in a rug, they also hacked the RNC, perhaps other sources,

if Trump does not continue to fall at the feet of Putin they could also leak information through WikiLeaks and it may be doctored just as Poindesta and Hillary's emails was doctored. President has already ask for information to be investigated before he leaves office, Trump is going to enter office with investigations on going.

[Ghost OF Trotsky]

49. Putin is a judo expert

Perfect judo move - for a TINY amount of effort (a few hackers) completely throw your opponent (elect a buffoon, with just enough intelligence to be damaging to whatever target he is manipulated towards).

Karma's a bitch, it's not like WE have ever fucked around in someone else's elections

[briv1016]

58. Remember when republicans used to jack it to Red Dawn?

Oh how times have changed.

[demon in basement]

74. I can hear Conway now:

"Well, this just proves Mr. Putin is a strong, hands-on leader!"

[Native]

78. They've now tied the hacking directly to Putin; let's hope they're close to implicating Trump too.

[wordpix]

83. pundits on Morn Joe discussing why Trump doesn't embrace a Congress'l investigation

just minutes ago as in, "It looks funny."

[MosheFeingold]

86. Talked with a friend in Washington

FWIW, the conventional wisdom is Putin thought Clinton would win and was completely caught off guard by Trump's victory.

The actual intent was to harm and discredit Clinton by the various slightly-shady revelations and mire her presidency down by scandal and Congressional hearings.

[BeyondGeography]

92. More dark than funny

But darkly funny.

[MosheFeingold]

94. It actually makes more sense

Than thinking a bunch of neo-conservatives will be big buddies with Putin. They're all superficially the same kind of thugs, but thugs competing for the same things are not buddies.

What helps Russia is grid-lock, which is what we would have gotten with a bitter partisan Congress and damaged President Clinton.

The Republican Congress would have obstructed her on things that were good for the USA just on the principle of being the assholes they are.

[BeyondGeography]

95. And now they get a big, bright light shined on them

and radicalized opposition. It makes a lot of sense.

[MissMillie]

98. quid pro quo, anyone?

Is there anyone who believes Putin won't be looking for something in return?

Certainly not me.

[SummerSnow]

99. ...

[BeyondGeography]

100. That's his story

and he's sticking to it: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/12/15/trump-russia-election-sway/