Mueller Report (Page 23): Russian interference sought to boost Bernie Sanders in 2016

[TomCADem]

It is odd the dissonance between the Russian related scandals that are rocking the Trump administration, yet the silences on Bernie's pro-Russia, anti-NATO views and the fact that has Russia actively sought to boost Bernie's electoral prospects. Even in this forum, you still see Pro-Bernie posts that blame NATO for poor relationships with Russia, so this is not just old news. Bernie still has vocal supporters who are big fans of his anti-NATO views.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/politics/read-the-mueller-report/?noredirect=on

The report provides a fresh look at allegations that the Russian-based Internet Research Agency not only interfered in the 2016 campaign on social media on behalf of Donald Trump but also sought to help Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Internal IRA documents “referred to support for the Trump campaign and opposition to candidate Clinton,” according to the report. While much of this section of the report is redacted, it cites directions to IRA operators not to harm Sanders.

“Main idea: Use any opportunity to criticize Hillary [Clinton] and the rest (except Sanders and Trump — we support them),” quotes the report.

Allegations of the pro-Sanders strategy by Russian influencers came up in 2018, when the Justice Department charged 13 individuals and three companies with interfering illegally.M

[California_Republic]

1. Divide the country is the goal.

[dewsgirl]

2. I usually do not wade into this topic, I like Bernie. There

have been several questionable incidents in relation to Bernie and Russia.😔

[captain queeg]

3. I think Russia was primarily anti Hillary.

[PatSeg]

4. Any support for Bernie

would have been to undermine Hillary and divide the party. It seems to have worked. I don't hold Bernie responsible for what Putin did.

[beastie boy]

5. it is likely incidental that Russia chose to prop Bernie up. The most mud in the water for the buck.

However, once this happened, it was on Bernie to disassociate himself from Russia's effort. I don't know whether he did or not.

What I do remember is a bunch of Bernie supporters (Thom Hartman and Cenk Uygur come to mind) embracing Putin TV (RT) even after US intelligence reports linked it directly to Putin.

[mopinko]

6. afaik, he has never made a peep.

i dont recall much in the way of comment from him on the mueller report, either.

this is why i am not just not for bernie, but actively opposed to him getting the nod.
nobody really knew what to do about this shit in real time, but i have seen bernie's social media director on rachel, and they knew it was happening, in real time.

that he didnt speak out after, and that he hasnt said shit yet this time, is disqualifying imho.

[getagrip_already]

7. They are doing it for 2020 also...

Witness the attacks on pete and liz (and of course joe).

Anyone ahead of bernie is being smeared. Bernie is being left alone.

And of course the trolls are playing up the partisan hate between the camps.

2016 all over again.

[liberalmediaaddict]

31. Absolutely right

Nothing has changed since 2016. The same narrative is being spread online by Russia to try to get Bernie supporters to fight with Biden supporters. And Gabbard is trying to demonize the entire Democratic Party. It worked for Putin before so he's doing it again. And I'm sure he loves when political commentators downplay Russian interference and Republicans outright deny it.

[BuffaloJackalope]

8. But he didn't seek it out, or gladly accept it.

Nice try, though.

[beastie boy]

9. That's a pretty low ethical bar

If he suddenly found an unsolicited $1000 deposit in his bank account wired from Putin's account, and if he reluctantly accepted it, would it be OK?

[BuffaloJackalope]

10. Please provide a link

showing Sanders and his campaign knew about the Russian assistance in 2016 and did nothing.

Otherwise you're doing Russia's job.

[beastie boy]

12. I thought I was clear in #5: I don't know whether he did or not.

Unless you can provide a link showing Sanders did something, it is logical to assume he did nothing.
And unless Bernie and his campaign plead ignorance on the Mueller report (see the OP), he knew it.

My point is that once he knew what's in the Mueller report, it was Bernie's responsibility to disassociate himself from Russia support. So far, I've seen nothing to suggest he did.

The above notwithstanding, my comment to your post questions the quality of ethical standards you are holding Bernie to. But don't misunderstand me: I am not saying that you are doing Russia's job when you set your bar this low.

[ehrnst]

21. "Sanders team saw Russian election meddling in 2016"

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2018/02/20/bernie-sanders-mueller-indictment-hillary-clinton-2016/356453002/

Not seeing where he spoke out about it, or told his supporters to stop sharing the bot posts during the General Election.

Maybe you can share that information?

[BuffaloJackalope]

24. That doesn't indicate they knew is was coming from Russia, or that it was "helping" his campaign.

[ehrnst]

25. "Well of course we knew that," Sanders replied.

"Did you know then that this might have been part of [the Kremlin's] design?" MSNBC reporter Ari Melber asked Sanders Wednesday. "To leak these emails precisely so that there would be more riffs in the Democratic Party?"

"Well of course we knew that," Sanders replied.

https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-emails-russian-hackers-kremlin-democratic-639292

[TomCADem]

14. Please. If Opposing Campaigns Are Hacked In 2020...

...will Bernie denounce Russian interference in U.S. elections or will he play the victim with his campaign using the emails to attack his opposition? Bernie is already playing the victim of media bias angle anytime a media outlet mildly criticizes his campaign.

[BuffaloJackalope]

15. Continuing arguments from the 2016 Dem primaries helps no 2020 Dem candidates.

The ONLY purpose is to divide, and only helps Russia and their GOP lapdogs.

[TomCADem]

19. Bernie Sanders Says His Complaints About Media Coverage Are Different Than Trump's

This is not a 2016 phenomena. This is happening now with Bernie making Trump-like attacks on the media to the point that Bernie has to struggle to explain why his attacks on the media are different from Trump's attacks.

https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/campaign-wire-election-2020/card/1565818964

BURLINGTON, Vt. — Bernie Sanders acknowledged his recent complaints about media coverage may bear some resemblance to President Trump’s attacks -- but said that his message is different.

Asked about comparisons between his comments and Mr. Trump's language, Mr. Sanders responded that "maybe" there were similarities in phrasing. But he said a big difference is that the president calls the media the enemy of the people. Mr. Sanders said Mr. Trump "says that the media produces fake news; I don’t believe that for a second. It’s disgusting, it undermines American democracy.”

* * *

“One would be very naive not to believe that the owners of the media have an agenda as well,” he said. “It’s not just their attacks on me, that’s not what I’m talking about. It’s the issues that they allow for serious discussion.”

Earlier in the week, Mr. Sanders alleged that the Washington Post covered him negatively because of his criticism of Amazon.com’s business practices. The Washington Post is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Marty Baron, the executive editor of the Washington Post, responded by calling Mr. Sanders’s comments “a conspiracy theory” and said the newsroom operates independently.

[ehrnst]

22. "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

- MLK Jr.

[TomCADem]

33. Gladly Accept It? If a Democratic Candidate Gets Hacked...

...and emails and correspondence critical of other Democrats are disclosed, and the candidate does not immediately and strongly condemn the hack and disavow and condemn the use of such material, isn't that accepting such Russian help?

Under your formulation, even Trump could claim that he did not gladly accept Russian help whenever his campaign repeatedly pointed to documents disclosed on Wikileaks.

[BuffaloJackalope]

34. Two weeks? Really?

[TomCADem]

36. Sorry. Don't Have Much Time To Review and Post All The Time

Sometimes, I can only manage to read and post every weekend with trying to hold down a job. I don't know how some folks do it. I have been on this board for over 10 years, yet some folks manage to accumulate over 10,000 posts within a year or two.

[Cha]

11. No kidding?!

[Gothmog]

13. Russian interference sought to boost Bernie Sanders in 2016, Mueller report says

trump won by cheating and help from Russia

Link to tweet

The report provides a fresh look at allegations that the Russian-based Internet Research Agency not only interfered in the 2016 campaign on social media on behalf of Donald Trump but also to help Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Internal IRA documents “referred to support for the Trump campaign and opposition to candidate Clinton,” according to the report. While much of this section of the report is redacted, it cites directions to IRA operators not to harm Sanders.

“Main idea: Use any opportunity to criticize Hillary [Clinton] and the rest (except Sanders and Trump — we support them),” quotes the report.....

While Sanders had said in a previous radio interview that one of his campaign workers figured out what was going on and alerted Clinton campaign officials, his 2016 campaign manager Jeff Weaver told The Post in a recent interview for the story that Sanders “misspoke a little bit and conflated a few of the facts. . . . He did not know, I did not know, none of us knew” that Russia was behind the efforts.

[betsuni]

16. K&R

[NYMinute]

17. It is time for BS to acknowledge this and get ahead of the issue. nt

[ehrnst]

23. That would involve acknowledging something that conflict with a particular narrative of why

Hillary isn't POTUS...

A narrative that encourages some people to feed on rage, and believe falsehoods to nurse rationalizations.

[R B Garr]

28. That's what I've been wondering, too. When will

he acknowledge this and show understanding of why Russia helped him and apologize where necessary.

[NurseJackie]

35. It will never happen.

That says a lot. And it's not very flattering.

[Tarheel_Dem]

18. I'd be curious to know if this is a continuing effort on the part of Russia. n/t

[ehrnst]

20. One has to wonder why that was. (nt)

[apcalc]

26. There is more to this than meets the eye...

Sanders’ one time chief strategist, Tad Devine, worked closely with Paul Manafort in 2010 to elect the pro-Russian Ukraninan president Viktor Yanukovych.

Gimme a break.

[delisen]

29. Yes!

[napi21]

27. Main reason they helped Sanders is because they HATE Hillary! Even SHE knew that.

I don't recall the incident now, but I do recall that Hillary referenced it when she explained why the Russians were helping DT during the campaign.

[delisen]

30. Why does Putin hate Hillary? Human rights?

Sanctions? Criticism of Russian elections?

[Hoyt]

32. Russians and people closer to home.