Some here at the Frog Pond are expressing unhappiness with the pursuit and sharing of information about what the Russian government and its contractors, surrogates and allies did to influence the 2016 Presidential election, and how the Trump campaign and its own contractors, surrogates and allies may have colluded with a foreign adversary to undermine the American people, our government, and our confidence in our electoral process and media institutions.
To these community members who are spending valuable time and credibility expressing unhappiness with the pursuit and sharing of information about this subject, I ask of you:
- What do you believe House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes is up to with his recent actions?
- What is your opinion of the Senate and House Intelligence Committee Chairs agreeing, when asked to do so by the Trump Administration, to provide statements to reporters on background which defended the President, his campaign staff and surrogates?
- What is the explanation for Nunes’ apparent collusion with the White House to prevent former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates from testifying to the Committee in open or closed session?
- Do you believe a truly independent committee should be established to investigate these issues involving the 2016 Presidential campaign and its aftermath?
- Why do you believe Michael Flynn was forced to resign as Trump’s first National Security Advisor? Do you accept the Administration’s explanation of this?
- Why is Boris Epshteyn now about to be tossed overboard?
- Why is Vladimir Putin essentially the only foreign leader who President Trump constantly praises and defends from criticism?
- What do you make of Donald Trump publicly asking the Russian government to hack Hillary Clinton’s personal communications and share its most politically damaging contents during the campaign? Are we to ignore that this actually took place?
- What do you think of the Russian government’s massive corruption and broad crushing of civil rights? Do you believe Russia’s economic policies broadly share the wealth? Is economic inequality a problem in Russia? Should our President, Secretary of State and other government officials be willing to talk about these subjects when asked? If they should be willing to do so, why are Trump Administration officials unresponsive to these questions?
- If Congressional Democrats and liberals/progressives are doing something wrong by responding as they are, what is it you think they should be doing?
- What would have happened to the United States if Congressional Democrats had refused to mount investigations into the Nixon Administration’s involvement in the Watergate burglary? After all, intelligence officials hadn’t provided any proof of the President’s involvement to Woodward, Burnstein, Schorr, Rather and others reporting disturbing information, right? Besides, the FBI senior staffer who has now been identified as Deep Throat had an axe to grind against President Nixon, so he was not to be trusted, correct?
I conclude with these viewpoints of mine:
- Properly investigating this issue does not and would not act to shield Hillary Clinton, her Presidential campaign, or the Democratic Party of all warranted criticisms.
- Properly investigating this issue does not and would not act as a declaration of war on Russia, even if a credible investigation concluded that the Russian government was directly responsible for intentionally propagandizing the American people during the 2016 campaign in order to alter the outcome and/or undermine the winner of the Presidential election.
- The Russian government wants corruption, denials of civil rights, spoiling of the environment, destructions of democratic institutions, and economic insecurity to increase in the United States and around the world.
- Failing to see to it that this issue does not receive a proper, nonpartisan investigation could prevent the Bernie Sanders movement from succeeding in winning future elections and improving government policies.
On this last declaration, Senator Sanders appears to agree. He asked for an independent commission yesterday:
This can be done. It doesn’t mean we have to credulously believe everything coming from intelligence officials, and it doesn’t mean we have to saber-rattle.
