monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

Trump has never condemned Russia over its meddling in the 2016 elections despite the findings of all top U.S. intelligence agencies. In the past, Trump has reiterated Putin’s denials, but this week said he would bring up the issue when the two meet Monday in Finland.

“All I can do is say, ‘Did you?'” Trump said last week at a news conference in Brussels. “And, ‘Don’t do it again.’ But he may deny it.”

The nation’s top intelligence officer said on Friday that the persistent danger of Russian cyberattacks today was akin to the warnings the United States had of stepped-up terror threats ahead of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

That note of alarm sounded by Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, came on the same day that 12 Russian agents were indicted on charges of hacking the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Mr. Coats said those indictments illustrated Moscow’s continuing strategy to undermine the United States’ democracy and erode its institutions.

“The warning lights are blinking red again,” Mr. Coats said as he cautioned of cyberthreats. “Today, the digital infrastructure that serves this country is literally under attack.”

Quote:

Leave it to you to post some homoerotic trash, eh?

I just tossed my cookies, even though I closed out that disgusting crap in a matter of seconds.

But I'm sure that people of your ilk enjoy it immensely.

Figures, sho nuff.

So, you are saying that you like it so much that you wished it were longer and had more close-ups.

Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani writes, “The indictments Rod Rosenstein announced are good news for all Americans. The Russians are nailed. No Americans are involved. Time for Mueller to end this pursuit of the President and say President Trump is completely innocent.” The absurdity of this defense is so palpable that it underscores the sheer desperation of Trump’s legal defense.

HELSINKI —Before he embarked on a week of transatlantic diplomacy, President Trump sat down with Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, who previewed for the boss an explosive development: The Justice Department would soon indict 12 Russian intelligence officers for hacking Democratic emails to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

For the first time, the United States would be charging Russian government agents with planning and executing a sustained cyberattack to disrupt America’s democratic process. Yet Trump gave no sign in his commentary in Europe this week that he appreciated the magnitude of what he had been told was coming.

nstead, he repeated his frequent attacks on the integrity of the wide-ranging Russia probe led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III — while offering kind words for Russian President Vladi­mir Putin, who he is slated to meet here in Helsinki on Monday.

Trump said Putin should not be considered his enemy but rather his competitor — and after spending some time together here in this vibrant seaside Nordic capital, Trump said he hoped they might quickly become friends.

Trump pledged to ask Putin in their tete-a-tete whether Russia interfered in the election — “your favorite question about meddling,” he said mockingly to a Washington Post reporter. But he said he expected Putin, again, to deny it, and that they then would move on to other subjects.

“There won’t be a Perry Mason moment here, I don’t think,” Trump joked, referring to a witness dramatically reversing his or her testimony to confess a crime.

On Friday, just hours before Rosenstein announced the indictments from Justice Department headquarters in Washington, Trump stood on foreign soil — at a news conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May at her Chequers estate in the English countryside — and denounced the investigation that produced them.

“I would call it the rigged witch hunt,” Trump said of the Mueller probe, which so far has yielded charges or guilty pleas against 32 Russians and Americans, including former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who is in jail.

In the hours after the Justice Department’s indictments were filed, lawmakers from both parties urgently called on Trump to confront Putin, force Russia to change course and guard against another intrusion in future elections.

“These revelations add to a body of evidence confirming an extensive plot by Vladimir Putin’s government to attack the 2016 election, sow chaos and dissension among the American electorate, and undermine faith in our democracy,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in a statement. “If President Trump is not prepared to hold Putin accountable, the summit in Helsinki should not move forward.”

On Saturday, President Donald Trump sought to again discredit the FBI investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.

"The stories you hear about the 12 Russians yesterday took place during the Obama Administration, not the Trump Administration," the president tweeted. "Why didn't they do something about it, especially when it was reported that President Obama was informed by the FBI in September, before the Election?"

Earlier, he tweeted, "...Where is the DNC Server, and why didn't the FBI take possession of it? Deep State?"

Trump's tweets came a day after the special counsel Robert Mueller brought charges against 12 Russian military intelligence officers, accusing them of hacking, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering. The indictment was a monumental development in the ongoing Russia investigation because it marks the first time Mueller has directly pointed a finger at the Russian government for its efforts to meddle in the election.

It has been widely reported that Obama tried to push a bipartisan response to Russian election interference in September 2016 but that the effort was "watered down" by Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell, former Obama chief of staff Denis McDonough said.

Former Vice President Joe Biden expressed the same frustration with partisan interests that got in the way of pursuing the Russian meddling, saying in January that it was "all about the political play."

After the CIA concluded later that year that Russia had interfered in the race to help elevate Trump to the presidency, Obama responded by imposing new sanctions on Russia and expelling 35 Russian diplomats in December 2016.

Obama imposed sanctions on Russia and expelled 35 Russian diplomats in December 2016 over the hacking.

Just thought I would bring this up: Is there any conceivable way Trump gets out of this?

Just thought I would bring this up: Is there any conceivable way Trump gets out of this?