03-21-2017, 04:05 PM
I'm going to ignore every other response in this thread and just answer:
First, those that claim Russia "hacked the election" are few and far between. Or rather, they are grouped together on the fringes. What occurred, as far as can be ascertained based on our intelligence community and that of allied countries, is that Russia obtained information from the DNC and provided it to WikiLeaks in an attempt to influence our election. To what end game they had, hard to say, though I can say with absolute certainty that Putin despises Hillary Clinton. He blames the US, Obama, and her for the Arab Spring movement and for the protests against his party/government when he was elected president again.
Now, a foreign state attempting to influence an election in this way is an aggressive action by that state. Plain and simple, it is an attack. We've done it before in the past, and this is exactly why Putin had it done to us now. He saw an opportunity, and he took it.
The connections are concerning for multiple reasons. First, make no mistake, the hacking was illegal activity. If anyone in the Trump campaign was in contact with those hacking the DNC or passing along the information then that is a concern. Taking part in those activities could be seen as espionage against your own country. I should take a moment to mention here that Roger Stone has admitted to contact with the hacker. The second reason is that if there are financial ties, it could prove to be a conflict of interest. This is not just about Trump, but about those around him as well. The third is that contact regarding policy with Russia before Trump took office can be illegal because there is only one POTUS at a time.
That's the gist of it all, really. Now I will go back and read some of the responses in this thread.
First, those that claim Russia "hacked the election" are few and far between. Or rather, they are grouped together on the fringes. What occurred, as far as can be ascertained based on our intelligence community and that of allied countries, is that Russia obtained information from the DNC and provided it to WikiLeaks in an attempt to influence our election. To what end game they had, hard to say, though I can say with absolute certainty that Putin despises Hillary Clinton. He blames the US, Obama, and her for the Arab Spring movement and for the protests against his party/government when he was elected president again.
Now, a foreign state attempting to influence an election in this way is an aggressive action by that state. Plain and simple, it is an attack. We've done it before in the past, and this is exactly why Putin had it done to us now. He saw an opportunity, and he took it.
The connections are concerning for multiple reasons. First, make no mistake, the hacking was illegal activity. If anyone in the Trump campaign was in contact with those hacking the DNC or passing along the information then that is a concern. Taking part in those activities could be seen as espionage against your own country. I should take a moment to mention here that Roger Stone has admitted to contact with the hacker. The second reason is that if there are financial ties, it could prove to be a conflict of interest. This is not just about Trump, but about those around him as well. The third is that contact regarding policy with Russia before Trump took office can be illegal because there is only one POTUS at a time.
That's the gist of it all, really. Now I will go back and read some of the responses in this thread.
"A great democracy has got to be progressive, or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy..." - TR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
