Donald Trump in August 2016 with retired generals Michael T. Flynn and Keith Kellogg. (photo: Damon Winter/NYT)
03 April 17
estifying
before Senate Intelligence Committee’s hearing on Russian interference
in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, former FBI counter-terrorism
expert Clinton Watts described how he and his colleagues battled Russian
cyberattackers during the months prior to the November 8th election.
Republican senator James Lankford, questioning Watts,
wanted to know why the Russian cyberattacks, which had existed for some
time, had increased so dramatically during this election cycle. Why now?
Watts said two things, both cutting to the heart of
the Trump-Russia affair in equal measure. Watts began with a challenge
to the members, “I think this answer is very simple and it’s what nobody
is really saying in this room …” and then he laid it all out for the
entire country to see — “which is, part of the reason active measures
have worked in this U.S. election is because the commander in chief has
used Russian active measures at times, against his opponent(s).”
In reverse order, Watts’s statement that Trump used
Russian active measures at times against his opponent(s) while
campaigning is a de facto accusation that Donald Trump personally acted
in concert with Russian efforts to affect the outcome of the
presidential election and the Republican primary before it. He was an
active participant. That is collusion, and yes, it is Treason.
To the first part of what Watts said, it is indeed
what nobody in that room and no one in the media really wants to say.
Evidence of collusion isn’t difficult to find, but it is difficult to
wade through, because there is so much of it. Think Progress counted no
fewer than 164 mentions
of Wikileaks material damaging to Hillary Clinton by Donald Trump in
the final month of the campaign alone. Yes, he was using the material
lifted from Democratic servers and he was using it on cue. The Russians
lifted it, Wikileaks disseminated it, and Trump used it like a hammer to
beat down his opponent and capture the presidency.
The Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation,
while quite a bit more orderly than the House production of the Devin
Nunes Show, may not necessarily be more productive. To begin, both
Republican chairman Richard Burr and Democratic ranking member Mark
Warner have said that their investigation will not look into any
current activities by the president or his administration. Presumably
that would fall to federal law enforcement. Let’s hope so.
The problem with coordination between Donald Trump and
the government of Vladimir Putin is that it is the gift that keeps on
giving. This isn’t something that only happened “in the run-up to the
election” or something “we need to learn from, so we can protect our
elections going forward.” It is an ongoing process right now.
When Donald Trump insults our staunchest European
allies as he promotes Russian accord and cooperation, he is delivering
on his end of the bargain. He is also knowingly compromising U.S.
national security, perhaps irreparably. Rex Tillerson, in his capacity
as secretary of state, is equally active on the same agenda.
Clinton Watts’s warning to the Senate Intelligence
Committee members was echoed by former CIA chief of staff Jeremy Bash,
speaking in an interview on MSNBC with Brian Williams. Bash was even
more blunt, saying, “When I think about checks and balances, when I
think about Congress being a check on the executive branch, Brian, the
image I have in my head of the White House is a runaway train. The
brakes are out, and you pull your last best hope, the emergency brake,
the great Congress of the United States and the handle literally breaks
off in your hand. That is how much trouble we are in.”
Donald Trump and his co-conspirators represent an
immediate threat to the security of the nation. The evidence is
abundant. The time to act has come.
Marc Ash is the founder and former Executive Director of Truthout, and is now founder and Editor of Reader Supported News.
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