Bombshell Russia Indictments - Russian Interference Was Real

Donald Trump - one of the biggest liars in Washington, D.C., if not the world - continues to argue that claims that Russia sought to interfere in the 2016 presidential election are all a "hoax."  The indictments handed down today against thirteen Russian defendants ans organizations pretty much blow Trump's lies to hell. Indeed, it is clear that Russian interference was very real and overall sought to throw the election to Trump.  Along the way, the Russian efforts also sought to increase Bernie Sanders' chances against Hillary Clinton and also sought to boost Jill Stein - the same individual who had dined with Putin in Moscow along with Mike Flynn who has struck a guilty plea with special counsel Robert Mueller.  Not surprisingly, Fox News is hyping the indictments as Russian efforts to undermine American democracy but there is nary a mention of Russia's efforts to throw the election to Trump.  Conservative columnist and former Republican Jennifer Rubin has a column in the Washington Post that looks at some of the bombshells disclosed by the indictments which also suggests that their are as yet unindicted co-conspirators.  Here are excerpts:

Making the first documented case of a complex plot by Russians to influence our elections and specifically to bolster President Trump, special prosecutor Robert S. Mueller III has indicted 13 Russians and obtained a plea bargain from a cooperating U.S. witness accused of identity theft. The special counsel’s actions raise a host of questions, but here is what we can say with confidence:

• There is no “hoax,” and Trump’s insistence that the Russia investigation is about nothing only reinforces the perception that his ego won’t allow him to concede that he received Russian help and/or that he’s been trying to disable the Russia investigation, precisely because he did not want this plot of interference to come out.

• It will be exceptionally hard, if not impossible, for Trump now to fire Rosenstein or Mueller.

• Mueller and his team are moving with remarkable speed, wrapping up witnesses and substantiating a conspiracy to influence the election. There is much more to this than “just” evidence of obstruction. There is an embarrassing scheme to fix our election by a hostile foreign power that certainly could have been the motive for Trump’s effort to thwart the Russia investigation. Mueller has multiple cooperating witnesses: Michael Flynn, Richard Pinedo(the indicted American), George Papadopoulos and soon, we are told, Rick Gates). Trump and his legal team should be exceptionally worried about what else Mueller has.

• The president’s failure to take action to protect the U.S. election system and prevent another assault on our democracy — a real and ongoing concern voiced by the unanimous testimony of his top intelligence officials — appears to be a gross dereliction of Trump’s duties and an abrogation of his oath.

• The Russian plan was specifically aimed at helping Trump.

• While Rosenstein said there was no evidence that the actions in the indictment affected the election outcome, such an assertion, he surely must know, is not a provable fact and is legally immaterial. No one can prove how many people were affected by what the Russians put out.

• A plan of this magnitude involving so many people and so much money could not have feasibly been conducted without the knowledge or assistance of the Kremlin.

• Carter Page is largely irrelevant to the larger plot to undermine the U.S. election system.

Republicans’ efforts, led by the clownish Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), to assist and enable Trump now look foolish or worse. What has been implicit is now explicit: They are doing the Russians’ work for them. “We are hopeful that these new facts will finally drive the White House and Republicans in Congress who have worked to hamper the investigation to admit the reality and the scope of the attack and the threat from Russia which is ongoing today as we approach our next election. It is time for Congress and the White House to put their country before their party. The attacks on Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his investigators are disgraceful and must cease.” Rosenstein described help afforded to the Russians by “unwitting” figures linked to the Trump campaign. However, as one Russia guru points out to me, “on the ‘unwitting’ Trump campaign officials, we know there was a hell of a lot of ‘witting.’ That is effectively what the June 9 meeting [at Trump Tower] and [outreach to Russians from] Papadopoulos show.” Once more, we are reminded how little we know about what Mueller has already found. If he has this much evidence just on the quadrant of a Russian troll farm, what else is out there? Stay tuned. We are nowhere near the end of this investigation.