Yet another possible reason for the the Republican party’s treasonous support for Putin’s Russia: blackmail.
We know that Trump is likely compromised by his business and personal activities. We also know that Republicans gleefully used information stolen by Russia’s intelligence operations, not just for the Trump campaign but also for some Congressional campaigns.
But what has been less remarked is that Putin not only stole information from the DNC, but probably also has a trove of dirt on Republican party operations. Republicans’ traitorous behavior may be due not only to lust for power, but also due to blackmail.
1. Here’s what the Intelligence Community Assessment (Jan 6, 2017) said:(https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ICA_2017_01.pdf)
Russia’s intelligence services conducted cyber operations against targets associated with the 2016 US presidential election, including targets associated with both major US political parties. (page ii)
Russia’s intelligence services conducted cyber operations against targets associated with the 2016 presidential election, including targets associated with both major US political parties. (page 2)
Russia collected on some Republican-affiliated targets but did not conduct a comparable disclosure campaign. (page 3)
2. Here’s what the bipartisan Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (Senator Burr, R-NC, July 3, 2018) said:
(https://www.burr.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/SSCI%20ICA%20ASSESSMENT_FINALJULY3.pdf)
The ICA states that:
Russia’s intelligence services conducted cyber operations against targets associated with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, including targets associated with both major U.S. political parties. We assess Russian intelligence services collected against the U.S . primary campaigns, think tanks, and lobbying groups they viewed as likely to shape future U.S. policies. In July 2015, Russian intelligence gained access to Democratic National Committee (DNC) networks and maintained that access until at least June 2016.
• The Committee found this judgment supported by intelligence and further supported by our own investigation. Separate from the ICA, the Committee has conducted interviews of key individuals who have provided additional insights into these incidents.
Opinion:
I believe it is helpful to send primary sources to your Trump-loving grandmas and uncles, rather than just sending news reports. Every American should be reading these original reports — they are that important.
Thanks for reading, and if it’s helpful, please feel free to link to additional source material, add better tags, corrections as necessary etc. I hope we can use Trump’s treasonous and obviously compromised behavior toward Putin in Helsinki as an way to get more people reading the original material on the Russian interference in our democracy.
PS. I also think it’s best to refer to the Republican party as “the Republicans” not by the shorthand ”GOP.” Many people are so ignorant they don’t make the connection.
For Reference — Additional primary source info:
House Permanent Intelligence Committee Democratic Report (Schiff): democrats-intelligence.house.gov/…
Republican Report (Nunes, flawed but still damning): intelligence.house.gov/…
Dept of Justice Internet Research Agency (Putin troll farm) indictment: www.justice.gov/...
Facebook ads sponsored or linked to Russia: democrats-intelligence.house.gov/…
FBI affidavit in support of Dept of Justice complaint against Russian spy coordinating with the NRA:
www.justice.gov/…
Mueller indictment of 12 Russian spies:
d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/…