There’s no question that the mess left in the wake of the resignation of Michael Flynn from the Trump administration needs to be cleaned up, preferably through an internal investigation and not through anonymous sources in the rush of news reports.
As Twitchy reported, Dan Rather of all people popped up out of his hutch to proclaim the Flynn resignation perhaps the greatest scandal since Watergate (as if that hadn’t been outdone since), and he’s not alone in making that comparison.
Given tonight's bombshell revelation wrt Trump/Russia, this is now clearly the biggest scandal since Watergate, potentially even bigger.
— US Rep Brendan Boyle (@RepBrendanBoyle) February 15, 2017
GOP, I expect a swift response about Trump's administration having contact w/ Russian intel! You can no longer dodge our questions.
— Dwight Evans (@RepDwightEvans) February 15, 2017
At this point:
Silent = Complicit
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) February 15, 2017
What bombshell report? The New York Times is reporting that, “according to four current and former American officials,” members of the Trump campaign and other Trump associates were in contact with senior Russian intelligence officials repeatedly the year before the election, phone records and intercepted calls show.
Intercepted calls show Trump campaign members had repeated contact with Russian intelligence before the election https://t.co/601WwxujBu
— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 15, 2017
That’s a pretty shocking tweet, no doubt, but it’s hardly the conclusion to the story that follows. Intelligence agencies discovered the contacts while investigating evidence that Russia was attempting to hack into DNC computers and disrupt the election and trying to determine if the Trump campaign was colluding with Russia.
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However, “officials interviewed in recent weeks said that, so far, they had seen no evidence of such cooperation.” Just when the bombshell was about to go off … we’re still not certain where this is headed.
https://twitter.com/dangillmor/status/831692587635335168
This @nytimes story reveals that talk with Russian Intel went beyond Flynn…but big caveat is no evidence of election cooperation.
— Anthony DeRosa? (@Anthony) February 15, 2017
Not to pour some cold water on this. but the NYTs notes that there’s no evidence, yet, that Trump’s campaign was topic of discussion
— Sam Stein (@samstein) February 15, 2017
It only took 3 paragraphs to cockblock that headline. We've seen this too much lately. Show your work or stop wasting our time.
— Jimmy (@JimmyPrinceton) February 15, 2017
When a news article fulfills your most urgent political desires, and is based 100% on anonymous sources of unstated motivation, be skeptical
— Matt Welch (@MattWelch) February 15, 2017
I know everyone is whoa-ing and ZOMG-ing about the NYT story, but I find it rather underwhelming. What is the *new* news here?
— The Nats Won The World Series (@EsotericCD) February 15, 2017
Why isn't the headline: "Officials Say No Evidence of Cooperation Betw Trump campaign and Russia"- as story states. https://t.co/8WleU06Tig
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) February 15, 2017
That would have made sense, but the New York Times certainly isn’t going to pass up the opportunity for a zillion frantic clicks, that’s for sure.
Also worth noting: the New York Times includes in its report, yet again, the anecdote about Trump saying during a campaign rally “that he hoped Russian intelligence services had stolen Hillary Clinton’s emails and would make them public.” Considering progressives have all the professional comedians among their ranks, you’d think they recognize a joke.
This report should serve as a clarion call for all of Congress to demand an independent investigation into Russia's meddling in our election https://t.co/zG5bQWe8JO
— Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) February 15, 2017
RT if you agree: Americans deserve a transparent, independent investigation into Russia’s involvement with the Trump camp.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) February 15, 2017
At this point, there’s probably no alternative to an independent investigation; still, it’s a little strange arriving at this point on Feb. 14, 2017.
CNN is reporting that President Obama was briefed on Team Trump's frequent contacts with Russian intelligence.
— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) February 15, 2017
About that … last summer, all President Obama had to say about Russians trying to influence the election was, “Anything’s possible.” With the intelligence he had, why didn’t he do more than call Putin and tell him to “cut it out”?
In December, while some were gearing up to attempt to flip members of the Electoral College, NBC News investigated why the Obama administration hadn’t done more if they suspected Russia was trying to tank Hillary Clinton’s presidential run. Multiple high-level government officials told NBC at the time “they thought that Hillary Clinton was going to win and a potential cyber war with Russia wasn’t worth it.”
So it seems the reporters investigating this story arrived at this point backward — that is, they started from rumors that Russia was trying to influence the election and worked their way back to evidence that the Trump campaign was in contact repeatedly with the Russians. The only thing missing is evidence of cooperation.
Still, plenty are happily joining in with those already talking about charges of treason.
If any US citizen conspired with enemy foreign agents to subvert US democracy then that person committed treason.
— US Rep Brendan Boyle (@RepBrendanBoyle) February 15, 2017
Treason: "Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States…adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort…" https://t.co/oJSsQm4DlW
— Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) February 15, 2017
Speaking of intelligence agencies, where does the Left’s hero-turned-villain James Comey fit into this scenario?
BFD Alert. But did FBI have this evidence BEFORE the election? https://t.co/slu1XK1udy
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) February 15, 2017
I'd like the FBI to explain why they sent a letter about Clinton but not thishttps://t.co/9ExPo1Jedj
— Robby Mook (@RobbyMook) February 15, 2017
Let’s just cut to the chase.
With the staggering revelations about #Flynn, Trump and Russia…
IS THIS THE RIGHTFUL PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES? pic.twitter.com/tScOQww2KD— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) February 15, 2017
No.
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) February 15, 2017
Nope, that's not how America works. You don't get to stage a coup. https://t.co/n21IOwAh6l
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) February 15, 2017
https://twitter.com/CitizenEgg/status/831702791336902656
Not to mention the amazingly high number of people who stood by and watched while Madonna shared her fantasy of blowing up the White House.
https://twitter.com/nabholzj/status/831702894151860225
she can feel free to make that case in 4 years.
— Michael Rathbone (@MikeRathbone86) February 15, 2017
Stay tuned.
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