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The Lincoln Project already has an ad out re: the Russian bounties. Glad they're on our team.

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Jun 28, 2020Liked by Heather Cox Richardson

If Trump and Pence weren't briefed, the White House response would have come sooner and more forcefully. More media outlets have confirmed the initial accounts, and the administration denial will, undoubtedly, prove to be a lie. The disgust will grow. Trump's lack of action to punish Putin appears to be the most visceral evidence yet that he is betraying the country.

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Why would a foreign government would put a bounty on killing Americans? The only reasons that make sense are vanity and revenge; and Putin is well known for both. But, I cannot come up with any reason why Trump would not be told, or why the administration would lie claiming neither he nor Pence were briefed (one or the other has to be true).

There is much more to this story, and I feel like every investigative journalist is as awake as I am tonight thinking about this. One thing is clear: every answer leads back to Trump and his incompetence, vanity, ego, and disregard for the country he "leads."

If this story explodes, I cannot help but think it will chip away at Trump's support. After all, the military at risk include white, working class, straight, gun-loving, god-fearing, confederate flag waving Trumpers. Not just a bunch of ANTIFA snowflakes or people of color. Has Fox News even reported this???

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Putin's objective in offering bounties was undoubtedly to generate chaos in his "opponents" . Firstly, chaos undermining any "peacefull" withdrawl of US troops from Afghanistan making the American look ineffective and inefficient. At the same time mocking their own creature Trump...showing who is boss! Secondly, chaos in this electoral period when the story would break undermining the faith of the American people in their government institutions and military. If the NYT and WaPo hadn't broken the story the Russians probably would have done so. Chaos in the US serves Putin's purpose. He has probably given up on Trump and will be looking to weaken the institutions and economy as much as possible before Biden takes over in 2021. In all of this, one has to remember that Putin's Russia doesn't have the economic wherewithall to pay for his pretensions...so any inexpensive strategy like this entirely suits his purpose.

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It doesn't seem plausible that anything at this time would convince the House to open another Impeachment Procedure. So basically he thinks he can get away with anything. He'll spin this one in a haphazard way, knowing full well that nothing will come of it.

And in regards to Mr. Lindsey Graham, one short and curly does not a pair make. He's probably just trying to get out from under the bus before it crushes him.

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As much as I admire Gov. Cuomo's response to the coronavirus, I disagree with his view on facts. The Republicans live in their own universe and clearly have their own facts, and perhaps their own physics for all we know. In fact, if you substitute their insistence that tax cuts inevitably produce economic growth for "reopen quickly ... because it will go away" in the article above; you will see that reality has rarely intruded in their thought process. Perhaps they have been able to cling to tax cuts more obstinately because the deadly effects are longer term and less immediately obvious. I don't see them changing course in time to avoid the clearly marked reef in November.

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The entire relationship between Russia and Trump is mind boggling to me. I don't even know what to call it. An affair? An imbroglio? A crime? An opera (Crimea River)? I feel confident that Trump would not be president without Russian machinations. That said, his supporters can't get enough of saying "No Collusion!" after several years of investigation and, by the way, an impeachment. Those cries belie two points, for me. Trump and the Republican apparatus moved Heaven and Earth to squelch, squash, obfuscate, delay and deny every point of inquiry, to make sure their partisans could talk away the accusations. It actually was impressive to behold. And perhaps more important, the real issue isn't that Trump's team actively planned and conspired with Russian operatives. It was more an aligning of interests, which benefitted Trump hugely as he might say. There was no need to collude. Russia was executing a plan of it's own making, to the immense detriment of America. The Democrats could have and should have handled it better. They thought it expedient to focus on only one big issue, for easier messaging and streamlining the fight. The problem turned out that when Republicans successfully swatted that back, Dems had nothing left. It's all history now, but I needed to get that off my chest.

However, we now have this new information about Russia undermining the U.S. overseas. This leaves Trump so exposed it's making my head spin. He either knew about it, or he didn't. There's not a whole lot of in between there. Whichever one you pick, Trump looks terrible. Incompetent or traitorous. Tough choice, but putting it like that he's got to go for incompetent. I don't see any good way to spin it, but it will be interesting to watch them try.

The real question in my mind - is this all part of Russia's grand plan? They helped elect a divisive, corrupt, and racist leader. Then watch as we tear ourselves apart for a few years, and then pull the rug out from under him, just to see what happens. Admittedly, that's perhaps giving Russia too much credit, but it's crossed my mind. My true hope is it finally wakes a lot of people up for the need, and benefit, of having effective, competent governance. And maybe, just maybe, brings us all a little closer together.

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Heather: The key report here is from the New York Times: "The intelligence finding was briefed to President Trump, and the White House’s National Security Council discussed the problem at an interagency meeting in late March, the officials said. Officials developed a menu of potential options — starting with making a diplomatic complaint to Moscow and a demand that it stop, along with an escalating series of sanctions and other possible responses, but the White House has yet to authorize any step, the officials said."

Trump, Pence and Meadows have denied being briefed on this. If so, who was this options paper for? Obviously, it had to be for the President. Who saw it? I think Congress needs to ask National Security Adviser O'Brien this question under oath.

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"UK officials are also confirming the report. Trump and Pence were briefed in late March, and Trump waited 3 months to brief Boris Johnson. Trump can't claim he didn't know when he briefed Boris Johnson." - https://www.newsandguts.com/nyt-it-strains-credulity-to-believe-trump-didnt-know-of-russian-plot

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Comrade 45 and his toadies are clearly lying their heads off. They were briefed. They knew. They thought the story had been successfully killed and buried. Now that it's exploded into view, they know it's so bad that the only way out is to successfully make the claim that the IC did not brief the US Director of National Intelligence, the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, or anyone else in the cabinet about this. That does not wash, and it will not hold water. Expect these claims to crumble as they are examined. This is a situation that can only get worse for them over time. Ironically, that's the thing they never see coming. They think everything like this is easily buried and forgotten, but every time they do it, the whole mess blows up in their faces like an infected boil. It's like that old definition of insanity.

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We live in a country where facts are skewed to convince people who won’t be informed. I am in a state (Florida) where Trump’s “mini-me” Governor DeSantis tells everyone the deadly spike is due to the dump of data from increased testing. Not true. But what really scares me is the fact that the Republican ideology has gotten more severe with each Republican administration. Once again, we are governed by ideology. Even if we get a New Democratic administration next, you know the Republicans will do their best to undermine it as they have done so many times before. I just finished reading HCR’s book “To Make Men Free, the History of the Republican Party”. Here’s my suggestion for today. Re-release this book in paperback so it is more available. While we can’t get everyone to read it, it would be a start.

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I don't know how many more times I can say "UNBELIEVABLE"

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Thank you Heather. Another story supporting Russian bounties - https://twitter.com/LynzforCongress/status/1276887486355079168?s=20

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And meanwhile at least one person is dead after a man opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle on peaceful protesters in Jefferson Square Park in Louisville, Kentucky.

In the time of the Orange Beast, it appears the second amendment trumps the first, at least as far as the party of trump is concerned.

(New York Times, Washington Post, The Sydney Morning Herald …)

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‘Our ability to help one another is what will make our victory over this disease endure. Because what you have done and what we will do until this disease is defeated is to come together as a family. Do what we do best. Lift each other up.’ – These are lines near the end of a biopic on FDR as he speaks to fellow patients at Warms Springs. It resonated with me. Isn’t it the type of message we should be able to expect from a President of the United States, particularly at a time like this? Not he resentful, spiteful Twitter trash we’re fed on a daily, if not hourly, basis. I am ashamed of my country now – and while I may understand how we got here , I will never fully accept why.

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To me this shows the importance of the daily briefing and the integrity of the president. Did the president dismiss the briefing that week? Trump is a threat to the national security.

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