A few months ago, Special Counsel Robert Mueller announced that 20 people and three companies had been charged in the his investigation of Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election to help Trump get elected.
The charges included four former Trump campaign and White House aides and 13 Russians accused of participating in a clandestine social media campaign to sway American public opinion in the 2016 election to get Donald Trump elected.
On Friday, July 13. 2018, the Justice Department announced charges against 12 Russian intelligence officers for hacking offenses during the 2016 presidential election.
https://www.abqjournal.com/1196225/12-russians-accused-of-hacking-democrats-in-2016-us-election.html
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced the indictments as part of the ongoing special counsel probe into potential coordination between the Trump 2016 campaign and Russia.
The Russians are accused of hacking into the computer networks of the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, and then releasing stolen emails on the internet in the months before the election.
In making the announcement Rosenstein said:
“The internet allows foreign adversaries to attack Americans in new and unexpected ways. … Free and fair elections are hard-fought and contentious and there will always be adversaries who work to exacerbate domestic differences and try to confuse, divide and conquer us.”
Rosenstein, who said he had briefed President Donald Trump on the indictment, said there was no allegation that the hacking altered any vote count or that any Americans were knowingly in communication with any of the Russian officers.
The statement that the hacking did not alter any vote is laughable and what is important is that Trump asked for the hacking and Putin and Russia accommodated his request.
PUTIN AND RUSSIA WERE LISTENING
In the morning of July 27, 2016, Donald Trump encouraged Russian hackers to find emails that had been deleted from Hillary Clinton’s private server that she used while serving as secretary of state.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-russia-clinton-hack_us_5b48d9d0e4b0e7c958faf810
“I will tell you this, Russia: If you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing … “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.” Trump said at a press conference in Florida.
On July 27, 2016, it appears that Vladamir Putin and Russia were listening and heeded Trump’s call for help to get him elected President.
According to the federal indictment of the 12 Russian intelligence officers for their involvement in hacking the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 election, the Russian hacking occurred on July 27, 2016 and hours after Trump gave his press conference and encouraged Russian hackers to find Clinton’s emails.
The indictment states that on July 27, 2016, the same day as Trump’s press conference, Russian hackers, “for the first time,” attempted to break into email accounts, including those used by Clinton’s personal office.
Notably, the indictment is very specifies that the hack happened in the evening, meaning the Russian officials could have done it after Trump’s press conference.
PUTIN-TRUMP SUMMIT
On July 17, 2018, President Trump is scheduled to have his very first one on one summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin when Trump travels to Helsinki.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/why-would-trump-want-meet-privately-vladimir-putin
It turns out the “summit” will be held in private between the two leaders.
CNN reported that Trump and Putin will not be accompanied by aides when he meets with Putin and reported:
“Without official note-takers or other witnesses, one-on-one meetings lack any official record, making it difficult afterward to determine whether agreements have been reached. Putin is known as a shrewd negotiator who some officials worry could exploit such a session and extract concessions from Trump.”
It should be alarming to any American that Trump wants to hold private discussions with our nation’s number one adversary who attacked the United States in order to put him in power.
But not in the age of Trump.
Whether the Republican Congress and Trump supporters want to admit it or not, Trump is currently the subject of a criminal investigation, with investigators examining whether his political operation cooperated with Moscow during its intelligence operation that targeted the 2016 election to defeat Hillary Clinton.
COMMENTARY
You would think after being briefed about the indictments and told of the revelations contained in the indictment, Trump would cancel his summit with Putin.
But no, why should Trump ever do the right thing for his country, especially when he needs to thank Vlad for all his help in winning the election.
No one knows what will be on the agenda for discussion.
Trump wants to have the meeting in private with Putin so he can thank him personally for making him the first Russian elected President of the United States.
There is nothing that prevents Trump from agreeing to pardon the charges against the 12 Russian intelligence officers indicted.
Putin will never agree the extradition of his own intelligence officers to the United States to face the charges seeing as Putin probably ordered the hacking himself after Trump asked for it in such a public manner.
Rumor has it that Trump will also be delivering a check in the amount of $130,000 made payable to Vladimir Putin drawn on the account of attorney Michael Cohen in exchange for the video he has of Trump with two prostitutes when he was in Moscow for his Miss American Pagent.
Perhaps Putin will turn over the recording of his meeting in Helsinki with Trump to the United States Congress to be used as evidence of “treason and high crimes and misdemeanors” for Trump’s impeachment.