kkwd said:
President Obama made a laughable attempt to try to keep this whole Russia mess under wraps.
Why does President Trump seem to lash out at everyone - except Russian President Vladimir Putin?
President Obama personally warned Putin against messing with the election, imposed sanctions on Russian individuals and entities, kicked out 35 Russian diplomats and closed two of the Kremlin's compounds in the United States.
Trump, in comparison, still has not imposed sanctions designed to punish election meddling by Moscow.
On October 7, 2016 the Department Of Homeland Security and Office of the Director of National Intelligence warned that American democracy was under attack by Russia,
https://www.dhs.gov/news/2016/10/07/joint-statement-department-homeland-security-and-office-director-national
In September 2016, the Obama administration gathered leaders of both parties for a secret intelligence briefing on Russia’s operation to influence the election.
President Obama’s team “worried that doing so unilaterally and without bipartisan congressional backing just weeks before the election would make Obama vulnerable to charges that he was using intelligence for political purposes.” But
Republican leaders, especially Mitch McConnell, refused. McConnell, the Washington Post reported, “raised doubts about the underlying intelligence and made clear to the administration that he would consider
any effort by the White House to challenge the Russians publicly an act of partisan politics.”
https://www.google.ca/search?rls=com.microsoft%3Aen-CA%3AIE-Address&rlz=1I7GGHP_en-GBCA592&dcr=0&biw=1280&bih=603&ei=KYONWrncGIG3jwTR3rPQBw&q=raised+doubts+about+the+underlying+intelligence+and+made+clear+to+the+administration+that+he+would+consider+any+effort+by+the+White+House+to+challenge+the+Russians+publicly+an+act+of&oq=raised+doubts+about+the+underlying+intelligence+and+made+clear+to+the+administration+that+he+would+consider+any+effort+by+the+White+House+to+challenge+the+Russians+publicly+an+act+of&gs_l=psy-ab.12...0.0.0.841.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1c..64.psy-ab..0.0.0....0.hoip9MnFmCY
There’s a defensible argument that Obama should have done more to respond to the Russian attack. But there isn’t a defensible Republican argument that Obama should have done more.
Republicans are the reason Obama didn’t do more.
QUOTE
During the election, Trump welcomed Russian efforts to help his campaign. His top aides eagerly accepted a meeting from a Russian agent promising to give them campaign dirt. His confidante, Roger Stone, seemed to have advance knowledge of Russian email theft. Trump openly called for Russia to steal more of his opponent’s emails, and a Republican operative claiming to work on his behalf tried to obtain emails stolen by Russians. Trump aided and abetted the crime by repeatedly touting the importance of the hacked emails, and denying Russian involvement.
Even after the election, when the intelligence community had satisfied all doubts that Russia consciously aided Trump’s campaign, Trump continued to deny it. “I don’t believe they interfered,” he told Time in December. The hacking “could be Russia. And it could be China. And it could be some guy in his home in New Jersey.” Last November, Trump told reporters, “Every time [Putin] sees me he says, ‘I didn’t do that,’ and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it.” And when Obama did announce sanctions to retaliate against Russian interference after the election, Trump communicated through various back channels that he intended to weaken them once he took office.
Trump was an eager partner to Russia’s efforts on his behalf: magnifying the value of their attack, assisting the cover-up of the crime, and undermining the punishment of it. The GOP Establishment was an eager, or at least willing, partner to Trump’s campaign, and its partnership was the primary factor preventing a stronger response to the Russian attack.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/02/trump-why-didnt-obama-stop-the-russia-hacking-i-abetted.html
END QUOTE
Trump is taunting Obama for not doing more to stop him.
op:
