Reaction & Commentary
TRUMP DID TEND TO EXAGGERATE AT TIMES MOSTLY ABOUT TOPICS THAT DIDN’T MATTER. HOW BIG IS THE CROWD AT 2016 INAUGURATION? WHO CARES? BUT ON THE BIG THINGS, ON MATTERS OF CIVILIZATION IMPORTANCE TRUMP TOLD THE TRUTH BLUNTLY OFTEN WHEN NOBODY ELSE WOULD. THE IRAQ WAR WAS A MISTAKE TRUMP SAID. ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IS A
DISASTER. CHINA IS TAKING OVER THE WORLD. HAITI IS A PRETTY DEAFENING HIS TIERIA FOLLOWED EVERY ONE OF THESE TRUE STATEMENTS. AT ONE POINT IN EARLY 2018, CNN AND “THE WASHINGTON POST” GOT SO WORKED UP TRYING TO HIDE THE OBVIOUS, THAT THEY DEVOTED BLANKET COVERAGE TO THE CLAIM
THAT ACTUALLY IT IS AN AWESOME AND FULLY FUNCTIONAL COUNTRY. PERFECT SPOT FOR YOUR NEXT FAMILY VACATION. IF YOU DISAGREE WITH THAT, YOU’RE RACIST. THAT’S WHAT THEY TOLD US. THREE YEARS LATER THEY HAVE DROPPED THE POSE ON HAITI. LEADERS NOW CONSIDER HAITI SO AWFUL, THAT JUST BEING FROM
THERE QUALIFIES YOU FOR ASYLUM IN THE UNITED STATES. WITH TRUMP GONE, THEY CAN FINALLY ADMIT THAT. WHAT WAS ONCE A DANGEROUS CONSPIRACY THEORY IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION. FOR FOUR YEARS NO DANGEROUS CONSPIRACY THEORY WAS CONSIDERED MORE DANGEROUS THAN THE CLAIM THAT HILLARY CLINTON’S
PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN SPIED ON DONALD TRUMP. THE VERY IDEA THAT HILLARY CLINTON, OF ALL PEOPLE, HAD SPIED ON ANYONE WAS PREPOSTEROUS. TRUMP WAS EMBOLDENING OUR ENEMIES. SO WAS THIS A STUPID OPINION THAT TRUMP HAD? IT WAS REALLY A FORM OF TREASON. AS USUAL, TRUMP KEPT SAYING IT.
WATCH HIM DO IT AGAIN IN ONE OF HIS LAST SIT DOWN INTERVIEWS AS PRESIDENT WITH LESLIE STAHL OF 60 MINUTES. >> THE BIGGEST SCANDAL WAS WHEN THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN. THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN. >> THERE’S NO REAL EVIDENCE OF THAT. >> OF COURSE THERE IS.
IT’S ALL OVER THE PLACE. >> NO. >> LESLIE, THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN AND GOT CAUGHT. >> SIR, CAN I SAY SOMETHING. THIS IS “60 MINUTES.” WE CAN’T PUT ON THINGS WE CAN’T VERIFY. >> YOU WON’T PUT IT ON BECAUSE IT’S BAD FOR BIDEN.
>> WE CAN’T PUT ON THINGS WE CAN’T VERIFY. >> THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN. IT’S BEEN TOTALLY VERIFIED. JUST GO DOWN AND GET THE PAPERS. THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN. THEY GOT CAUGHT. >> NO. >> THEN THEY WENT MUCH FURTHER THAN THAT AND THEY GOT CAUGHT. YOU WILL SEE THAT, LESLIE.
YOU KNOW THAT, BUT YOU JUST DON’T WANT TO PUT IT ON THE AIR. >> NO, AS A MATTER OF FACT, I DON’T KNOW THAT. >> Tucker: AS A MATTER OF FACT, WE CAN’T VERIFY THAT. THIS IS CBS NEWS. WE DON’T AIR THINGS WE CAN’T VERIFY. REALLY, LESLIE STAHL?
IS THAT TRUE? WE STILL REMEMBER A CBS NEWS PIECE THAT CLAIMED DONALD TRUMP WAS SECRETLY WORKING WITH VLADAMIR PUTIN. HOW DID CBS NEWS VERIFY THOSE FACTS? AS IT TURNS OUT THAT PARTICULAR STORY, THE REPORTING, CAME FROM READING A PIECE WHILE PROBABLY STANDING IN LINE AT STARBUCKS.
STATELE CLAIMED THAT THE TRUMP BANK WAS — HOW DID SLATE.COM KNOW THIS? BY CONSULTING A QUOTE, SMALL TIGHTLY KNIT COMMUNITY OF COMPUTER SCIENTISTS. THESE SCIENTISTS WERE TOTALLY NONPARTISAN. ONE OF THE SOURCES EXPLAIN WE WANTED TO DEFEND BOTH CAMPAIGNS BECAUSE WE WANTED TO PRESERVE
THE INTEGRITY OF THE ELECTION. SO HERE YOU HAVE JUST ANOTHER UNNAMED COMPUTER SCIENTIST DEFENDING ELECTION INTEGRITY. MAKE SENSE. DON’T ASK QUESTIONS. JAKE SULLIVAN DID NOT ASK QUESTIONS. HE TAKES SLATE.COM VERY SERIOUSLY. AT THE TIME JAKE SULLIVAN WAS WORKING FOR THE HILLARY CLINTON CAMPAIGN.
HE CITED THE SLATE STORY AS EVIDENCE THAT TRUMP WAS COLLUDING WITH PUTIN. QUOTE, THE SECRET HOT LINE MAY BE THE KEY TO UNLOCKING THE MYSTERY OF TRUMP’S TIES TO RUSSIA. WE CAN ONLY ASSUME FEDERAL AUTHORITIES WILL NOW EXPLORE THIS DIRECT CONNECTION BETWEEN TRUMP AND RUSSIA.
SO THERE WAS A BAT PHONE IN TRUMP TOWER THAT RANK DIRECTLY IN THE KREMLIN. JAKE SULLIVAN STUCK TO THAT LINE FOR ONCE. HERE HE IS ON CNN IN MARCH OF 2017. >> WHAT WE LEARNED DURING THE CAMPAIGN WAS THAT VERY SERIOUS COMPUTER SCIENCE EXPERTS, PEOPLE
WHO WORK CLOSELY WITH THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT, HAD UNCOVERED THIS SECRET HOT LINE BETWEEN THE ALPHA BANK, THE RUSSIAN BANK, AND THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION. NOW, OF COURSE, WE DON’T KNOW FOR SURE IF, IN FACT, THAT WERE THE CASE, BUT WE KNEW THAT IT SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED.
WE KNEW THAT GIVEN HOW SERIOUS THESE COMPUTER SCIENTISTS WERE, THEY WEREN’T JUST MAKING UP CRACK POT THEORIES. IT WASN’T SURPRISING TO LEARN EVEN AS OF LAST WEEK THE FBI IS STILL LOOKING INTO THIS. >> DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THEY’RE LOOKING FOR? >> I DON’T.
I DON’T HAVE A LINE TO THE FBI ON THIS, BUT WHAT I KNOW BASED ON PUBLIC REPORTING IS THAT THERE IS VERY UNUSUAL SERVER ACTIVITY BETWEEN THIS RUSSIAN BANK AND THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION WHICH SUGGESTS CONTACT THAT TOOK PLACE OVER THE COURSE OF THE CAMPAIGN.
>> Tucker: OH, THE SECRET HOT LINE. THESE PEOPLE ARE LITERALLY WILLING TO SAY ANYTHING IF IT GIVES THEM POWER. BUT LISTEN CAREFULLY WHAT JAKE SULLIVAN SAID. I DON’T HAVE A LINE INTO THE FBI ON THIS. EVERYTHING I KNOW IS FROM PUBLIC REPORTING.
YOU KNOW HE WENT OUT OF HIS WAY TO SAY THAT WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN A VERY CLEAR SIGN TO SAY IT WAS A LINE. IT WAS A LIE. THE FACT THE HILLARY CLINTON FOR PRESIDENT CAMPAIGN WAS COORDINATING WITH THEM. THEY HAD BEEN SPREADING FALSE CLAIMS ABOUT TRUMP AND RUSSIA.
FROM THAT CRACK POT OF COMPUTER SCIENTISTS TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL AT THE FBI, JAMES BAKER. BUT HE DIDN’T STOP THERE. IN FEBRUARY OF 2017 AFTER THE ELECTION, SUSSMAN ALSO MET WITH GENERAL COUNSEL AT THE CIA. YOU MAY BE WONDERING ABOUT THE IDENTITY OF THOSE NONPARTISAN
COMPUTER SCIENTISTS WHO DUG UP ALL THIS INFORMATION ABOUT DONALD TRUMP’S DIRECT CONNECTION TO VLADAMIR PUTIN. YOU MAY NOT BE SHOCKED TO LEARN THEY WEREN’T NONPARTISAN. ONCE AGAIN JAKE SULLIVAN WAS LYING TO US. IN FACT, A PRO HILLARY CLINTON ACTIVIST FROM SOUTH AFRICA,
RODNEY SKWROF TPEU PUT TOGETHER OPPO GUYS. MOST CAME FROM GEORGIA TECH. IN E-MAILS HE EXPLAINED WHY HE WAS DOING IT. HE WANTED HILLARY TO WIN THE PRESIDENCY WAS HILLARY CLINTON PROMISED HIM A JOB AS A TOP CYBER SECURITY OFFICER IN THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT.
JOFFEY WANTED TO HELP HILLARY WIN. IN ORDER TO DO THAT HE GAVE HIS NONPARTISAN COMPUTER SCIENTISTS A MISSION. THEIR JOB WAS TO GATHER DATA THEY HAD ACCESS TO THANKS TO A GOVERNMENT CONTRACT TO CONNECT TRUMP TO PUTTEN. WE KNEW THAT BECAUSE OF JOHN
DURHAM WHO SPENT THE ORIGIN OF THE RUSSIA HOGUES AND IS FINALLY PRODUCING SOME MATERIAL. IN THE WORDS OF THE FILING, QUOTE, JOFFEY TASKED THOSE RESEARCHERS TO MINE INTERNET DAY TO TO ESTABLISH A NARRATIVE TYING THEN CANDIDATE TRUMP TO RUSSIA. THIS WASN’T REPORTING, OF COURSE.
THEY HAD A GOAL. THEY WERE TRYING TO GET HILLARY CLINTON ELECTED PRESIDENT. THE AMAZING THING IS HOW THEY DID IT WHERE THEIR DATA CAME FROM. THE FILING SAID JOFFEY AND HIS SCIENTISTS INTERCEPTED INTERNET TRAFFIC, E-MAILS, PRESUMABLY TEXT MESSAGES FROM, QUOTE, TRUMP TOWER, HIS CENTRAL WEST
APARTMENT BUILDING AND THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. IN OTHER WORDS, TRUMP WAS RIGHT. THIS ISN’T A CONSPIRACY THEORY. HIS CLAIMS WERE TRUE. DEMOCRATS WERE SPYING ON DONALD TRUMP, NOT JUST AS CANDIDATE, BUT AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES IN THE WHITE HOUSE AS WELL AS IN HIS OWN HOME. SO HAS ANYTHING LIKE THIS HAPPENED IN AMERICAN HISTORY? NOT THAT WE KNOW OF. BUT JEFF BEZOS DOESN’T THINK YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IT. HE SAID WHILE TRUMP IS ONCE AGAIN CLAIMING THAT HE WAS SPIED
UPON, THAT CLAIM HAS BEEN, QUOTE, DEBUNKED. OH REALLY? HOW HAS IT BEEN DEBUNKED? SHUT UP! IT JUST HAS. BUT, IN FACT, THAT CLAIM HAS NOT BEEN DEBUNKED. IT HAS BEEN VERIFIED. THAT CLAIM IS TRUE. IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED. AND THE WAY IT HAPPENED TELLS YOU EVERYTHING ABOUT WHY IT HAS
BEEN EXTRAORDINARILY DIFFICULT TO BRING DEMOCRACY BACK TO THE UNITED STATES. A GOVERNMENT CONTRACTOR SPIED ON A POPULOUS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, THEN PASSED THE INFORMATION TO HIS OPPONENT’S CAMPAIGN, WHICH GAVE IT TO THE FBI AND THE NEWS MEDIA WHICH DISTORTED ITS ILLUSION OF TREATY
WHICH WAS CITED BY THE POLITICIAN WHO PAID FOR THE WHOLE THING AS A REASON NOT TO VOTE FOR THE GUY SHE SPIED ON. GOT IT? A CLOSED LOOP. EVERYONE’S GOT A ROLE. HERE’S HILLARY CLINTON DURING THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE. >> FROM EVERYTHING I SEE, HAS NO RESPECT FOR THIS PERSON.
>> WELL, THAT’S BECAUSE HE’D RATHER HAVE A PUPPET AS PRESIDENT. >> NO PUPPET. NO PUPPET. YOU’RE THE PUPPET. >> IT’S PRETTY CLEAR, YOU WON’T ADMIT THAT THE RUSSIANS HAVE ENGAGED IN CYBER ATTACKS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA THAT YOU ENCOURAGED ESPIONAGE
AGAINST OUR PEOPLE, THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO SPOUT THE PUTIN LINE, SIGN UP FOR HIS WISH LIST, BREAK UP NATO, DO WHATEVER HE WANTS TO DO, AND THAT YOU CONTINUE TO GET HELP FROM HIM BECAUSE HE HAS A VERY CLEAR FAVORITE IN THIS RACE.
>> Tucker: SO IF YOU’RE NOT ALL IN WITH NATO, IF YOU THINK IT’S DANGEROUS TO THE UNITED STATES YOU, MY FRIEND, WORK FOR VLADAMIR PUTIN. YOU ENCOURAGED ESPIONAGE, SHRIEKED HILLARY, JUST AS HE WAS DOING THAT. SHE WAS SPEAKING ABOUT A SPECIFIC QUOTE CYBER ATTACK.
SHE WAS TALKING ABOUT THE RUSSIANS HACKING THE SERVERS AT THE DNC. DEMOCRATS WASTED THREE YEARS OF OUR LIVES TELLING US THAT IN EVER INCREASING VOLUME. HERE’S THE INTERESTING THING. IT WAS NOT TRUE. IT HAS NEVER BEEN TRUE. VLADAMIR PUTIN DID NOT HACK THE DNC.
THERE WAS NEVER ANY EVIDENCE THAT THE RUSSIANS HACKED THE DNC. THEY WERE VERY CLEARLY STOLEN FROM WITHIN THE BUILDING, MOST LIKELY BY A BERNIE SANDERS SUPPORTER. THAT WAS VERY OBVIOUS TO ANYONE WHO WAS PAYING ATTENTION AT THE TIME. WHAT’S INTERESTING IS THAT NO
ONE’S BEEN PUNISHED FOR IT. LIKELY NO ONE EVER WILL BE. JAKE SULLIVAN, THE GUY YOU JUST SAW LYING ABOUT THOSE NONPARTISAN COMPUTER SCIENTISTS, HAS NOT BEEN INSRAOEUGTED FOR WHAT HE DID. JAKE SULLIVAN HAS BEEN PROMOTED. JAKE SULLIVAN IS NOW PRESIDENT BIDEN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER. HE’S STILL SCREAMING ABOUT
RUSSIA. ONLY THIS TIME IT’S NOT TO BRING DOWN A
