President Trump has brought new delight to his enemies by making a fool of himself one more time. Not only with a weekend of shamelessly lying about Obamian wiretaps, but one that brought headlines telling of his "rages at leaks, setbacks and accusations," over news stories that report him as "seething," "steaming," "raging mad," and "pissed." "I haven't seen him this angry," says a friend. It was enough to make Rachel Maddow a happy person.
But it's time for the besieged chief executive to set his fury aside and show even his foes that he's for "America First," as he's so long boasted. He could even do something to make him look good.
This brand new opportunity comes as a result of a Bloomberg News story that reports that a number of liberal groups have recently come under cyber attack from Russians. At least one of the hackers, Cozy Bear, is thought to be among those who attacked the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's staffers, and passed the embarrassing results on to Wikileaks for wide circulation during the election campaign.
While it's true that Trump encouraged the Russians to hack into Clinton's emails during the campaign last July, that was before he was elected.
Now in his seventh week as president, he could do something to show he’s fully changed his tune, and highlight his devotion to our country. He could do that by supporting his recent call for national unity, and retaliating against the Russians, for their actions against his political enemies --liberals— who are also his fellow Americans.
Bloomberg says at least a dozen liberal groups have been hacked and faced ransom demands since the election. Along with those demands, the hackers have sent samples of stuff they found that could be embarrassing if made public.
In one case, a non-profit group and a prominent liberal donor discussed how to use grant money to cover some costs for anti-Trump protesters. The identities were not disclosed, and it’s unclear if the protesters were paid.
At least some groups have paid the ransoms even though there is little guarantee the documents won’t be made public anyway. Demands have ranged from about $30,000 to $150,000, payable in untraceable bitcoins, according to one of the people familiar with the probe.
Bloomberg says people familiar with the investigations of the hacks, which include the FBI and private security firms, say the Center for American Progress is among the victims. The Center is the best known liberal think tank and has close ties to both the Clintons and the Obama administration. But Bloomberg quotes the center as denying both being hacked and being subject to ransom. The article cites people familiar with the attacks as saying that:
The hackers’ targeting of left-leaning groups -- and the sifting of emails for sensitive or discrediting information -- has set off alarms that the attacks could constitute a fresh wave of Russian government meddling in the U.S. political system. The attacks could be designed to look like a criminal caper or they could have the tacit support of Russian intelligence agencies...
And it cites cyber security researchers as further stating that:
The day after the election, the FSB, Russia’s main intelligence agency, targeted the personal emails of hundreds of people, including national security experts, military officers and former White House officials...The list was weighted toward people who have worked in Democratic administrations or who are linked with liberal causes.
If Trump can establish the truth of these charges, he could and should order American retaliation. It could take the form of expelling more Russians suspected of being intelligence operatives and/or additional sanctions against Russian intelligence agencies and their leaders. Obama imposed such penalties against the Russians last December, after the hacking of Democratic Party sources became public. Thirty-five Russian diplomats and their families were ordered out of this country.
Or Trump could order some other form of retaliation. If he can substantiate the accusations, some painful form of reprisal would absolutely be in order. It would show the Russians that Donald Trump is determined to exact a real price for their meddling in American politics. It might also make President Trump a little better off against some of his angriest domestic enemies. And it might lessen, at least a bit, his terrible reputation of being Vladimir Putin’s pussy.