Trump – Wikileaks and Russia

Trump – Wikileaks and Russia
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It is not only people with government and international experience that do not ‘believe in’ coincidence when it comes to political power struggles. The global community is beginning to catch on. My online comment on a New York Times article on March 7th, “WikiLeaks Releases Trove of Alleged C.I.A. Hacking Documents” drew over 1100 likes. I wrote: “Russia and WikiLeaks are trying desperately to prevent exposure of their best asset: Donald Trump.” My statement was pure supposition but every indication points to its veracity. Without thorough investigations, at least on the scale of Benghazi, the taint of treachery and treason will continue to damn the Trump Administration.

Judging both actions and timing, there can be little doubt remaining that Russia and Wikileaks are attempting to save what they see as their prime asset - Donald Trump. The building heat of exposure caused by the firing of General Flynn, his head of National Security, and the recusal of Attorney General Sessions forced an apparently panicky Trump to recklessly accuse former President Obama of illegally tapping his Trump Tower “wires’.

In an analysis piece entitled “WikiLeaks delivers again for Donald Trump with dump of CIA secretsThe Sidney Morning Herald notes:

“Trump has been infuriated by a torrent of leaks from across government, but especially from within the intelligence agencies on investigations into links between himself and his election campaign team with Russia.
In July 2016 WikiLeaks became a controversial player in the US presidential election when it released 20,000 embarrassing emails that had been hacked from Democratic Party computers, creating uproar on the campaign trail.
Speaking at the time from Ecuador’s embassy in London, where he has taken refuge for years, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange denied early suspicion that the Russian government or its agents were responsible for the DNC (Democratic National Committee) hacking – but the combined US intelligence agencies concluded that the hacking was part of a multi-pronged Kremlin plot to help Trump win the election and to discredit US democracy.”

Repeatedly since Donald Trump began running for president, WikiLeaks and Russia acted to bolster the possibility that Trump would become president. Within an hour after release of the Trump ‘on the bus tape’, WikiLeaks released a massive dump of the Podesta e-mails to soften the impact of the Trump exposure. Trump was forced to fire his first campaign manager, Paul Manafort because of deep ties to Putin and Russia. Trump’s Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, was awarded the Russian Order of Friendship in 2013 for his close ties with that country and Putin. New York Times columnist, Nicholas Kristof, provides ten reasons for growing global concerns about the Trump Administration and the Russians in a March 9, 2017 column; “Connecting Trump’s Dots to Russia”.

With the exposure of Trump appointees actually misleading Congress concerning meetings with key Russian officials, Trump appeared to panic and behave even more erratically. His charge accusing former President Obama of high crimes and misdemeanors was so irrational as to draw criticism from even his supporters.

Trump allies reacted with an all-out effort to distract and dilute the increasing news and accusations concerning Trump’s possible collusion with Russia. In less than one week, a new immigration ban was issued; the Republicans in Congress rushed out their clearly uncoordinated healthcare bill and finally, WikiLeaks released its stolen CIA e-mails.

Any single issue would be enough to tie up the news cycle for some time. Together they form a flood of information almost certain to wash away most of the increasingly serious news concerning Trump and Russia. This flood will not stop. WikiLeaks pointedly stated that they have much more CIA information to be released. Watch for a steady stream of leaks when, and if, Russia continues to be a serious topic.

Look no further for Russia’s rationale in supporting WikiLeaks and Trump than Trump’s current cabinet and economic and political policies. No matter if deliberate or not, no better foreign actions could be developed to weaken the US militarily or economically than Trump’s current agenda. Even Trump’s stated goal of dramatically increasing military spending weakens the United States’ defenses at home and abroad. His pledge to increase the number of nuclear weapons, planes and ships amounts to squandering vast sums of money for no real military gain. Following nearly two decades of war, the military requires both stability and serious threat analysis; Trump’s policies deny both.

Gutting foreign affairs budgets plays right into General James Mattis’ warning; “If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition.” Trump’s oft stated pledge of America First causes allies to doubt our reliability. Staffing the EPA leadership with climate deniers (politically correct speak: climate skeptics) guarantees that the nation will be unable to advance protective and proactive steps to prepare for the very real changes we are facing. Nearly every senior position in many departments from Education to Housing and Urban Development are being staffed by senior individuals openly hostile to the agencies’ mission.

Donald Trump is literally dismantling our capabilities to react to epidemics like Ebola or weather catastrophes like Katrina and much more. Little or no planning will be done and our country’s ability to defend itself and its allies will noticeably decrease. The United States is literally being attacked from within and without while the Republican Party plays internal power games and blindly shuffles along.

President Donald Trump’s actions betray a deliberate intent to harm real US capabilities and strength. Congress and US investigators must determine quickly if it is treason or incompetence. Meanwhile, WikiLeaks and Russia continue their assault on the United States without counter.

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