Having long ago been humbled that I am not the smartest guy in the room or on on this ship I need some explaining from our team. This is my recollection of how it all went down. Please correct me where I’ve lapsed.
During the 2016 presidential campaign the henchman in chief of Hillary’s campaign, John Podesta, got a phishing email from some porn site or something that looked like a legit website. He clicked on the link and entered or reset his password and thought he was done.
The server he was directed to may or may not have been in Russia, but most likely was, but could’ve been run from anywhere on the planet with a dial up AOL account. Podesta’s password was used to legitimately access is gmail account, pilfer all of his emails and those of others, and were passed on to Wikileaks.
Wikileaks posted all sorts of stuff embarrassing to the Clinton campaign. The ‘media’ (whatever that is now) ignored the emails and Hillary ran a terrible campaign. Trump had Ted Cruz’s former demographic data mining machine behind him funded by the Mercers and kicked Hillary’s butt in the electoral college.
How does this rise to ‘Russia interfering in a Presidential election’ and the need to nominate a special counsel?
Thanks in advance for your thoughtful answers in the comments. Please keep the words under 3 syllables since I clearly do not have the intellect to cope.
You are correct that Podesta’s email account was compromised in a very mundane way. I seem to recall reading that his password was p@ssw0rd, so the guy’s not a genius. Everyone gets phishing emails; only the naive ones are taken in. A few years back, some HR chick at Lockheed clicked on a link in an email and compromised their whole IT system, shutting down electronic communication with the outside (maybe inside too) for days.
To answer your question, there may have been *Russians* involved in this, and those Russians may even have been working for an arm of the Russian government. But what they achieved is nothing more than what has happened many times before and since, most recently to organizations including Britain’s NHS. These same “Russians” also tried to gain access to GOP operatives’ email accounts with less success. Interpret this as you will.
I think that is good input Dr. Lorentz. Thank you
None of it makes sense, Brent, until you accept that Democrats can act without restraint, and Republicans must act like Democrats, or get Watergated.
Right now, I hate the GOPe and the press with the fires from the pitts of hell. I know it’s a sin. I still do. My utter hatred for the likes of John McCain right now…. I might as well be honest about it… is overwhelming.
Always respect the transparency and we are of like mind.
I think the one positive that comes out of this train wreck is once the Republicans have no more excuses their true colors shine through.
I unfortunately agree but my very simple response to Brent’s question; “How does this rise to ‘Russia interfering in a Presidential election’ and the need to nominate a special counsel?” is simply that it is a tactic to distract from and derail the Trump agenda.
The fact that our legislators would work so arduously to harm their constituents and the American economy enrages me. The mini-crash on Wall Street yesterday had me pointing fingers, cursing, and unable to sleep last night.
This is my fear as well.
Get ready for a much bigger crash at some point. I hope you were not invested in Brazil. My sugar position got rocked some last night.
Agree; I think today’s recovery is temporary at best with lots of bargain shoppers picking up some good buys.
Brazil? Heck, I have a hard enough time dealing with the U.S. I got hammered yesterday with Facebook that is, imho, one of the best run companies in America and SNAP (with unbelievably bad financials) held its own.
Go figure.
*!
Apparently now the special counselor has a charter to examine both Trump and Obama correspondence. Could this end up as a bait-and-switch on the Dems?
Only trump and those affiliated with his campaign
Dems are expressly excluded
Dislike, but I know you are on top of your facts CTLaw.
Gas on a fire. Spineless GOP caves again, and somehow a Democrat rump party runs Washington despite having control of no branches of government. And they get away with it because the usual sellouts (McCain, et al) and Never Trumpers who are in love with the smell of their own farts are more interested in helping take down Trump than end Progressivism once and for all.
***
Let’s not forget the MSM. They are absolutely hysterical, making up all manner of stupid things, then claiming them to be true. One guy makes up a lie, passes it on, and the next acts like it’s solid truth.
Pretty much NOTHING from the press these days can be believed.
So, so true. The media behaves like middle schoolers gossiping in the hallway. It’s infuriating anyone gives them any credence.
Yes, but when is the MSM not all wadded up?
As others alluded to the GOPe folds up time and again and wonders why they get punked.
Russia is a convenient scapegoat which attracts the Never Trumpers who become useful tools for the progressives.
It is a clever scheme.
Trump has one possible approach- get in the media’s face and call them liars and fools. If he shows any sign of retreat, they will keep at it.
The media are bullies, one sharp shot to their nose and they wonder what happened.
Trump either fights the war with the progressives and the Nevers or loses.
Your recollection is correct, and there is nothing there.
Time to start an investigation into Soros interference in our elections…
***
*****
Anddddd ….. with nothing to see, Robert Mueller has now been appointed SP to look into the Russia issue. One good thing – Mueller is a Marine. Although I know a few lefties, MOST Marines are solid politically.
The same Mueller who bungled Fast and Furious, Benghazi, the IRS targeting of conservatives…I’m not exactly expecting a fair and impartial investigation
My Man Whiskey Sam bringing the good news!
We don’t know that, do we. We don’t know what the FBI found – just that there were no prosecutions. Remember who the AG was then.
Mueller was brought in to find dirt on Trump. Period. There will be no looking at Obama in any way, shape, or form.
A left leaning acquaintance of mine thinks they are hiding that DJT and GEN Flynn are closeted lovers. But, I said, then the Left would have to love them (once they come out, of course).
And now Senator Turtle says he could do with a little less drama from the White House because it’s impeding their agenda. No, it’s the GOP’s spinelessness doing that. Instead of rightly blaming the media and Democrats for the drama, the GOP will now use this as the excuse for why nothing gets done despite controlling every branch of government. Just watch. It’s time to burn it to the ground and piss on the ashes.
Here’s the problem, WS. We have to make this work because there’s no place to run!
I can’t afford Switzerland.
It’s past time to burn it all down and piss on the ashes. We just have to go about doing it, somehow. Do you think we can actually weather this storm and come out to the good on the other side? Stick together, don’t give up or give in. Rush played parts of Trump’s inaugural address yesterday where he talked about things not being of D.C. This is the bottom line. They must rid D.C. of this outsider by whatever means necessary. To the battle stations everyone!
This is what we can do; pay attention to senatorial and congressional elections and if we have money to donate, let’s try to support the Freedom Caucus in the House.
Here is the list:
The House Freedom Caucus does not disclose the names of its members. In the current (115th) Congress, the group has about three dozen members. A number of members have identified themselves, or have been identified by others, as members of the Freedom Caucus, as of March 2017 including:
Mark Meadows of North Carolina, Chairman, 2017–present
Justin Amash of Michigan
Joe Barton of Texas
Andy Biggs of Arizona
Rod Blum of Iowa
Dave Brat of Virginia
Jim Bridenstine of Oklahoma
Mo Brooks of Alabama
Ken Buck of Colorado
Warren Davidson of Ohio
Ron DeSantis of Florida
Jarlais of Tennessee
Jeff Duncan of South Carolina
Trent Franks of Arizona
Tom Garrett Jr. of Virginia
Louie Gohmert of Texas
Paul Gosar of Arizona
Morgan Griffith of Virginia
Andy Harris of Maryland
Jody Hice of Georgia
Jim Jordan of Ohio, Chairman, 2015–2017
Raúl Labrador of Idaho
Alex Mooney of West Virginia
Gary Palmer of Alabama
Steve Pearce of New Mexico
Scott Perry of Pennsylvania
Bill Posey of Florida
Mark Sanford of South Carolina
David Schweikert of Arizona
Randy Weber of Texas
Ted Yoho of Florida
*
As drlorentz has pointed out, Podesta was the victim of a phish: the ‘hacker’ used a url shortening service called Bitly to send him a bogus Google Security Alert. It’s the kind of spoof on a par with a ‘You’ve Won!’ email from The Nigerian Bank of Princely Inheritance asking for your checking account number to facilitate direct deposit of your winnings. Yes, a scam this primordially primitive could have been pulled off by the Russians. Or, the Cyber Warfare Ministry of Burkina Faso. Or … the computer club at Puddle-jump Elementary School in Waterproof Louisiana.
As to who hacked the DNC email servers we have only the word the Crowdstrike, the cyber security firm hired by the DNC to assay the damage. Incredibly, the FBI never looked at the system themselves, accepting without demurral the claims of Crowdstrike. (This nonsense alone should have got Comey fired.)
This guy – https://medium.com/@jeffreycarr/faith-based-attribution-30f4a658eabc – who seems to have beaucoup chops in internet security says Crowdstrike’s claims are mostly hand waving and faith-based confirmation bias.
I suppose this is a late answer, but I’ve been away.
Obviously, the Russia story is completely made up, in an attempt to derail Trump. The hapless gop either has no idea what to do about it, or is complicit- or both.
In other words, it’s business as usual at the cancer on the Potomac. The worst political class in our history- to borrow from Glenn Reynolds- continues its grim work of striving to bring about their end by the same manner France’s worst political class met its end, circa 1790.
The usual suspects of the gop still seem to think that they can manage to make the demon Trump go away, somehow, and then they can make everything go back to the way it was. That is, they might be playing second fiddle to the left, but they’ll still be in the band.
I doubt it. Having watched the careful ineptitude of the GOP- never willing to really challenge the left, lest donor business interests suffer- the leftist base of the demonrats smells blood. They figure they have no need to worry about their opponents, because they’ve never needed to worry about them before.
While I was away pondered this, searching for a pithy example from history to describe this present Russian adventure. I thought of Midway, or Guadalcanal- but the end result of that war was not really in doubt. So I thought of the Franco-Prussian War. When it began France at least had a credible chance of defeating the Germans- but as events unfolded they led to disaster, with the French army destroyed and Paris besieged until it surrendered.
Should Trump be evicted from office, I expect the GOP to suffer a similar fate. They have betrayed their supporters too often to have any goodwill remaining. They have failed to thwart the left, always. No one fears their wrath. Lacking such fear, the left will have no qualms at sending the weaponized federal government after its opponents.
Thus, we will have war, savage and brutal, bitter and personal, as civil wars usually are.
Unless the gop chisels its collective head out of its collective anus and helps Trump succeed, that is.