Breaking news on NBC pretty much confirms what we already strongly suspected. U.S. intelligence officials now believe with “a high level of confidence” that Russian President Vladimir Putin became personally involved in the covert Russian campaign to interfere in the U.S. presidential election.
Two senior officials with direct access to the information say new intelligence shows that Putin personally directed how hacked material from Democrats was leaked and otherwise used. The intelligence came from diplomatic sources and spies working for U.S. allies, the officials said.
Putin’s objectives were multifaceted, a high-level intelligence source told NBC News. What began as a “vendetta” against Hillary Clinton morphed into an effort to show corruption in American politics and to “split off key American allies by creating the image that [other countries] couldn’t depend on the U.S. to be a credible global leader anymore,” the official said.
This, of course, is horrifying.
The former CIA official said the Obama administration may feel compelled to respond before it leaves office.
“This whole thing has heated up so much,” he said. “I can very easily see them saying, `We can’t just say wow, this was terrible and there’s nothing we can do.'”
There is something that can be done. Congress has the power to delay the date of the Electoral College vote. The full story has to be told here, and it needs to be made clear to the world that the Russian dictator can not and will not choose our Commander-in-Chief.
Throw out the election results. If ever a situation called for a “do-over,” this is it.