DHS Secretary Claims She Is Unaware Russia Interfered With 2016 Election Ensuring Trump Victory

On January 6, 2017, between Donald Trump winning the presidential election and his being sworn in, our nation’s intelligence community issued a document clearly outlining how Russia, at the directive of the President of that nation, interfered with our election, favoring Donald Trump.

When asked by a reporter yesterday, whether the Department of Homeland Security Secretary  had “any reason to doubt that January 2017 intelligence community assessment” that states “it was Vladimir Putin who tried to meddle in this election to help President Trump win,” the secretary responded as follows:

“I do not believe that I’ve seen that conclusion,” Nielsen said.”

Kirstjen Neilson added:

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“That the specific intent was to help President Trump win, I’m not aware of that,” she added, “but I do generally have no reason to doubt any intelligence assessment.”

However, that is most certainly not what out intelligence community has stated, and Nielson’s commentary, while in all probability satisfying Mr. Trump is doing a grave disservice to our nation.

Our nation has been under attack by a foreign adversary, and lest the Secretary or Mr. Trump takes some measure to prevent this from occurring again, it has been  reported by Mike Pompeo  and others that we can expect this interference to continue through the mid-term election.

No matter what words Mr. Trump has stated regarding the issue, he reportedly remains unconvinced that Russia actually interfered with our previous presidential election, which arguably had the intended goal of placing him in the Oval Office.

Mr. Trump has even gone out of his way to make the point that he “never said Russia did not interfere with the election,” and when FactCheck.org looked into his claim they discovered at most he acknowledged that Russia may have interfered, while noting the difficulties associated with reaching that conclusion with a high degree of confidence.

This statement and Trump’s allegation that the entire Russian matter was “made up,” also earned Mr. Trump PolitiFact’s lie of the year.

It almost seems Trump wants two messages circulated in the public; one for his base and another for those who he believes call to question the legitimacy of his presidency due to Russia interfering.

Furthermore, Neilson made the following claim regarding Mr. Trump in her press briefing:

Mr. Trump has been “very clear that he agrees with the intel community” with regard to Russia’s “attempt to hack or otherwise through cyber means, influence our election.”

No, Mr. Trump has not taken this posture.

While Mr. Trump is wont to cite the Republican majority on the Intelligence Committee’s findings that Russia did interfere with the 2016 election, that committee also took umbrage with the fact that Russia was interfering with the purpose of seeing Mr. Trump win.

Is it just mere coincidence that Neilson is parroting the exact same “talking points” here?

To be clear: Trump has alleged a variety of provocateurs regarding the interference which took place back in 2016 providing explanations that “it could have been China,” to “It could be some ‘400 pound sitting on his bed‘ individual hacking into the DNC.”

Despite Mr. Trump refusing to accept the reality that a foreign adversary interfered with our electoral process, and despite House Republicans providing Trump cover, the Senate Intelligence Committee has reached a different conclusion when Senator Warner (D-VA) states:

“The Russian effort was extensive, sophisticated, and ordered by President [Vladimir] Putin himself for the purpose of helping Donald Trump and hurting Hillary Clinton,” said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the committee’s vice chairman.”

Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) , the Chairman of the Intelligence Committee states:

“We see no reason to dispute the conclusions.”

Make no mistake: Trump’s penchant for straddling the fence on this issue of Russian interference, and his latest stunt of demanding an investigation into those investigating this now established fact that  Russia did  interfere with our electoral process has damaging consequences to our nation.

Mr. Trump has a responsibility to “protect our nation against all enemies; foreign and domestic,” per his oath.

And perhaps, this is precisely what Trump is setting forth to do; divide those in the electorate, muddy the waters by calling to question our intelligence community’s findings, going so far as to argue the investigation is the result of sore losers within the Democratic Party, while calling it a “hoax,” or “witch hunt.”

The only question that needs to be answered now is whether we,  the citizens of this great land will allow Trump to get away with this charade.

Watch Mr. Trump claim there is was no collusion between he, his campaign and Russia, while claiming it was the Democrats who engaged in collusion, in the video below:

Let us each not forget: Robert Mueller has not issued his report regarding whether the Trump campaign conspired with Russia or engaged in obstruction.

Moreover, if Mr. Trump is not guilty of any wrongdoing, why is it that he persists in throwing every obstacle and hurdle towards the very investigation that could clear him? Further, why does he fire those who persist in getting  to the truth? If I were innocent of such a charge, you can be sure I would want to get in and tell my side of the story so I could clear my name. Not Mr. Trump.

Interestingly, Mr. Trump’s legal team is now seeking to limit the scope of Mr. Mueller’s questions not wanting Mr. Trump to answer any questions that deal with Mr. Trump’s actions since he has been in  office where obstruction into the investigation is more likely to have occurred.

If our lawmakers refuse to get to the bottom of this issue, that responsibility falls upon the citizens of this great land.  With evidence mounting each day demonstrating a plethora of Trump’s campaign officials meeting with Russians, it becomes incumbent upon each of us to take action ourselves.

With constant propaganda being spewed by this administration, I ask again: As citizens, regardless of party affiliation up to the task before us? Should Mr. Trump fail to recognize a subpoena by Mueller we each have a method of ensuring he does in the end: the ballot box.

Because here is the deal: If we aren’t up to the task, we very well may lose our democracy.

Dr. Mark Bear

A social psychologist by day, political analyst and journalist by night, Dr. Mark Bear has built an established audience by printing facts, without click-bait, sensationalism, or hyperbole. He is married to his wife of 34 years, and both he and his wife, Susan, have a Schnauzer named Shadow. Follow along by connecting with Doc on Facebook or Twitter under the handle Dr. Progressive!