Donald Trump’s own FBI director smacked down the latest presidential lie on Wednesday that Russia is not currently targeting the United States.
In an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, director of the bureau Christopher Wray broke with Trump and said that Moscow’s efforts are still “very active” and “could be just a moment away from it going to the next level.”
Wray did not mince words in shattering Trump’s lie: “The intelligence community’s assessment has not changed. My view has not changed, which is that Russia attempted to interfere with the last election and that it continues to engage in malign influence operations to this day.”
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FBI Director Christopher Wray says Russian efforts to undermine U.S. elections are still “very active.” #ctl #p2 #Trump #Russia pic.twitter.com/k57qYYyDHk
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) July 19, 2018
Wray said:
The intelligence community’s assessment has not changed. My view has not changed, which is that Russia attempted to interfere with the last election and that it continues to engage in malign influence operations to this day … aimed at sowing discord and divisiveness in this country. We haven’t yet seen an effort to target specific election infrastructure this time, but certainly, other efforts, what I would call malign influence operations, are very active and we could be just a moment away from it going to the next level. So to me, it’s a threat that we need to take extremely seriously and respond to with fierce determination and focus.
Meanwhile, Trump is on team Russia
Despite Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ flacking earlier on Wednesday and, now, FBI director Wray’s insistence that Russia is, in fact, still trying to meddle in U.S. elections, Trump is still firmly on team Russia.
As PoliticusUSA reported via Reuters earlier today, “President Donald Trump contradicted U.S. intelligence agencies again on Wednesday, saying that Russia was not still targeting the United States, and accused his critics of being deranged.”
For the United States of America, this week keeps getting worse as the president continues to work on behalf of a foreign adversary – despite what his own intelligence community has found.
As for Russia, they are getting everything they wished for when they decided to elevate Donald Trump to the presidency.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
