Russia's Interference in 2016 Election Much More Pervasive Than Originally Thought

[The Great Zaganza]

I think it's vital to review the process that got her her security clearance.
Or her basic qualifications: years ago, Snowden did a better job of hiding his tracks.

 

[Foolmewunz]

More fake news....

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/06/the-feds-arrest-a-alleged-leaker/529248/

 

[Tony Stark]

I think it's vital to review the process that got her her security clearance.
Or her basic qualifications: years ago, Snowden did a better job of hiding his tracks.

I wanna know why all these contractors have top secret security clearances and access to documents like this. Seems easier and cheaper for the federal government to just hire them directly.

Probably because right wing whackos want to transfer as much of the government to the private sector as they can.

 

[Craig4]

Because she leaked documents I suppose. Intercept had the document and refuses to release it, which makes it, wait for it, FAKE NEWS.

Uh...you don't get arrested for not leaking top secret information.

 

[Tony Stark]

I think the CIA should kill Putin if they can without getting caught.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

I think the CIA should kill Putin if they can without getting caught.

Putin could fall of a horse in the middle of the tundra and Russian propaganda would pin it on the CIA.

 

[C_Felix]

Cuz her name is really the important thing....

No.
It isn't too important.

My query was more along the lines of, "Who the hell would name their kid Reality?"

 

[sts60]

So what. The document is still obviously real. Evidenced by the fact that FBI arrested her for leaking them.

RESIST!

Doesn't Russia trying to undermine Western democracy bother you? Or are you more bothered by liberals like Tony complaining about it?

You're not still disputing that there was such a report, are you?

I'm not endorsing the leak of a classified document, which was a crime - unlike people leaking stories about the backstabbing incompetence of the Trump White House.

But the more important story, by far, is Russia's ongoing attacks on our democratic institutions. Do you have anything to say about that, other than jeering at liberals, when you can't dismiss it as "fake"?

 

[Tony Stark]

Doesn't Russia trying to undermine Western democracy bother you?

Of course not. At least as long as it is in support of right wing parties.

 

[sts60]

I'm not saying "the left" is immune from such behavior. But the active and passive support by Trump supporters, and the Republican Party in general, for covering up such acts is damned well treasonous, and it's hypocrisy on a gigantic scale by the crowd that endlessly prattles on about their alleged patriotism.

 

[NoahFence]

I'm not saying "the left" is immune from such behavior. But the active and passive support by Trump supporters, and the Republican Party in general, for covering up such acts is damned well treasonous, and it's hypocrisy on a gigantic scale by the crowd that endlessly prattles on about their alleged patriotism.

Yea that patriotism ship sailed on election day. As did "moral high ground" and "family values".

 

[phiwum]

Could be a motivation for her to be particularly upset when she learned of this and one motivation for her to take the risk of releasing the documents, although I would certainly have hoped that any patriotic citizen like her, including any conservative Republican, would have done so on learning an enemy of the USA was trying to hack into our voting system. Certainly you are not suggesting that only liberals are patriotic and dedicated to protecting our democracy, are you?

It does not question in anyway the legitimacy of the documents, which appear to have now been verified in multiple ways.

I don't think I would've leaked the documents unless I had clear evidence that the administration was ignoring FBI findings. It may be unlikely that a contractor would be in a position to know that -- or maybe not. I don't know diddly about these things.

But my tendency would be to defer to the FBI's discretion on how to deal with their own findings, rather than to leak them to the public. Obviously, there are exceptional circumstances which would override this tendency.

 

[3point14]

I'm not saying "the left" is immune from such behavior. But the active and passive support by Trump supporters, and the Republican Party in general, for covering up such acts is damned well treasonous, and it's hypocrisy on a gigantic scale by the crowd that endlessly prattles on about their alleged patriotism.

I don't think they think they need to be patriotic. They just use patriotism as a tool to manipulate others. That's the politicians.

The people who fund the politicians are citizens of the world, they couldn't give a fetid dingo's kidney about patriotism.

 

[ServiceSoon]

I don't think I would've leaked the documents unless I had clear evidence that the administration was ignoring FBI findings. It may be unlikely that a contractor would be in a position to know that -- or maybe not. I don't know diddly about these things.

But my tendency would be to defer to the FBI's discretion on how to deal with their own findings, rather than to leak them to the public. Obviously, there are exceptional circumstances which would override this tendency.

I agree. If I was a gov contractor I'd trust the FBI to use their discretion on when and what, if any, information they shared with the public.

 

[Hlafordlaes]

Campaign GOP: Leak, baby, leak. If the info is true, it is a patriotic duty to out evildoers.

Election win!

Trump GOP: Leaking is the greatest evil, no matter what far greater evils it uncovers, even if true.

Add mounting desperation and panic at the growing reality, and:

GOP Voters:
(1) The Deep State cannot be trusted, they are out to get Trump. Not a guide to anything.
(2) The Deep State hasn't leaked anything, so Trump obviously did nothing wrong, trust me. Logic is my strong suit, and honesty the sole province of the right-thinking.

 

[I Am The Scum]

Hey this sounds like you!

"The 25-year-old woman who stole “Top Secret” documents from the National Security Agency and leaked them to The Intercept appears to be a supporter of Bernie Sanders and other progressive icons, such as Bill Maher and Michael Moore."

You should stick to the random smileys. You make more sense that way.

 

[Stacko]

Sen. Mark Warner: More state election systems were targeted by Russians

The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee told USA TODAY on Tuesday that Russian attacks on election systems were broader and targeted more states than those detailed in an explosive intelligence report leaked to the website The Intercept.

"I don't believe they got into changing actual voting outcomes," Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said in an interview. "But the extent of the attacks is much broader than has been reported so far." He said he was pushing intelligence agencies to declassify the names of those states hit to help put electoral*systems on notice before the midterm voting in 2018.

"None of these actions from the Russians stopped on Election Day," he warned.

The National Security Agency report*said Russian military intelligence executed a cyberattack on at least one U.S. supplier of voting software and sent deceptive emails to more than 100 local election officials in the days leading up to the election last November*— a sign that Moscow's hacking may have penetrated further into voting systems than previously known.

 

[Trebuchet]

"Leaker"? I think I prefer "Whistleblower".

 

[mgidm86]

"Leaker"? I think I prefer "Whistleblower".

I don't think so. I don't think a 25 year old contractor in her position has any idea what is and isn't being done in certain areas of the government.

One possibility - perhaps the government had reasons for keeping the fact that they know about the Russian hacking attempts secret. Now the Russians know we are onto them. Just one off the cuff reason why this is dangerous.

If the "Reality Winners" of the country start deciding what should and what should not be kept secret - man we are doomed. This sounds more like a woman with an agenda, but I don't know enough about her. She could be just young and dumb.

It is a sticky situation - what to do if you find something as an employee of the government. In the end though, we have to expect them to keep secrets.

I think she should be prosecuted to the full extent the law allows. This is an extremely dangerous precedent.

 

[zorro99]

So the hackers were Russian intelligence, not "Russian patriots" as Putin recently claimed. Hacking anyone isn't cool. Hacking into our election process is nothing short of an act of war.