Trump was 'infuriated' by efforts to stop Russian election meddling, ex-DHS official alleges

[TomCADem]

Thanks for nothing to the Republican Senate? After stonewalling investigations and voting against impeachment, Senate Republicans quietly authorized the release of a report confirming that Trump colluded with the Russians. Of course, you can only wonder what is happening now?

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/election-2020-russia-meddling-homeland-security-trump-miles-taylor-a9676926.html

A former senior official at the Department of Homeland Security has claimed that administration officials were told to avoid discussing Russia with Donald Trump, who was "infuriated" by suggestions that his administration should work to prevent election interference.

"We were quite literally told, 'Do not bring up issues related to Russia with the president. It might be counterproductive,'" said Miles Taylor, a former DHS chief of staff who has endorsed Joe Biden's presidency in a damning op-ed column and in a video from an anti-Trump Republican group.

"When we were in 2018, driving towards the mid-term elections, it was clear our No. 1 homeland security concern was the possibility that the Russians might do again what they did in 2016," he told CNN on Tuesday. "You want the president of the United States to be very vocal and to say publicly: 'Russia better not meddle in our elections or there's going to be stiff consequences.' The president didn't want to do that."

Instead the president was "infuriated at the suggested that anything was being done on the subject"

[Lock him up.]

1. Why is everyone afraid of the oRange ViRu$$ia?

Where is the home of the brave, plz?

[Evolve Dammit]

18. That is exactly what I keep wondering. He is a traitor and why not call out the obvious?

[moose65]

22. I wonder that as well

As opportunistic as most Republicans usually are, I can’t believe that some of them haven’t figured out that if they call Trump on his nonsense, they would be hailed as heroes by a large segment of the population. Romney is the only one who comes close.

Apparently they all hate Trump but are afraid of him.

[Qutzupalotl]

43. Putin hacked RNC email but is holding onto it for leverage.

Don't step out of line, or else.

What's in there is anyone's guess, but I suspect it includes proof that the GOP has been cheating in elections for over a decade and they all knew about it. At the very least it has proof of complicity with the Russian attack in 2016.

[crickets]

46. 👆 Da. Kompromat and rubles, comrade. nt

[KS Toronado]

44. They are afraid of him, he has a history of destroying "DISLOYAL" people

[Evolve Dammit]

56. It is bizarre. It's like Lord Voldemort sucked out their souls. Seriously. ALL of them??

[warmfeet]

23. To state the obvious,

he is currently the most powerful person in this world.

Many books can, and will, be written about this very topic i.e., (how can a total fuck up, criminal conman, like the orange asswhipe be elected potus?)

I am not happy about any of this current situation, but to say the obvious is not being called out is, at best, disingenuous. The obvious is called out many times every day, hundreds of times each day.

repiggies may need to go through some things, certainly some mental adjustments.

[Evolve Dammit]

27. Some media pundits calling him out, but I mean the career people and legislators. Time to be vocal

and just state the truth as Col. Vindeman and others did. It's not hard to do, it just takes a spine.

[warmfeet]

33. Indeed.

We will all need to use our spines in the upcoming months. I am all for that.

[triron]

49. You're so right. even Rachel won't do it. What is wrong with our fucking media?

Also almost no 'liberal' contributor will either. Surely they're not that naive.

[Evolve Dammit]

57. I think their corporate bosses on each network prohibit true news, or they are fired. We are fucked.

[progressive nobody]

31. I don't think it is Trump. I think Putin has massive dirt on the Republicans

Blackmail!

[dhol82]

32. It has to be that. No other reason for total lack of spines in the republican party

Wonder how much dirt they got during that July 4th trip to Moscow?
Dump has been there so much they must have a terabyte disc on him.

[not_the_one]

53. Every single one of the republicans who went to moscow, at the invitation of Putin,

are now on video. AND they have taken money from Putin, whether outright or through the NRA. Putin has record.

Putin is an expert on getting kompromat. He knows how to offer things to people in their weakest moments, that HE arranged, then deliver, and tape it.

He led them to believe that what happens in Moscow, stays in Moscow.

So Putin now has them under his thumb, for money and sex tapes.

Count on it.

[alittlelark]

42. That's been my thought for quite awhile.

Nothing else makes sense. Occams Razor

[triron]

50. No it is Trump.

[dhol82]

71. Can't be. Dump is too stupid to pee on his own.

[CaptYossarian]

2. He knows he can't win in a fair election--not even "Best in Show".

I have a suggestion for this thin-skinned tyrant wannabe: If you want to be so much like Hitler, have one testicle surgically removed. Then you can take your ball and go home.

[renate]

7. I love you!

“Take your ball and go home”

[CaptYossarian]

11. Thank you very much.

Posting on DU is much cheaper than therapy.

[Mr. Evil]

17. Ain't that the truth!

[Illumination]

14. He's such a disturbed, drugged out perv., that he might want to obsess & play with it for

awhile & then put in a jar to display on a shelf!...

[CaptYossarian]

59. He might get confused, crush it and snort it.

Or if he doesn't crush it, it'll get stuck in his nostril like a pea.

[Illumination]

61. Oh dear! We're BAD but oh so GOOD!

[CaptYossarian]

65. We're just making "good trouble". (for John Lewis)

[Illumination]

69. Yes. What a wonderful man who truly knew what the people today are going through!

He had a good understanding of "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing"...Edmund Burke, Author & Philosopher

[LymphocyteLover]

55. LOL!!

Thanks-- needed that!

[CaptYossarian]

60. Humor is my only survival skill during this regime.

Glad I can help.

[Illumination]

62. Me too. DU needs humor because too much anger can get toxic. Besides, laughing is healthy & a

GREAT release! Humor on!...

[CaptYossarian]

66. I'm a big fan of Colbert, Seth and Bill Maher.

Mort Sahl and Pat Paulsen were the godfathers of this.

Before them were the creators: Twain and Rogers, but that stuff is too dated.

I like "Humor on". I'll raise a left fist for that.

[Illumination]

68. CaptYossarian, Stephen Colbert is excellent! Even now, working out of his home. Had a good

laugh when the Daily Show greenscreened different images onto Melania's dress! Genius humor like Stephen Colbert! Will check out the other comedians on You Tube you mentioned. Glad you like humor on...So let's not forget to laugh & smile even in tragic times like these!

[PatSeg]

3. Its not even subtle

There's no nuance at all. We have a Russian operative in our White House and he doesn't even pretend otherwise. He is more like, "Yeah well, what are you going to do about it?" Before Trump, I don't think anyone, Democrat or republican, could believe this was possible. It is the stuff of Tom Clancy novels, except his characters are more intelligent and competent.

How will the history books remember this chapter of our democracy?

[erronis]

12. History books? The ones written by the Ministry of Truth? Or Ayn Rand acolytes?

We all know how well Texas makes sure their textbooks are "both sides." (NOT)

About the best history of the ancient civilizations is written by the archeologists who have to dig through the detritus of real life to see how real people had to live. Not the tomes of surviving (probably upper-crust) aristocrats, but the down in the dirt lives of every-person.

Odd that the Third Reich was so good at cataloging its atrocities. Doubt that dumpf's reich will keep records (he can't read.)

[Evolve Dammit]

21. They won't be keeping records. In fact they will destroy any record of them even being there.

This is probably SOP at this point, and probably has been for some time.

[PatSeg]

24. Yes, that dawned on me

but at least in the 21st century there is no much information spread out everywhere, that some form of truth will hopefully be preserved. They really can't fool all the people all the time.

As for Trump, he may lack the competence and attention to detail of the Nazis, but he is sloppy and arrogant. He leaves his fingerprints on everything he touches.

[Hekate]

13. Well, as Bill Barr smirked: "History is written by the winners"

So we better be sure we win.

[PatSeg]

28. In this case, the whole world knows what he's done

Its unlikely that everyone, everywhere can be shut up.

Meanwhile, I think people are so fed up, that if he tries to steal the election, we will see protests like Portland everywhere for a long time.

[Illumination]

63. The historians will marvel @ all the death & destruction on person did who was elected by Russia!

[PatSeg]

64. Even right now today I have a hard time believing

this is all real. Trump has bombarded us with so much in a short period of time, it is hard to maintain a grasp on what is happening. We are hardly given a chance to let one outrage sink in before he hits us with another, basically keeping us off balance and disoriented a lot of the time. It is actually a brilliant tactic, though I wouldn't give him credit for being that strategic. I think he is just naturally a constant source of disruption and chaos. Also, he could be getting some pointers from Putin as well.

[tiptonic]

4. The press

The press is all we have left now. Get ready for it, they are on the hit list. Just get ready.

[Pepsidog]

5. I gotta stop reading this stuff, it's hard to stomach.

[llmart]

8. That's how I'm feeling right now.

I can't stand all I'm reading today. We need to do something but no one seems to know what. We can get the vote out in massive numbers and still it could be stolen. They'll never tell us what the real numbers of voters were. They'll throw ballots out in the states they've targeted as the ones they may lose. They'll do anything.

I can't stand this because I know I will never be able to stand an election night like the one in 2016 again.

[dhol82]

35. Yeah, I just realized that I have become so angry at everything.

I have anxiety attacks, yell at people and get crazy about what is going on.

This sucks. Need to take more and more deep breaths to keep going.

If we lose, I will be devastated. I can’t emigrate anywhere because I am too old. But, I damn well won’t be happy living here.

GET OUT THE VOTE!

[llmart]

38. If I were a younger person, I'd be prepared to emigrate also.

However, I'm in my 70's and have one dear, sweet granddaughter who's five and I see the years slipping by, so emigrating is out of the question. I only live about 30 minutes from the Canadian border and that would be my choice if I were younger though they aren't even allowing Americans to visit let alone live there because of Trump.

When I looked at the pictures of the DC protest all I could think of was every single one of those protesters better be voting. I know that historically young people don't vote, but it's much easier now in most places to register and vote that I just have to believe every one of them will make it a point to. Then there are the seniors like us who realize that the GOP wants to take our Social Security and hopefully they don't think that will never happen.

I don't watch much political news because I choose not to have cable, but I do read articles on DU. I'm just afraid that DU'ers are thinking most Americans are like us and they're not. Most Americans just get the basic gist of a story or headline and then form an opinion. We need to be careful that we don't underestimate the lows the GOP will go to in order to win/steal.

[dhol82]

40. True

[KentuckyWoman]

45. A good many never move past a headline.

I get pretty annoyed when a headline is awful.

"Riot turns deadly" but in reality it's "Pro-Trump teenager kills peaceful protesters"

And instead of protest and covid coverage - which seems to be all we get - we really need a non stop barrage of accurate headlines regarding election security, medicare, social security, safe schools, economic survival etc.

My humble opinion

[llmart]

51. Your humble opinion is the same as mine.

I know way too many people who, if you ask them why they voted for who they did, you'll hear the most inane reasons; i.e. "He's a good businessman." "He has no experience in government." That last one is one I heard from a woman who I thought was smarter than that.

If it were only a handful of people I wouldn't worry, but we seem to have a whole lot of ignorant people in our country.

[Chemisse]

48. I don't know how I can bear another election loss like that.

It's been a really miserable 4 years. The stress has been there, simmering, every single day, probably for all of us here.

I feel like I will have a mental breakdown if it happens, although I probably won't. Bad things happen and I always find a way to cope.

[llmart]

52. I hear you.

After 2016 I remember how reclusive I seemed to get and every person that I ran into the first thing I would think of was, "I wonder if that's someone who voted for Trump." Unless I was 100% sure someone voted for Hillary I avoided eye contact. I walk at my park every day and I usually smile at people coming towards me or say hi or if they have a dog I'll say "nice dog" or something. I'm generally a very friendly person. However, the day after the election was when I wouldn't make eye contact or smile because I thought if that person voted for Trump he doesn't deserve my smile or small talk.

That's how I was for several weeks. It was a form of grief I suspect. I worked at a university and most people in my department were liberals. That's not unusual for a university. When I went into work that day you could have heard a pin drop. There was no small talk or chatter or laughter, etc. It was like the elephant in the room.

[smirkymonkey]

67. I relate to every word you have said.

The thought of Trump winning in November is unthinkable to me. I honestly don't know if I will be able to cope with the reality of it. I am starting to think that I would rather be dead than live through another four years of him. I can't imagine the horrors he will bring down upon us.

[llmart]

70. +1

At this point, I've realized that there is nothing he and his henchmen will not resort to. Nothing. He is a psychopath and has no moral compass whatsoever and the same goes for his backers. Every time we think he's gone lower than one can go, he goes lower. That's what scares me.

[SoonerPride]

6. trump is a traitor and all republicans in congress are also traitors who should be hanged

if we had a Nuremberg style trial and after evidence and defense was presented, we commenced with a mass hanging of hundreds of these traitors we would not have this problem again for at least another 100 years.

if we do nothing, it will be worse in 2024 than it even is now

they should be allowed a fair trail and if convicted, hanged from the neck until dead.

[llashram]

9. A general reckoning must be had

with the PINO coward and his Senate and House cohorts. And then start weeding out the trump coward appointees insinuated all through the government. NO civility or being nice. Bring the hammer down hard on all traitors all the way up to PINO

[I_UndergroundPanther]

15. This☝️

[I_UndergroundPanther]

16. You are right

Sooner Pride..

[FakeNoose]

25. I'm starting to feel like hanging them isn't enough

Let's go with mass crucifixions, in a line down the National Mall from the White House to Congress.

[MyOwnPeace]

30. Why..........

it would be the largest crowd ever - even larger than the 2017 inauguration!!!

[jmowreader]

34. May I make a slight suggestion?

After we hang them by the neck until dead, we then hang them by the feet from the canopy of a gas station so their heads are at waist height, and suspend the public indecency statutes for a week.

Then we need to bury them in a mass grave in an undisclosed location, and build a warehouse on top of it.

[gulliver]

10. Deal with Russia correctly, it hurts Trump's image. Deal with COVID correctly, same deal.

Since Trump's never wrong (in his mind and in the minds of the sycophants and culties), he can never change his approach. He just redefines failure as success or simply defines his results as success completely without evidence. It's nuts what can happen when truth doesn't matter.

[Desert grandma]

19. We need to at least win the Senate.

Even if he manages to cheat himself into a second term with Russia's help, he cannot do much if both houses of Congress are against him and his policies. He will fail and maybe, just maybe, we can impeach him and Traitor Barr then.

[SergeStorms]

26. Ever get the feeling....

that they already know the election is in the bag, and that's why they don't seem a bit concerned or ashamed of their inaction?

I do, and I positively hate that feeling. There's been a fascist coup in our country and the vast majority of Americans aren't even aware of it. They may never be. That's my nightmare.

[dhol82]

36. Yup. I worry about that also.

[llmart]

39. I just posted something similar in another thread.

I absolutely DO have the feeling that they know it's in the bag otherwise they would be fighting to keep their Senate seats much harder than they seem to be. I also agree that the vast majority of Americans would tell you and I and others who think this way that we were just conspiracy theorists. They really do not see that this sort of thing could happen in our country even as it is already unfolding since 2016 election. That election was not fair and I also think the GOP primary was not fair. Who on here would not have preferred anyone instead of Trump? I would have preferred Jeb even.

All the jokes and cartoons and tweets aside, we cannot be distracted from what they have up their sleeves.

[TeamPooka]

20. Traitors gonna trait.

[progressive nobody]

29. These Republicans need to be held accountable as well.

This needs to be the top story on EVERY Sunday show!

[yuiyoshida]

37. Do you realize that if it had been Proven Trump was in fact a Russian Asset

HIS BASE would be fine with that...if he TURNED this country over to PUTIN and Russian tanks rolled up and down the street his base would want to know HOW THEY COULD join in.

I hope all those fuckers die of covid 19.

[dhol82]

41. Yup.

[dalton99a]

47. Kick

[LymphocyteLover]

54. THAT IS FUCKING TREASON!!!!

I'M SO GODDAMNED TIRED OF PEOPLE NOT CALLING HIM WHAT HE IS!!!

[Buns_of_Fire]

58. He's infuriated. He's enraged. He's lashing out. He's upset. *yawn*

And with every tantrum, a few more people are saying "who the hell cares what he thinks?"

Just stroke out already.