Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, and Jill Stein all appear to have been helped by Russian election inte

[pnwmom]

Source: Vox

Friday afternoon, the Justice Department released an indictment that’s part of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election led by special counsel Robert Mueller.

The indictment outlines the lengths Russia went to influence the election in favor of Donald Trump and against Hillary Clinton — including by supporting Bernie Sanders (and, later, Jill Stein).

The Russian operations on social media were meant to communicate derogatory information about Hillary Clinton and other candidates, including Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. And they were supposed to support Sanders and Trump.

“Use any opportunity to criticize Hillary and the rest (except Sanders and Trump—we support them),” they were directed, according to the indictment.


Read more: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/2/16/17021248/russian-election-interference-sanders-stein-trump

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

1. Gee, I feel it hard to believe Jill Stein had anything to do with the Russians

She had just stopped by the Moscow McDonald's for a Happy Meal when this nice man invited her over to his table.

[Cha]

3. I know.. it's not like Stein was out

there flaunting it or anything.

[bronxiteforever]

7. +1

[democratisphere]

28. Something is rotten in Moscow with Jill Stein.

[Laurian]

2. Those damned Bernie Bots made me crazy during the 2016 election.

They were insufferable. Makes sense, now.

[TomCADem]

5. Can We Blame Bernie Bots for His Vote...

...on Russia Sanctions?

[Laurian]

6. Bernie Bots were viscous to Hillary and I'm sure they depressed the vote for her.

[WhiteTara]

11. Somehow I doubt it.

But some BoBs might.

[Igel]

19. Probably not.

The point of the very way the subject is phrased is to rule out asserting any knowing collaboration between the Russians and the others named.

I could conspire with others for somebody without their ever knowing. Their collaboration and my conspiracy are different kinds of things.

[George II]

34. That vote becomes curiouser and curiouser. The Senate vote was 98-2 in favor.

He voted against the sanctions, and trump has refused to implement them.

[WIProgressive88]

45. Not really the case, but I am sure you are smart enough to know that.

on Thursday afternoon, Senator Bernie Sanders voted against legislation to put new sanctions on both Russia and Iran. He voted for a Russia-only sanctions bill, but opposed the final bill’s inclusion of new sanctions on Iran because, like John Kerry, he feared it would endanger the 2015 nuclear deal.

[link:https://www.thenation.com/article/bernie-sanders-is-a-russian-agent-and-other-things-i-learned-this-week/|

You know...I really have to wonder about the motives of posts like this. There are an awful lot of people on this site who seem super intent on reliving the primaries and smearing progressive voices to create division. Hmm...now who would benefit from this?

[lanlady]

16. Me too!

Bernie bots and Bernie Bros repeated all the same rightwing lies about Hillary with a slight leftist twist, a dash of misogyny, and a whole lot of sanctimony. Drove me up the damn wall.

[Skittles]

23. they played right into Russia's hands

very easily manipulated

[ehrnst]

33. He was silent on them then, and is still silent. (nt)

[Politicub]

37. DU was uninhabitable during the primaries

It was like a stranger came in and took a shit in our house. And instead of the intruders being shown the door, the long-time inhabitants were berated until we evicted ourselves.

[jrthin]

46. You story is the same as mine...I just stopped visiting the site. nt

[Larrybanal]

4. the bernie bots are gonna lose it

[SunSeeker]

8. Is anyone surprised?

[NastyRiffraff]

12. I for one am not

Just here on DU, it was clear.

[Canoe52]

9. In other words putin dreaded the idea of Hillary becoming President?

Would that be an accurate conclusion to be drawn from all that?

[pnwmom]

10. He loathed her. n/t

[elmac]

14. putin has a long history of hating the clintons

Goes back to the economic decline after the soviet breakup, Kosovo war and Hillary's Sec of State years. Putin is an evil cold war throwback and is a danger to Russia and us.

[ehrnst]

35. Ever since she was SoS and he blamed her for the protests against him in 2011

I guess all that uranium one deal she made didn't make up for it...

[JohnnyRingo]

13. Just say "everyone but Hillary".

I guess the Trumpers will have to assume Putin didn't want Ms "Crooked Hillary" Clinton in office because it'd be so bad for The United States.

There's nothing Vlad's heart desired more than a strong, stable, and efficient America run by a reality show host.

Way to go, stupidly gullible voters!

[bluestateboomer]

15. I don't feel I have to apologize for liking Bernie.

I felt more favorable towards Bernie Sanders' Ideas, which I preferred somewhat more than Hillary's. Still I voted for her in the general. It's obvious we would be better off now if the actual winner of the popular vote was president. I supported Bernie because I felt he advocated more of the systemic change needed in our country.

[lanlady]

17. Whats really interesting

—is that the Russians were all in for Trump from the get-go. Not “anybody but Clinton” but “Trump is our man.” I haven’t read the indictments yet but someone on the news, or maybe even Rosenstein himself, stated that the Russians also went after Cruz and Rubio, to clear the field for Trump.That,right there, suggests that they had powerful motives to put his fat ass in the White House. Whatever it is that Putin has on him (kinky sex, dirty money, general venal behavior, your guess is as good as mine) must be mind-blowing. Russia OWNS him.

[pnwmom]

18. It seems that way, with this one little caveat (from the indictment):

https://www.justice.gov/file/1035477/download

Feb. 10, 2016: “use any opportunity to criticize Hillary and the rest (except Sanders and Trump—we support them).”

[Igel]

20. And yet that's 2016.

"From the get-go" for the Russians is a year or two earlier.

[ehrnst]

36. That would explain continuing Russian propaganda, even after HRC was kept out of office

And the influence continues, he said, pointing to a “Bernie Sanders 2020” FB page that has 60,000 members — but is “100 percent generated by the Kremlin” and originating not in Burlington, Vermont, but in Albania.

https://timesofsandiego.com/politics/2017/03/23/russia-duped-bernie-fans-via-facebook-san-diego-dems-told/

And all of the #releasethememo hashtags from Russian Bots recently.

[Julian Englis]

21. THis is pretty obvious, but some just don't get it that anything that hurt Hillary helped Trump n/t

[Devil Child]

22. Well golly gee

I'm glad I learned my support for Sanders was influence more by Russians/KGB/Soviets and not by my own assessment of his positions or policies.

I hope someone can save me from these voting errors in the future. Like maybe just choose for me, all this thinking is so so tiring.

[GulfCoast66]

25. Well golly gee

How many others were not committed to voting against trump as you were?

Do you remember all the traffic online, even creeping in to DU that the primaries were rigged? In California, Massachusetts and other states? All by Bernie supporters.

We learned today that was all Putin’s hand on the scale against Hillary. So you did not fall for it. But others did.

[Politicub]

38. There was a lot of consensual manipulation going on

Don't be too hard on yourself.

[progressoid]

40. Yeah, we were all fooled.

Sanders: Democratic SOCIALIST
Putin: former member of the Union of Soviet SOCIALIST Republics

The connection is CLEAR!!11

[Devil Child]

42. You have found the link!

[AlexSFCA]

26. never ever forget that sanders voted against russian sanctions

[Politicub]

39. So much going on that I did not know that

And now I'm flabbergasted by it.

[Bradical79]

47. His vote was against Iran sanctions

Sanctions against Iran were part of the package, but he wanted them separated. He was afraid the addition of the Iran sanctions would further sabotage the Iran nuclear deal.

[Bleacher Creature]

27. Hillary took the ALL on, and still almost won.

No wonder Putin is afraid of her.

[murielm99]

30. She did win.

She won the popular vote. The key states that went to trump by small margins will always remain questionable.

Yes, Putin is afraid of her. I believe trump is also afraid of her, even now. Bernie and Jill Stein are afraid of her. The republicans in Congress are afraid of her. Weak people are often afraid of strong, capable women. Putin is overjoyed to have a madman running the strongest democracy in the world instead of a strong, scary woman. It destabilizes the entire West.

Just think what we have lost. Just think what we could still lose if we do not learn from this and GOTV.

We are still losing every time I see posts here that says HRC was a flawed candidate, or that the poster had to hold their nose to vote for Hillary. What nonsense. I am tired of seeing that kind of division on a Democratic board.

[nocalflea]

29. Folks who aren't angry about this need to wake up. The Russians attacked all of us.

The bots targeting minorities to supress the vote had interesting messaging. One was about how a vote for Hillary, even though she's a lesser devil, was still a vote for a devil. Therefore don't vote at all.

Interesting choice of word "devil". "Blue-eyed devil" resonates. Americans had to be involved in this messaging. It's so damn specific. It also sounds like it's right out of the GOP playbook.

[Historic NY]

31. Makes one wonder how many Bernie Bros, were actually Putin Bros.

no wonder he refuses to give up his donor list.

[Scruffy1]

43. I think most of them.

At least all the Bernie people I know didn'y go around dissing Clinton, but talked about economic policy. It was obvious that clinton had the nomination locked up early on and the only point I could see in the primary bot war was that it was aimed at driving Dem leaning voters from the polls not to them. It makes sense to support Stein and and divide the Democratic vote. Of course, it had no effect on voters like me who would never, ever vote for s Republican, but then we are a small set of the voters. My ideas on the election is that Dolt45 never thought he would be elected and it was just an ego trip to run. In the end the Clinton smar campaign took its toll. Face it,the average voter is ignorant and will be believe just about anything.

[Devil Child]

44. How do I keep Putin from controlling my thoughts?

Apparently as a Sanders supporter I am the most vulnerable to manipulation and Russian MK-Ultra efforts.

[ehrnst]

32. This was known about during the General election

And is still happening nearly a year after being reported on:

And the influence continues, he said, pointing to a “Bernie Sanders 2020” FB page that has 60,000 members — but is “100 percent generated by the Kremlin” and originating not in Burlington, Vermont, but in Albania.

https://timesofsandiego.com/politics/2017/03/23/russia-duped-bernie-fans-via-facebook-san-diego-dems-told/

[progressoid]

41. Ha! Here's some irony. This is also being used as an excuse by the right wing to cover Drumpf's ass

Last night I heard a RW talk radio douche saying that if Trump colluded, then Bernie and Stein did too!