The Investigation Into Russia’s Influence in the 2016 Elect. Is Not a Conspiracy

Source: RedState | June 10, 2017 | Jay Caruso

The Investigation Into Russia’s Influence in the 2016 Election Is Not a Conspiracy

Lost in all of the news surrounding James Comey vs. Donald Trump is the underlying reason for why we’re talking about all the news. That’s the attempts by Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

What bothers me is that after all this time and all of the sniping going back and forth, people are losing sight of the bigger picture. Former FBI Director James Comey testified on March 20th of this year:

I’ve been authorized by the Department of Justice to confirm that the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. That includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts. As with any counterintelligence investigation, this will also include an assessment of whether any crimes were committed. Because it is an open, ongoing investigation, and is classified, I cannot say more about what we are doing and whose conduct we are examining.

It is a serious issue and some people are reacting in ways that run counter to the very real concerns some people have with Donald Trump and his administration. For example, Mollie Hemingway of The Federalist tweeted the following yesterday:

I have a tremendous amount of respect for Mollie and her husband, Mark. Several months ago when I appeared on CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” she was encouraging to me and gave me unsolicited (and welcome) advice about being on television. She’s a welcome voice for media criticism. That said, I take issue with what she says here because she’s casting a wide net with her statements and by doing that, it doesn’t allow the reasonable discussion she says is difficult to have.

Many people have legitimate concerns about Trump and his administration beyond his glaring weaknesses. Take a step back to 2016 when Donald Trump, despite being presented with plenty of evidence Russia was meddling in our election, consistently denied it happened (while at the same time cheering on Wikileaks). Even after Trump was elected, he continued to deny the obvious. A story broke in the December 9 Washington Post revealing the CIA concluded Russia intervened in the election and wanted Trump to win. Two days later during an interview with Fox News, Trump said the following about the WaPo report:

“I think it’s ridiculous. I think it’s just another excuse. I don’t believe it. I don’t know why, and I think it’s just — you know, they talked about all sorts of things. Every week, it’s another excuse. We had a massive landslide victory, as you know, in the electoral college. I guess the final numbers are now at 306. She’s down to a very low number. No, I don’t believe that at all.”

……

In fairness to Mollie, there are media outlets and Democrats who believe Trump is a Putin plant, cannot accept that he won, and do think he’s a traitor. Dan McLaughlin (aka Baseball Crank), formerly of RedState has an excellent piece where he details the liberal media outlets and Democrats who’ve said Trump is personally under investigation. These outlets and politicians do cloud the issue. Of course, it wasn’t up to James Comey to rebut what was a political issue, not a legal issue and it was ridiculous for the president to try and coerce Comey into acting as his public relations liaison.

As far as the “media” is concerned, there are conservative media outlets and writers who are critical of Trump, including yours truly. Does Mollie include me in her assessment? What about the others at RedState who hold views similar to my own? How about Jonah Goldberg, Charles C.W. Cooke, Kevin Williamson and David French at National Review? Bill Kristol? Erick Erickson? Tom Nichols? I can’t recall any of them calling Trump a traitor, not accepting he won the election or concluding he’s a Putin plant.

…….

At this point, the only one engaging in spreading conspiracy theories is President Donald Trump. It is one thing for Hillary Clinton to blame Russia for her loss. I take exception to that, as she only has herself to blame. The problem is Trump accuses Democrats of making up the Russian interference. Look at these tweets:

Made up. Fake news. A hoax.

……

It is Donald Trump fueling the stories with his inability to control himself. He is the one engaging in a conspiracy theory. He denies what is real. Similar to what he did with a former President and his birth certificate several years ago.

So if people are to have constructive discussions about Trump, they have to come from a POV knowing most of his troubles are self-inflicted wounds and not the fault of the media.

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