Bradenton Herald |
The Latest: FBI investigators knew about emails a while ago
Bradenton Herald Ivanka Trump, right, and Melania Trump, center, listen as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during the grand opening of the Trump International Hotel- Old Post Office, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016, in Washington. Evan Vucci AP Photo. Clinton enjoys solid lead in early voting: Reuters/Ipsos pollReuters The Latest: FBI ready to respond to Election Day crimesWBRC FOX6 News - WBRC.com all 10,852 news articles » |
Voice of America |
FBI Director Comey: A Law Enforcement Career Marked by Independence
Voice of America FILE - FBI Director James Comey testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 1, 2016, before the House Judiciary Committee hearing on 'The Encryption Tightrope: Balancing Americans' Security and Privacy.' ... Republican presidential candidate Donald ... and more » |
CBS News |
New FBI docs show Clinton aide proposing quid pro quo to alter email classification
American Thinker (blog) New FBI documents given to the House Oversight Committee reveal a top Clinton aide, Patrick Kennedy, proposing a quid pro quo with the FBI to alter the classification heading of at least 1 email. In return for the alteration, Kennedy suggested that he ... FBI — Hillary R. Clinton Part 04 of 04The Vault - FBI all 903 news articles » |
Vox |
Vox Sentences: “Anthony Weiner” and “emails” should never be in the same sentence
Vox [The Washington Post / Rosalind S. Helderman, Matt Zapotsky, and Sari Horwitz]; We don't know yet how or if the emails discovered through the Weiner investigation tie into the FBIinvestigation into Clinton's private server. They may prove explosive ... |
NBCNews.com |
Fact Checking Everything Trump and Clinton Said About the FBI's Email Review
NBCNews.com Donald Trump championed the news that the FBI is reviewing additional emails "pertinent" to previous investigations into Hillary Clinton's private email server as a game changer on Friday. "This changes everything," he said to ... Again, we don't know ... To understand the FBI-Clinton news, you need to pull apart her different email scandalsVox Hillary tells Irish American FBI director Comey to put up or shut upIrishCentral Trump Breaks FBI News to CrowdRushLimbaugh.com New York Times all 3,771 news articles » |
What Would Serious Anti-Trump Republicans Do?
American Thinker (blog) Right now Trump's decade-old gaucheries have handed his opponents, including partisan media, new and formidable weapons to turn on him, weapons that could prove fatal. They also offer the opposition ... The alternative scenario's serious Republicans ... |
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The Independent |
Major Republican donors demand money back after Donald Trump tape scandal
The Independent 'I'm really embarrassed. I shook hands with him last week and now I want to wash my hand' ... Major Republican donors thought to have handed over tens of thousands of dollars to Donald Trump's presidential campaign have reportedly demanded their money ... Major GOP Donors Are Asking Trump for Their Money BackNBCNews.com all 26 news articles » |
Huffington Post |
Donald Trump's Supporters More Likely To Pray Than Riot If He Loses
Huffington Post SPRINGFIELD, Ohio ― At times, the closing argument of Donald Trump's presidential campaign seems to be built around instilling paranoia in his supporters. The election may be rigged, stolen by a media complex obsessed with undermining his candidacy ... and more » |
Observer |
With Russian Hacker Scandal, Putin Has Already Won the U.S. Election
Observer Under imminent threat from Russia—which has recently been blamed for hacking a Denuvo-protected computer game, WADA archives, Democratic Party servers, Hillary Clinton's private emails, and launching attacks on the world's biggest banks—British ... Here's Why Vladimir Putin Wants Donald Trump To Win US Elections 2016Morning Ledger Donald Trump Says He Might Meet With Putin Before InaugurationNew York Times Why Putin fears a Clinton presidencyCNN Deutsche Welle -U.S. News & World Report -The Guardian -NBCNews.com all 626 news articles » |
Washington Post |
At third debate, Trump won't commit to accepting election results if he loses
Washington Post LAS VEGAS — A defiant Donald Trump used the high-profile setting of the final presidential debate here Wednesday night to amplify one of the most explosive charges of his candidacy: that if he loses the election, he might consider the results ... Poll: Who won the 3rd presidential debate between Trump & Clinton?fox2now.com US election 2016: Stop whining, Obama tells Donald TrumpBBC News Presidential Debate: What You MissedNew York Times Reuters -The Sydney Morning Herald -Naples Daily News all 19,376 news articles » |
USA TODAY |
Amid 'rigged' election charges, Russia wants to monitor US vote
USA TODAY In an apparent move to embarrass the United States over Donald Trump's claims of a "rigged" presidential election, Russia sought to send monitors to U.S. polling stations for the Nov. 8 vote, Russian media revealed Thursday. The bid was sharply ... Russia wants to monitor the US presidential electionsSalon all 20 news articles » |
Telegraph.co.uk |
Donald Trump supporters warn of 'another Revolutionary War' if Hillary Clinton wins: Friday US electionbriefing
Telegraph.co.uk “One of the things that I can tell you that a lot of us are scared of is this voter fraud. There's a lot of out here saying that when we vote, we're going to wear red. Our lives depend on this election. Our kids' futures depend on this election. For me ... Trump: Clinton's foreign policy plan would start WW3BBC News America, Your Election Is Not RiggedNew York Times Clinton suggested US should rig a foreign election — but don't expect the media to careRT The Independent -Fox News -The Australian all 10,943 news articles » |
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CNBC |
Russia actively attempting to subvert US democracy: Intelligence officials
CNBC "Russia's interference with American democracy is a direct threat to our political process, and it may only be the tip of the iceberg. It is imperative that Russia's behavior is met with strength in the form of aggressive sanctions to show the world ... US government officially accuses Russia of hacking campaign to interfere with electionsWashington Post US accuses Russia of hacking political sitesFox News Politics|US Says Russia Directed Hacks to Influence ElectionsNew York Times Daily Mail -POLITICO Magazine -Wall Street Journal -National Intelligence all 443 news articles » |
Newsweek |
Dear Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, I Am Not Sidney Blumenthal
Newsweek It is not clear if Russian authorities conduct that review, the official says, but no article directly related to American politics would just be sloppily thrown into public view without careful consideration. (The article in question disappeared from ... Vladimir Putin Is Determined to See Trump in the Oval OfficeEsquire.com Benghazi Biopsy: A Comprehensive Guide to One of America's Worst Political OutragesNewsweek The truth... - WikiLeaks - The Podesta EmailsWikiLeaks - The Podesta Emails all 46 news articles » |
MSNBC |
Trump eyes Putin for his post-election transition plans
MSNBC ... nominee nevertheless believes, if he's elected, the appropriate move would be to incorporate Vladimir Putin into Trump's presidential transition plans, effectively rewarding the Russian leader for suspected crimes against the American political ... Obama tells Trump 'stop whining' about election, hits unprecedented flattery of PutinDallas News Another GOP ticket rift as Putin claims 'no intention' of swaying US electionsChristian Science Monitor 'Get lost': Moscow to keep counter sanctions & other highlights from Putin's BRICS presserRT The Straits Times -New York Times -Voice of America -NBCNews.com all 626 news articles » |
RollingStone.com |
Schram: Putin's American Insider defends political saboteurs
Boston Herald Putin clearly had as his fondest goal somehow disrupting the world's most famous democracy — and perhaps even causing some Americans to lose faith in their cherished democratic process. But surely even Putin never thought he would be lucky enough to ... At the Final Debate, Trump Threatens American DemocracyRollingStone.com Presidential Debate: What You MissedNew York Times Trump a 'puppet' of Putin? WikiLeaks target isn't who you may think, Russia experts sayCBC.ca all 19,376 news articles » |
Ynetnews |
Putin: Claims of Russian meddling 'hysteria'
Ynetnews ... of trying to "interfere" in the 2016 White House race by hacking US political institutions, charges the Kremlin has repeatedly dismissed. Putin has vehemently rejected the accusations, saying they are meant to divert American voters from domestic ... Column: Putin's Geopolitical Trolling May BackfireValley News Putin tells the West of its own problemsPravda Putin tirade: West exaggerates Russia threat to justify military spendingNewstalk 106-108 fm Channel NewsAsia -9news.com.au -CNSNews.com all 658 news articles » |
Sacramento Bee |
Putin's powerful playbook: Hack, steal, disrupt, mislead, confuse
Sacramento Bee Since such actions would be considered acts of war, Russia instead uses deniable cyber-hooliganism to actively prank the American political system. And it's taking a toll. Given Putin'spowerful disruptive potential, he knows it is a lot cheaper to ... |
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Salon |
Pwned by Putin: How the Russian despot ruthlessly trolled our so-called democracy
Salon 1 Halloween goblin, Vladimir Putin himself. I'm serious. For someone who seems kind of vain and small-minded and not especially bright, the Russian president has exercised a Voldemort-like level of control over this whole process. ... Putin took a few ... President Putin's Speech: “The Russian Military Threat” is a “Profitable Business”, “Russia has No Intention of ...Center for Research on Globalization Trump, Putin and the Disinformation CampaignThe McGill International Review all 49 news articles » |
New York Times |
America, Your Election Is Not Rigged
New York Times Social media is flooded by Kremlin-funded trolls ranting about the illegitimacy of the Americanelection process and warning of the potential for violence. To have a major party nominee in America repeating this propaganda is beyond Mr. Putin's wildest ... Trump Keeps Criticizing the Media While Citing it to Attack ClintonNBCNews.com Capital Journal Daybreak: Campaign 2016, MoreWall Street Journal (blog) Donald Trump, domestic terrorist: The man who tried to kill democracy — and why we had it comingSalon The Good Men Project -Los Angeles Times all 10,721 news articles » |
Stuff.co.nz |
Is the US Election rigged?
Stuff.co.nz ... curried as a Russian political asset over some years, apparently with great success." According to Nance, this operation is very personal to Putin, a former director of the KGB. "Getting Donald Trump elected by hacking the American political ... Howard Dean: Comey 'put himself on the same side as Putin'Washington Examiner (blog) Face The Nation Transcript October 30, 2016: Biden, Pence, BenensonCBS News all 3,792 news articles » |
WBOC TV 16 |
New FBI inquiry reinjects Clinton emails into 2016 race - WBOC-TV 16, Delmarvas News Leader, FOX 21 -
WBOC TV 16 Trump said of Clinton, "We must not let her take her criminal scheme into the Oval Office. ... This is bigger than Watergate." The Friday afternoon disclosure raises the possibility of the FBI reopening the criminal investigation involving the ... and more » |
Emails from Anthony Weiner investigation reignite FBI probe into Clinton
WXII The Triad The FBI will investigate whether there is classified information in newly discovered emailsrelated to its probe of Hillary Clinton's private server, reinjecting one of the most toxic political issues into the presidential campaign less than two weeks ... and more » |
FBI: New Clinton emails prompt further investigation
WXOW.com The FBI says it will investigate whether there is classified information in newly discovered emails that appear to be related to its probe of Hillary Clinton's email practices, reinjecting one of the most toxic political issues into the presidential ... |
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Associated Press |
New FBI inquiry reinjects Clinton emails into 2016 race
Associated Press MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — The FBI will investigate whether there is classified information in newly discovered emails related to its probe of Hillary Clinton's private server, reinjecting one of the most toxic political issues into the presidential ... |
ABC News |
Donald Trump Reacts to Renewed Look Into Hillary Clinton Email Scandal
ABC News The FBI after discovering new e-mails is re-opening their investigation into Hillary Clinton. Reporter: At rally after rally trump is relishing Clinton's October surprise. This is bigger than watergate. The American people fully understand her ... Source: New Clinton emails found in Anthony Weiner sexting case prompt FBI investigationDaily Press New FBI inquiry reinjects Clinton emails into 2016 race - WALB.com, South Georgia News, Weather, SportsWALB-TV all 12,040 news articles » |
The Liberty Conservative |
The Libertarian Republic Covers for Hillary Clinton, Downplays FBI Probe
The Liberty Conservative “According to a letter sent by FBI Director James Comey to congressional committee chairs, the re-discovery of 'new emails…pertinent to the investigation' was the main reason for the reopening of the investigation.” In stark contrast ... Nevertheless ... |
New York Times |
Hillary Clinton Assails James Comey, Calling Email Decision 'Deeply Troubling'
New York Times Hillary Clinton and her allies sprang onto a war footing on Saturday, opening a ferocious attack on the F.B.I.'s director, James B. Comey, a day after he disclosed that his agency was looking into a potential new batch of messages from her private ... Computer seized in Weiner probe prompts FBI to take new steps in Clinton emailinquiryWashington Post James Comey, FBI director, reopens Clinton email investigationWashington Times The New Weiner Emails Won't Hurt Clinton. Our Tribal Politics Has Killed the “October Surprise.”Slate Magazine ABC Online -Los Angeles Times -Politico (blog) -New York Times all 3,825 news articles » |
Us Weekly |
FBI Takes 'Investigative Steps' in Hillary Clinton Case After Uncovering New Emails
Us Weekly “In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation,” the letter reads. “I am writing to inform you that the investigative team briefed me on this yesterday, and I ... |
New York Daily News |
Anthony Weiner sexts lead to FBI reopening Clinton email probe
New York Daily News WASHINGTON — The FBI is reopening its investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server after discovering new emails, it announced Friday, a bombshell revelation with less than two weeks until election day. And Anthony Weiner may be ... and more » |
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Breitbart News |
Report: Congress Considering Emergency Hearing on Reopened FBI Investigation into Clinton Emails
Breitbart News Cameron Joseph, the Washington Bureau Chief for the New York Daily News, has claimed he has heard reports that the House Oversight Committee is considering an emergency hearing with FBI director James Comey next Friday, following the FBI's ... |
WILX-TV |
Early voters weigh in on Clinton email investigation reopening
WILX-TV Dalton says the FBI's announcement that it has re-opened the investigation into Hillary Clinton's email use will not impact his vote. "There's more to it than just Hillary Clinton's emails, I think there's a lot of things that Mr. Trump is doing as ... and more » |
Independent Journal Review |
Barack Obama's Reaction to FBI Reopening Hillary's Email Case is Nothing Short of Stunning
Independent Journal Review Hillary Clinton didn't find out she was under re-investigation by the FBI until her plane landed yesterday. Upon touching down, she didn't answer any questions about the new investigation. And it turns out that the White House wasn't even aware of what ... and more » |
LifeZette |
October Surprise: FBI Reopens Clinton Email Investigation
LifeZette The FBI is reopening its investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server after obtaining new pertinent information, suggesting the Democratic nominee for president may be under criminal investigation on Election Day. “In previous ... |
CBS News |
Sources reveal new details about reopened Hillary Clinton email investigation
CBS News Federal investigators are working to review more than 1,000 emails on a laptop shared by a top aide to Hillary Clinton and the aide's disgraced husband that caused FBI Director James Comey to reopen the investigation into Clinton's private email server ... Clinton calls on FBI to release 'full and complete facts' of email reviewCNN FBI Director Says Investigation Into Hillary Clinton Emails Back OnABC News US election 2016: Clinton 'confident' over new FBI email probeBBC News Fox News -Voice of America -New York Times all 3,845 news articles » |
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Clinton aide doesn't know how emails ended up on husband's computer
A published report says Abedin did not regularly use her estranged husband’s computer.
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Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks with senior aide Huma Abedin, left, aboard her campaign plane.(Photo: Andrew Harnik, Associated Press)
Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin has told people she doesn’t know how her emails ended up on her estranged husband’s computer, according to The Washington Post.
Abedin says she did not regularly use the computer, the newspaper reported, citing a person familiar with the investigation.
Her lawyers did not search the computer that belongs to former congressman Anthony Weiner when Abedin agreed to hand over emails to the State Department because she did not believe any of her emails would be on it, the person said.
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Weiner and a lawyer for Abedin did not respond to requests for comment from The Washington Post.
Weiner is under investigation for allegedly exchanging lewd messages with a teenage girl.
It is not clear if any new emails were found on the computer.
FBI Director James Comey caused a major shakeup in the presidential election with his letter Friday revealing a review of newly discovered emails related to the FBI previously-closed investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private server.
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The Kremlin has the message and the cash to sweet talk every segment of the Western population, and we're falling for it.
PARIS—The golden domes would look at home on Moscow’s Red Square. There are five of them, onion-shaped and glistening in the sun, each one bearing a cross—potent symbols of the Russian Orthodox Church. But here in front of them flows the Seine River. Behind them rises the Eiffel Tower. Down the street is the French foreign ministry, known as the Quai d’Orsay.
What French and other Western intelligence agencies have been concerned about as they watched the building go up over the last six years is what you don’t see when you look at the just-inaugurated Holy Trinity Cathedral and Russian Orthodox Spiritual and Cultural Center.
French journalist Nicolas Hénin in his new book La France Russe notes that the building abuts an apartment used (at least until recently) by the French Secretary General of Defense and National Security, as well as the mail service of the French presidential palace.
An inter-ministerial note on the state of France’s intelligence agencies cited by Hénin observed that the cathedral domes, made of composite materials, could hide sophisticated listening devices, and since the “cultural center” enjoys diplomatic immunity, there’s no obvious way to get inside to look.
According to other sources, the French are now employing active countermeasures, just in case, and several Western embassies and enterprises have checked to make sure there is no line of sight contact between them and the domes.
It’s a strange spectacle, an obvious outpost of Mother Russia even if all its aspects are benign, which it was assumed to be when then-President Nicolas Sarkozy approved its construction in 2010. But since then, “benign” has become a word hard to associate with the Kremlin. So when Russian President Vladimir Putin was supposed to open the center here this month, the current French president, François Hollande, said he wouldn’t attend, and if he talked to Putin at all, his office declared, it would be about war crimes in Syria. Putin decided to postpone his visit more or less indefinitely.
Perhaps this seems like crazy neo-Cold War paranoia. High-tech spookery hiding behind onion domes on the Left Bank? Yet almost anything seems possible at a time when Putin has been using every conceivable means at his disposal to extend Russian influence and disrupt or discredit Western democracy in Europe, and, indeed, in the United States.
Indeed, if there is a new cold war chill, it’s coming from the east. Putin, faced with a badly flagging economy and potential domestic discontent, is actively preparing his people for nuclear Armageddon, while in the United States, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, an avowed admirer of Putin’s “leadership,” warns that Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s talk about standing up to him will lead to “World War III.”
As The Economist pointed out last week, inside Russia,“The two main pillars of the Soviet state, propaganda and the threat of repression, have been restored.” The infamous KGB, which was humiliated and broken up 25 years ago “has been rebuilt as the main vehicle for political and economic power.” Meanwhile, “reactionary restoration at home has led to aggression abroad,” with hybrid warfare against Georgia and Ukraine, and intimidation of the little Baltic states. All this even as Moscow has “attempted to undermine Euro-Atlantic institutions, backed right-wing parties in Europe and,” as the The Economist, too, avers, “tried to meddle in America’s presidential elections.”
If Putin’s aggressive stratagems are a fairly recent revelation to Americans (or, at least, those Americans willing to pay attention), the basic tactics are old news in France and much of the rest of Europe, where Moscow has been active for a long time helping to underwrite with money and propaganda the wave of populism sweeping Britain and the Continent.
For nearly a decade, Russia has established ties with far right parties in eastern Europe, including Hungary’s Jobbik, Bulgaria’s anti-EU Attack movement, and Slovakia’s far-right People’s party.
The Eastern European far-right parties have returned the love, whether by supporting the 2008 Russian war against Georgia, or by vocalizing support for Putin, as the Bulgarian Attack party has. In 2012, Attack's leader, Volen Siderov, even popped over to Moscow to ring in Putin’s 60th birthday. Siderov also threatened to withdraw his party’s support from the coalition government if it supported further sanctions against Russia, following Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
However, in recent years Russian influence has been moving west. In a 2014 report, the Budapest-based research institute Political Capital argued that Russia's meddling in political affairs of the European far right has become a “phenomenon seen all over Europe.” And earlier this year, The Telegraph reported that American intelligence agencies were planning a review of secret Russian funding of several European political parties. The specific parties weren't named, but it is believed that European far-right groups such as Jobbik, the Northern League in Italy, and Greece's Golden Dawn are among those to be investigated for having received Russian cash.
Most conspicuously, in 2014, after Russia took the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine and fueled a wider war in the east of that country, provoking heavy international sanctions, some members of Marine Le Pen’s National Front went as observers to the bogus Russian-Crimean elections. A few months later a Kremlin controlled bank found €9 million ($10 million) to loan the cash-strapped Front, and at the beginning of this year the party treasurer admitted he was looking for another €27 million from the movement’s friends in Moscow.
One senior Western intelligence official told Hénin the idea that the domes of the new Russian Orthodox cathedral on the Seine are covers for electronic eavesdropping is “the stuff of fantasy!” But that’s only because the Russians have so many tools at their disposal in France and the West. The cathedral complex “is much more symbolic,” said the official. The Russians would have to be “absolutely stupid to install a listening capacity there,” he said.
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And “absolutely stupid” they absolutely are not.
Nicolas Hénin, the author La France Russe, is not just another hardworking journalist. The 40-year-old Frenchman who has spent much of his career covering the Middle East had an especially close view of totalitarian brutality when the so-called Islamic State held him hostage for 10 months in 2013 and 2014 in the city of Raqqa. Among his fellow captives was American journalist James Foley, the first U.S. hostage to die by the ISIS knife. Hénin’s book Jihad Academy chronicles the rise of ISIS as well as his own grim experience.
When we talked last week about Russian actions in France, Europe and the United States, the horrors of ISIS-land were in the background, but relevant still, since the infamy of ISIS is exploited by the Russians as a tool for their own ends. But more about that a bit later.
We met at Hénin’s request in Place de la République beneath the huge statue of Marianne. This was probably just a matter of convenience for Hénin, but literally and figuratively we talked in the shadow of the symbol of the French Republic where so many huge demonstrations against terror and oppression have gathered in recent years.
For more than an hour, we drank cappuccinos on the edge of the square in a café called Fluctuat Nec Mergitur, “storm-tossed but not sunk,” for the ancient Latin motto of the city of Paris that became the motto of resistance to terror after the horrific attacks here on November 13 last year. So there was a certain irony in our discussion of Putin’s twisted but often effective messages to the West.
“The key is to say we are declining countries because we don’t have moral values anymore,” Hénin explained. The message the Russians bring—a message they insinuate anywhere they can—is that “we are too open to ‘foreign’ influences”: too much immigration, too much Islam, too many LGBT rights, too much America. And not enough Russia, it would seem.
The story in France has its own particularities, but anyone who has watched the Trump campaign — which was once managed by Russian-crony-funded consultant Paul Manafort and continues to exploit Russian-hacked intelligence about the Democratic Party, including very probably the drips out of Wikileaks — must see some striking similarities.
“In France, the Russians have a multi-faceted approach,” said Hénin. “If you are leftist, they will play on your anti-Americanism. If you are a businessman, they will attract you with the promise of huge contracts. If you are military, they will say, ‘We are the only ones in the modern world who know what it means to show muscle.’ If you are Christian, they will say, ‘We are sharing your fight against the secularism of the world.’”
Thus a figure like Marine Le Pen fits admirably into the Russian strategy. She may well be sincere when she says, as she did in an interview in the current issue of Foreign Affairs, “Strategically there is no reason not to deepen relations with Russia. The only reason we don’t is because the Americans forbid it.” But, then again, it seems she wasn’t asked about the money from Moscow. When she has been, she blames the French government for making it impossible for her to get loans in her own country.
In any case the Russian criteria for supporting politicians in Europe and the United States, whether with money or propaganda or both, is not ideological in the old Communist sense. It is, rather, based on the much older and more basic techniques of what used to be called “rabble-rousing.”
“A populist,” says Hénin, “has no political program as such. Their only approach is to say, ‘You are angry and you should be even more angry and I am the boss of the party of angry people. We will fire you up and once you are extremely angry you will vote for me because … I am the boss of the angry people.’”
The fury of the masses then disrupts and discredits the whole democratic system. Thus, Le Pen herself may never win the presidency of France, says Hénin, but “she is dictating the agenda to the old right, and to the moderate right.” Indeed, one now hears even Socialist President François Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls starting to parrot National Front positions.
If one is to understand the Russian game in the West, it’s important to understand the way Putin tells his people they’ve been gamed by the West, feeding their fury and resentments. Presenting himself as the boss of the angry people in his own country, he has heightened hysteria and pared away freedoms to the point where Russia “has long since ceased to live by the rule of law,” as French academic Cécile Vaissié noted in her recent book, Les Réseaux du Kremlin en France.
Putin saw his own power and the power of his allies in the old Soviet bloc challenged by the Orange Revolution in Ukraine and other “color revolutions” over the last quarter century, and concluded these were not the work of popular discontent and a desire for Western economic and political freedoms, but conspiracies by the American and European secret services.
Likewise, while we have heard a great deal recently about Russian hacking—most likely Russian government supported hacking—of emails and other communications, we’ve heard rather less about the hacking of high-level Russian communications by ill-defined groups like Anonymous International and a collective that calls itself Shaltai Boltai, or Humpty Dumpty in Russian.
Much of the information about Marine Le Pen’s National Front getting Russian money as a seeming quid pro quo for supporting the Crimea invasion in 2014 came from this group, for instance. It also carried out impish attacks like the hacking of Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev’s Twitter account in August 2014, when his 2.5 million followers thought they saw him tweet: “I’m resigning. I’m ashamed of this government’s actions. Forgive me.”
Again, it’s very unlikely that Putin thinks this is just the work of anarchic folks working out of their basements. He knows he has set up vast “troll farms” and cyber war operations ready to play dirty tricks on his rivals. He would assume the Americans and their allies have done just the same.
President Barack Obama, not to put too fine a point on it, warned Putin face to face at a summit in September that the United States had a greater defensive and offensive capacity in cyberspace than Russia could command, and would use it.
But Hénin argues against an illusion of equivalency. As he put it, “Putin will do shit and try to make people believe ‘the shit we do is because you do shit, too.’”
Thus if the Americans talk about the atrocities in Syria, Putin will bring up atrocities in Yemen to try to minimize his own crimes. And a lot of people buy that. “So, now,” says Hénin, in the French press you see, ‘Mosul will be another Aleppo,’” suggesting the American supported offensive against ISIS in its Iraqi stronghold will be as savage as the Russian backed Syrian offensive in a city where ISIS has virtually no presence.
That just isn’t so. “It is different when you systematically try to wipe out a population or force them into exile by destroying infrastructure, starting with hospitals,” says Hénin, who knows the situation on the ground all too well.
What direct lessons are there for Americans in the French and European experience with Russia?
“They want to use us against you,” says Hénin. “They want to use some of your own people against you. They want to identify the weaknesses inside.”
According to Hénin, the Russian leadership does not believe there is such a thing as a “civil society” — government of the people, by the people, and for the people. “But they believe that societies can be manipulated.” They focus on certain groups they think are easily swayed.
“They don’t believe in public opinion, they only believe in public manipulation,” says Hénin. “In the U.S. the group they mainly work on is angry white men.”
And then, added to the question of anger, there is the matter of terror.
Looking at the alleged Russian involvement with the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and the Wikileaks drips, one might think the Kremlin has just about reached the bottom of its bag of dirty tricks. But the French know firsthand that’s far from the case.
On April 8, 2015, a devastating cyber attack targeted the French international television network TV5 Monde. All five of its channels suddenly showed black screens and on the network’s social media accounts viewers found a message from the “CyberCaliphate.”
This was just three months after the French people had responded to the horrific terror attack on the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo by proclaiming, “Je suis Charlie,” I am Charlie. Now the supposed CyberCaliphate proclaimed beneath the image of a man whose face was wrapped in a keffiyeh, “Je suIS IS”—I am the Islamic State.
“Analysis of the data showed proof that the lines of code were written on Cyrillic keyboards, mainly during Moscow office hours,” writes Hénin.
One can imagine those cubicles and computer screens, and the click of the keyboards. All very 21stcentury. All very anonymous. But back in the 1940s, the British author Graham Greene had an appropriate name for such a place. He called it “The Ministry of Fear.”
One might think of that now, even here in Paris, looking at the golden domes and high walls of the Russian Orthodox Spiritual and Cultural Center.
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The Hillary Clinton campaign has pilloried Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey for re-opening the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.
“It is extraordinary that we would see something like this just 11 days out from a presidential election,” Clinton chairman John Podesta said in a statement Friday. “The Director owes it to the American people to immediately provide the full details of what he is now examining.”
Not long ago, however, the Clinton campaign was defending Comey from partisan attacks and complimenting his ability and independence.
That all changed on Friday when Comey notified Congress that the FBI had “learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation” and would be taking additional steps to review the emails and “determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation.”
While the Clinton campaign is now chastising the FBI director for reopening the case and notifying Congress so close to the presidential election, the Republican National Committee is highlighting the Clinton campaign’s recent praise of the FBI director.
“Not Long Ago, The Clinton Camp Attacked All Who Questioned Comey’s Conduct In The FBI’s Probe Into Her Mishandling Of Classified Information,” the RNC explains.
The RNC spotlighted nine instances in which the Clintons praised and came to Comey’s defense, including:
In July 2016, Clinton’s Campaign Put Out A Statement Touting James Comey As “Well-Respected” And Touting The Fact That Was “Confirmed By A 93-1 Vote.”“Throughout his long career in law enforcement, the independence of FBI chief James Comey has rarely been questioned. Comey is a well-respected Republican who served as George W. Bush’s Deputy Attorney General. And when President Obama tapped him to serve as Director of the FBI, he was confirmed by a 93-1 vote.” (“GOP Follows Conspiracy-Theorist-in-Chief Donald Trump Into Another Taxpayer-Funded Sham Inquiry,” Hillary For America, 7/7/16)In July 2016, Brian Fallon Touted Comey’s Neutrality In His FBI Investigation, Citing His Previous Role As “Deputy Counsel On Senate Whitewater Committee That Investigated The Clintons In 90s” “Comey was not just Deputy AG under Bush 43. He was also deputy counsel on Senate Whitewater Committee that investigated the Clintons in 90s” (Brian Fallon, Twitter, 7/7/16)In June 2016, Brian Fallon Called Trump’s Accusation That A Former FBI Official Was Lying “Pathetic.” “So now @realDonaldTrump is calling the former head of the FBI cyber division a liar? Pathetic.” (Brian Fallon, Twitter, 6/15/16)On July, 12 2016, Clinton’s Campaign Released A Statement Slamming Republicans For Their Decisions To “Second-Guess” FBI Director Comey In The House Government Reform Committee. “Last Thursday, Republicans hauled FBI Director James Comey before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to second-guess his decision that ‘no reasonable prosecutor’ would pursue a case over Clinton’s emails. But the hearing backfired on Republicans, who ended up eliciting fresh comments from Comey that were helpful to Clinton.” (“Here We Go Again: After Comey Hearing Backfires, GOP Launches Another Partisan Witch-hunt Against Justice Department’s Email Inquiry,” Hillary For America, 7/12/16)In July 2016, The Clinton Campaign Put Out A Statement On The FBI Director Appearing In Front Of The House Committee Saying He “Shut The Door On Any Remaining Conspiracy Theories Once And For All.” “The Director’s explanations shut the door on any remaining conspiracy theories once and for all. While Republicans may try to keep this issue alive, this hearing proved those efforts will only backfire.” (Hillary for America Statement on FBI Director Comey’s Testimony Before House Committee,” Hillary For America, 7/7/16)In July 2016 Donna Brazile Tweeted That Republicans Are “Damaging Rule Of Law By Attacking FBI Director Comey.” “Wash. Post Editorial Board: Republicans Are Damaging Rule Of Law By Attacking FBI Director Comey” (Donna Brazile, Twitter Feed, 7/7/16)In July 2016 Donna Brazile Tweeted That It Is Simply Pathetic To Watch Members Of Congress Grill Director Comey Because He’s Not Playing Their Game Of Gotcha.” “Pathetic. Simply pathetic to watch members of Congress grill Director Comey because he’s not playing their game of gotcha. #Overreach” (Donna Brazile, Twitter Feed, 7/7/16)In September 2015, Brian Fallon Said It Is “Shameless” To Try “To Bully The FBI Into Serving… Partisan Interests.” “Grassley now resorting to trying to bully the FBI into serving his partisan interests. Shameless.” (Brian Fallon, Twitter, 9/15/15)In July 2013 The DNC Congratulated James Comey On His Confirmation As FBI Director. “Congratulations to James Comey on his confirmation as FBI Director.” (Democratic Party, Twitter Feed, 7/30/13)
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