It’s one thing to run a conspiracy out of the Oval Office to deprive the nation of a peaceful transfer of power using fraudulent intelligence. That’s bad enough. But what is it called when you, as a coup-plotting member of the Executive Branch, with a death grip on that fraudulent intelligence, then try to get the Legislative Branch to literally sign on to it?
Susan Rice did exactly that when she tried to get then Leader Mitch McConnell and the majority Republicans of the Senate to sign on to a bipartisan letter condemning Moscow over the “hacking” that “Russia” did.
That’s when the group of coup plotters crossed a big, big line: crossing the conspiracy over from one branch to another. Surely, in this era of creative use of the law, we can find something in the code to apply to this, yes? Just think like a devious Democrat, and we can do it, I’m sure.
Susan Rice knew what she was doing. She knew when she asked the Senate Republicans to sign onto this statement it was fraudulent. They didn’t have it. They simply did not have info that Russia was involved with the DNC hack, though they were asserting it. Remember? Only Crowdstrike said it was Russia. No federal agency ever examined the hard drives. She knew that. And she did it anyway.
From a lengthy June 23, 2017 piece in the Washington Post regarding August of 2016:
Before departing for an August vacation to Martha’s Vineyard, Obama instructed aides to pursue ways to deter Moscow and proceed along three main paths: Get a high-confidence assessment from U.S. intelligence agencies on Russia’s role and intent; shore up any vulnerabilities in state-run election systems; and seek bipartisan support from congressional leaders for a statement condemning Moscow and urging states to accept federal help.
It was the “Moscow” part of “seek bipartisan support from congressional leaders for a statement condemning Moscow” for any cyber intrusions that troubled McConnell. He didn’t buy it. It’s impossible to know what was in this crafty old man’s mind at the time, but it looks, at least superficially, like his instincts were dead on: either about the truth or his own survival. He’d either sniffed out a ruse and wanted no part of it, or knew it was a ruse and wanted no part of legitimizing it. Either way, his eventual statement, a generic one about the wisdom of shoring up our cyber security, without mentioning Russia at all, outraged the coup plotters, notably Joe Biden.
Via North Country Public Radio, which was covering Joe Biden’s now infamous January 2018 talk at the Council on Foreign Relations in which he bragged about extorting the Ukrainians. For this moment of it, though, Biden had Russia on his mind. And even a full year after leaving office, he was still steamed about it.
Joe Biden said Tuesday that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stopped the Obama administration from speaking out about Russian interference in the 2016 campaign by refusing to sign on to a bipartisan statement of condemnation. [snip]
Biden said he and former President Barack Obama worried that without a united front of bipartisanship, speaking out before the election would undermine the legitimacy of the election and American institutions in a way that would play into the Russians’ larger ambitions. [snip]
Biden told Tuesday’s gathering that there was a “constant tightrope,” with the Obama administration unable to decide what would count as saying too little or too much.
“The president and I would sit there literally after the [presidential daily briefing], after everyone had left the room, and say, ‘What the hell are we going to do?’” Biden recalled.
The coup plotters were on their own.
Let’s hope they’re feeling good and vulnerable these days, Susan Rice in particular. She was always there, plotting, scheming, and executing the coup. She had help, to be sure, but she is definitely one to watch. Maybe she’ll be the next to have an op-ed published in the Times, like Brennan and Clapper did. One can only hope every single one of them keeps talking.
Keep furthering the conspiracy guys. It only helps the cause of justice.
Image: AT via Magic Studio