Donald Trump invites Russia to hack Hillary Clinton

Very interesting:

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/why-putin-hates-hillary-clinton-n617236

If Russia is indeed behind the damaging leak of Democratic Party emails on the eve of its national convention, it's not just because President Vladimir Putin likes Republican nominee Donald Trump and his pro-Russian views, former U.S. officials and experts tell NBC News.

It's because the former KGB operative hates Trump's Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, with such a passion that he wants to embarrass her personally and undermine — if not derail — her presidential campaign, they say.

For a Russian leader who is considered as vain as he is ruthless, Clinton's criticism long ago crossed over from the political into the personal. He carries a grudge against a woman who has publicly compared him to Hitler and expressed doubts that he has a soul.

"In addition to the policy disagreements that they have, I think Putin himself sees some of Clinton's remarks as a personal attack against him and the way he governs his country and how he conducts his foreign policy," said Michael McFaul, the U.S. ambassador to Russia from early 2012 to 2014.

Like other former Obama administration Russia policy experts, McFaul said Putin-sponsored hackers were the most likely culprit in the hacking of 20,000 DNC emails that were posted last Friday by WikiLeaks. Cybersecurity experts also say mounting evidence all points in one direction.

Several former Obama administration officials said that when Clinton was secretary of state, she was by far the most aggressive and outspoken U.S. official when it came to countering Putin's efforts to consolidate his power domestically, and to expand his sphere of influence in the region and beyond. And when she left government, they say, Clinton became even more combative, going so far as to liken Putin to Hitler in 2014 for his annexation of part of Ukraine. The remark offended not just Putin but the Russian public.

Clinton was already a critic of Putin during her seven years in the Senate, where she was a member of the Armed Services Committee. In 2008, she made headlines for publicly doubting that then-President George W. Bush had gotten a sense of Putin's soul because as a former KGB agent he probably didn't have one.

By the time she became Secretary of State in 2009, U.S-Russia relations were especially tense, given Putin's invasion of the neighboring Republic of Georgia. The new administration launched a "reset" aimed at improving the bilateral relationship with Clinton as one of its leaders. But from the start she was especially suspicious of Putin, and vocal about it.

"She was always the tougher voice within our administration on Russia. "Even my colleagues at the White House would agree with that," said McFaul, the top National Security Council official on Russia from 2009 until he left for Moscow as ambassador. He described numerous occasions where top Russian officials, and a "pissed off" Putin himself, would rail against Clinton both publicly and privately.

As secretary of state, Clinton's adversarial stance was evident on a wide range of issues, including Russia's support of Iran and Syria, its opposition to NATO as a hedge against Russian expansion and its record on free speech and human rights issues.

On one occasion when Clinton suggested a power-hungry Putin was trying to recreate the Soviet Union, "they lit up over that," McFaul recalls, citing meetings with high-level Russian officials. "I was ambassador at the time, and they were livid with her."

Clinton was especially critical of Putin's role in Russia's parliamentary elections in 2011, suggesting they were rigged to favor his political party and Putin's own effort to consolidate power. At a gathering of the 56-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Lithuania that December, Clinton called for an investigation into election "fraud" and criticized what she said were growing restrictions on democracy and human rights.

"The Russian people, like people everywhere, deserve the right to have their voices heard and their votes counted" Clinton said. "And that means they deserve fair, free, transparent elections and leaders who are accountable to them."

Later, Putin publicly fumed that Clinton personally spearheaded an Obama administration effort to undermine the legitimacy of the 2011 election and to empower a fast-growing opposition movement. He even accused her of giving protesters a hidden signal to protesters massing in Moscow with the support of the U.S. government.

"I think he genuinely believes that she was trying to meddle in his election and therefore he thinks he can do what he is doing now," if Russia is conclusively tied to the DNC hack, said Evelyn Farkas, who was the Pentagon's top official overseeing military relations with Russia until last September. "It's another example of Russia saying they don't have to abide by the rules, and that they can directly influence elections" in the United States.

Farkas, now a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Future Europe Initiative, said Putin has engaged in similar tactics to influence elections in other countries. "This is typical for Russia, using data gathering and then releasing information" to help political allies and undermine opponents.

 

I actually wish Warren had ran and won instead of Hillary but Hillary is still better than Trump by a mile.

 

Just when you think this election can't get any weirder....

Trump just can't get out of his own way....SMH.

Incredibly stupid thing to say...and he'll suffer politically for it. The guy just can't stand prosperity for his own campaign.

 

Interesting... just when VP candidate Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan talk about how bad it would be for Russia to get involved in US politics, Donal Trump is encouraging Russia to hack his opponents email...

 

Why would you call the words coming out of Trump's mouth "crap"? I thought you were a Trump supporter?

 

Yeah but...why did she delete those emails after being subpoenaed? Why do people want us to be enemies still with Russia? People were saying a couple of months ago that Trump was going to start a war with Russia. Now he's too friendly with Russia. That part was a dumb thing to say, but what about Trump being for $10 minimum wage? Or what he said about student tuition and his views on it not being traditionally Republican? What about Hillary not having a press conference for almost a year? These debates are going to be so entertaining.

 

His problem is that he needs someone there constantly to verbal-check him. I've always thought the comment "When Mexico sends its people.."- was referring to criminals being released by the Mexican government- that's the way it sounded to me- by saying "...sends its people" rather than "The Mexicans coming over here..."- Maybe he did mean the latter, but it's possible it was the former. If that were the case, why not correct yourself? Why not explain this???

Don't get me wrong, I think Trump is by far the most unqualified candidate- but I'm saying that some of the things he says are interpreted much worse than they are. And his singular problem - which is why I know Clinton is going to win b/c he's going to keep saying dumb things- is that he refuses to listen to others who are certainly advising him not to say what he does.

 

Yeah! You tell the non-believers. This board is full of sheep.

 

I mean... :grin:

Donald Trump's Immigration Plan Would Ban One-Third of the World From the U.S.

If Donald Trump were to follow through on his immigration and counterterrorism plans in full, foreign policy experts predict that the presumptive Republican nominee would block out more than a third of the globe — easily including major United States allies.

Combining Trump's proposal to cut immigration from countries with a clear record of terrorist ties and his plan to ban all Muslims from entering the U.S., experts say as many as 70 countries could face major restrictions, impacting billions of people worldwide.

 

I mean, if she didn't want her email hacked perhaps she should have put it on a Calico 9000 in her closet and accessed it remotely from a Nokia. It isn't like Russia was waiting for a reality show stars permission to do it.

 

UM......US Intelligence officials have basically confirmed Russia was behind the hack.

 

Um. Russia didn't hack Clinton's server...dumbass. It was the DNC's system...lol.

 

Keep Russia out of our damn election. Trump: **** off.

 

Once again the DNC was 100% correct in calling Hillary supporters ignorant.

How are you going to hack something that has already been destroyed? Trump was calling on Russia to release them if they have them or to get them from someone who had already hacked Clinton's server.

 

This behavior you describe is espionage by a foreign government regardless of the mechanics.

Same question to you as to the others - are you OK with the GOP Presidential Candidate begging foreign states to commit espionage against the United States to assist his Presidential campaign?

It is a yes/no question.

The correct answer should be "no", but die-hard Trumpublicans liek yourself seem to have a hard time admitting it - thus far you guys are 0-2 .

 

Ah, yes, Trump was just wrong on the tech-specific aspects of this. Totally above-board otherwise.

 

Yes, calling on foreign government to intervene in US election is a great idea.

 

did you say the same thing about mrs bill clinton when she was publicly impacting the elections in russia?

 

Trump was obviously being sarcastic and making a joke.

This is not the issue with Trump.

 

No, I don't give a **** about the Russian elections.