NY TIMES: "The Plot to Subvert an Election — Unraveling the Russia Story So Far"

From Putin to Trump and everyone in between

(All the guilty pleas, deals, trials, sentencing) 

A stunning historical record of the Russian-Trump 2016 election interference and Mueller investigation from day-one to present time here from the NY TIMES – absolutely excellent article and great bookmark for reference – a must read. 

Pictures and references included in this in-depth report by the two great reporters – as they say: “Yeoman’s work – Pulitzer material for sure.”

INTRODUCTION:

ON AN OCTOBER AFTERNOON BEFORE THE 2016 ELECTION, a huge banner was unfurled from the Manhattan Bridge in New York City: 

Vladimir Putin against a Russian-flag background, and the unlikely word “Peacemaker” below. It was a daredevil happy birthday to the Russian president, who was turning 64. (Photo of the banner in the article).

Then in November, shortly after Donald J. Trump eked out a victory that Moscow had worked to assist, an even bigger banner appeared, this time on the Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington with the face of President Barack Obama and “Goodbye Murderer” in big red letters. (Photo of that banner also in the article).

Police never identified who had hung the banners, but there were clues. The earliest promoters of the images on Twitter were American-sounding accounts, including @LeroyLovesUSA, later exposed as Russian fakes operated from St. Petersburg to influence American voters.

The Kremlin, it appeared, had reached onto United States soil in New York and Washington. The banners may well have been intended as visual victory laps for the most effective foreign interference in an American election in history.

For many Americans, the Trump-Russia story as it has been voluminously reported over the past two years is a confusing tangle of unfamiliar names and cyber-jargon, further obscured by the shout-fest of partisan politics. What Robert Mueller, the special counsel in charge of the investigation, may know or may yet discover is still uncertain. 

Trump’s twitter outbursts that it is all a “hoax” and a “witch hunt,” in the face of a mountain of evidence to the contrary, have taken a toll on public comprehension.

But to travel back to 2016 and trace the major plotlines of the Russian attack is to underscore what we now know with certainty: The Russians carried out a landmark intervention that will be examined for decades to come.

Acting on the personal animus of Mr. Putin, public and private instruments of Russian power moved with daring and skill to harness the currents of American politics. 

Well-connected Russians worked aggressively to recruit or influence people inside the Trump campaign.

To many Americans, the intervention seemed to be a surprise attack, a stealth cyber-age Pearl Harbor, carried out by an inexplicably sinister Russia.

For Putin, however, it was long-overdue payback, a justified response to years of “provocations” from the United States.

And there is a plausible case that Putin succeeded in delivering the presidency to his admirer, Donald J. Trump, though it cannot be proved or disproved.

In an election with an extraordinarily close margin, the repeated disruption of the Clinton campaign by emails published on WikiLeaks and the anti-Clinton, pro-Trump messages shared with millions of voters by Russia could have made the difference, a possibility that Trump flatly rejects.

My 2 cents: The record of still-unfolding events in this the most-critical and stunning chapter in American political history involving the highest office in the land, hands down the most-important event ever.  

So what does all this prove at least at this point?

Without any doubt the Russians did interfere in the election process to favor Trump, but most-importantly Trump still denies it… that is so un-presidential that I can’t even begin to describe the residue left over from this man being in office – something we may ever recover from – at least for decades.

So, time will tell us the answer to that question about the Trump stain on the country and that office with all the ugly division and hatred that still is spreading – and mostly due to Trump and his rants and such.

Thanks for stopping by and read the report – it truly is a keeper.