A few weeks about I blogged how the Russian Hacking of the DNC and John Podesta’s emails influenced the election versus “attempting” to influence the election. In the wake of the new report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, we are left with a different distinction to grapple with. At the time of this writing, President Donald Trump has not publicly acknowledged the validity of this report. He continues to deny Russian involvement calling this a “political witch hunt”.
There are some that feel that the acknowledgement of Russian Hacking and publication of subsequent emails delegitimizes the election of Mr. Trump. It is my contention that one can acknowledge the Russian Hacking without it Delegitimizing the elections. CNN’s Chris Cuomo and Trump advisor Kelly Anne Conway got into a heated debate about this distinction this morning which partially inspired this post…
Kellyanne Conway and @ChrisCuomo clash on known information about the Russian hacking. https://t.co/0tR2UL2yc1
— New Day (@NewDay) January 6, 2017
Mr. Cuomo argued that the President can accept the fact Russian hacking happened and take a firm stance. I also agree that this does not take away from the success of his campaign. Ms. Conway made some good points about the Obama administration responding to this and other actions sooner and more swiftly. Despite past actions, the hacking is now problematic because an outside country directly interfered with our election. Mr. Trump needs to take a stronger stance on this.
The intelligence community declassified it’s report while keeping most of the evidence classified. This was to keep both sources and methods secret. We have to trust that our intelligence community did their job. That the conclusions of the Office of the Director of National Security are not just a package of politicized lies. What would have to gain by doing this? Come January 20, 2017, Donald Trump will be the president and that is a fact.
His job is to ensure that we are secure from outside cyber attacks. His job is to protect and lead this country. By continuing to deny Russian involvement he is not protecting our country, he is inviting the possibility for them to do it again. The acknowledgement of Russian hacking does not delegitimatize your Presidency but legitimize’s the hard work of our intelligence community. They are our eyes and ears that protect us. Our intelligence community has done their job. Now it is time for the President Elect of the United States to do his.
This was originally published on my @Medium Account
