Top Dem: Obama 'Should Have Done a Lot More' on Russia

[DonViejo]

Source: The Daily Beast



Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, rebuked the Obama administration on Sunday for not doing enough to counter Russian meddling in the U.S. election. “I think the Obama administration should have done a lot more when it became clear that not only was Russia intervening but it was being directed at the highest levels of the Kremlin,” Schiff said on CNN’s State of the Union. The Washington Post reported on Friday that the Obama administration was hesitant to act on and speak publicly about information it was receiving about Russia’s efforts to interfere in the election.

Link to tweet

###

Read more: http://www.thedailybeast.com/top-dem-obama-should-have-done-a-lot-more-on-russia

[underpants]

1. Once again walking right into what was clearly a trap

[Orrex]

2. WE MUST INVESTIGATE OBAMA IMMEDIATELY!!!!!1!1

Last edited Sun Jun 25, 2017, 02:37 PM - Edit history (1)

Clearly his failure to personally arrest and convict Candidate Trump is far worse than Trump colluding with Russia before and after the inauguration.


Anyone who sees this as anything other than a distraction has been successfully misdirected.

[emulatorloo]

5. +1 and that was the intention of Trump's ridiculous tweet. Deflect and distract.

Lots of that going around.

[forgotmylogin]

25. RIGHT ON!

I don't blame Obama, but that would have been the likely course of action.

He knows you don't just lock up your political opponents.

[monmouth4]

3. Rep. Schiff is absolutely correct and I am very surprised at Pres. Obama's reaction..n/t

[Doug the Dem]

16. Yes

Comey's kneecapping of the Clinton campaign 11 days before the election gave Obama an opening to speak up and even things out. Why he didn't use it I'll never know!

[ananda]

22. Me either!

And now here we are .... in a very very bad way
for the foreseeable future!

[LiberalLovinLug]

23. That was the opening.

Its almost as if Comey was daring him.

Obama was a nice guy that wanted to get along with everybody and wanted no drama, especially in the months before he left office. I'm sure the Hillary camp was also pressuring him to stay mum.

It was probably his biggest mistake. It would be the biggest mistake for any President.

[mulsh]

4. "Why don't you tell me your simplistic monday morning quarterback analysis of this complex issue

before I proceed with mine" is something I'd dearly love to hear a great rep like Mr. Schiff say to one of these newsreaders, even one of the news readers I admire. He could add something like "It would really be helpful in giving you the comment you're trying to get." then smile wryly. but I'm a starry eyed idealist...

[OldRedneck]

6. Could it be . . .

Could it be that Schiff doesn't know the full extent of what the Obama administration did?

Maybe Obama did some super-super-secret shit that no one else knows about -- so secret that Congress was not informed.

[emulatorloo]

7. WAPO Article details some secret shit Obama did, re putting in place some cyber attacks that

could be launched against Putin. They were'nt done when Obama left office, but they are there now. My assumption is Trump team is removing them.

I didn't see the interview, but Obama closed a couple of Russian "compounds" in the uS that were being used for espionage. Of course Trump is working on giving them back to the Russians.


-------
Link to WAPO if you haven't had a chance to read it in full:


https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/world/national-security/obama-putin-election-hacking/?utm_term=.30b30c2b2c9f

Obama’s secret struggle to punish Russia for Putin’s election assault

The White House debated various options to punish Russia, but facing obstacles and potential risks, it ultimately failed to exact a heavy toll on the Kremlin for its election meddling.
By Greg Miller, Ellen Nakashima, and Adam Entous
June 23, 2017

Still_One's summary:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=9246214

[DURHAM D]

14. "they are there now" ??

The reporting is that they were not there yet and it was left up to Trump and they have, of course, done nothing.

[emulatorloo]

42. My mistake then. Thanks for the correction

[Amaryllis]

20. Schiff in gang of 8 so he knows a lot.

[Honeycombe8]

47. No. Schiff was informed, as a member of the Intel Committee.

Schiff in fact urged the President before the election to do more. He even joined with Feinstein in breaking order and making a public statement before the election about Russian hacking.

John Kerry kept urging Obama to do something more, as well. Even after the election he urged for strong sanctions, but the sanctions Obama did were weaker.

It seems most of the other Democrats sensed the importance, danger, and urgency more than Obama. Obama simply didn't want to do much without Republican support, and they made it clear they weren't going to give that.

I don't KNOW, but my sense of it is that Obama didn't think that Russia would be successful, so he didn't want to mess up his legacy by being accused of partisan involvement in the election. WaPo reports that the election results shocked the White House,and a pall fell over the House on election night.

[emulatorloo]

8. Did anyone note that Trump is undoing the actions Obama did take?

For example Obama shut down two Russian "compounds" in the US that were suspected sites for espionage.

Trump is working hard to give those back to Putin.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029251815

[yallerdawg]

9. Let's not forget the same jackass Comey making a Big Deal about Hillary's emails...

a Big Deal about Lynch and Mr. Clinton having a talk, a Big Deal about suspect falsified DNC conversations - had NO PROBLEM keeping quiet about the Trump campaign and Russia, including after they fired Manafort for Russian contacts AND Flynn was already lying about contacts!

If I didn't know better, it sure looks like a double standard going on here!

[ImpeachTheGOP]

10. This what you get for being a nice guy.

And trying to be fair and decent when you're dealing with soulless psychopaths.

Does anyone think for a second that republicans wouldn't have exploited the fuck out of this if the tables were turned?

Nice guys finish last for a reason. And we've lost the country for good and all because of it.

There's almost certainly no coming back from what these motherfuckers are going to do.

[Honeycombe8]

37. So true. I keep hoping the Dems would learn this lesson. The Republicans sold out the country...

they wouldn't even acknowledge the Russian interference, knowing all the while everything that Obama did. They resisted any bipartisan effort to do something about it, and told Obama he shouldn't, either, or it would look partisan. Then they snickered behind closed doors.

How do they sleep at night? These are the people we rely on to protect our country!

The Democrats had better start getting tough...for the good of the country!

[C Moon]

11. The Dems need to quit picking on each other, and focus on the problem at hand...

our country is being hijacked.

[blue-wave]

15. Bingo!

Stop taking the bait and playing from the rat wing play book. Wake up out of your stupor! This is not how you win elections!

[C Moon]

44. The right has nothing but bull shit to spew. Lies. Hate. Greed....and now add TRAITORS to the list.

They don't need help spewing their crap. Stand united against the GOPutin.

[Honeycombe8]

38. It already was hijacked, comrade. Now on to 2018, which the Russians will hack AGAIN.

Unless we DO something about it.

[Scubamatt]

12. We missed an incredible opportunity . . .

I didn't hear Schiff saying that Obama needs to be investigated or anything of the sort; rather, simply that he expected more from our president in responding to what was/is a grave attack on our country. Do any of us think that, if the tables were turned, and a sitting Republican president knew that the Democratic candidate was colluding with Russia, that the ENTIRE Republican establishment would have been switched into high gear screaming constantly about how traitorous Democrats were committing treason? Our leaders clearly sought to hush this up for reasons which make no sense to me, not even bothering to state the facts, much less frame them in a potent message. We rushed to the Republicans and let THEM decide whether we are going to announce this critical information to the country. As a party, we NEED to learn that you cannot expect the Pubs to do anything for the good of the country and our leaders need to have it drilled into their heads not to expect the Pubs to "play fair" for the "good of the country." Unless more leaders like Schiff call this out, and we change our tactics, we are never going to restore our country. Let's make sure our leaders learn form this mistake.

[PurgedVoter]

13. Sadly our side does not own the Amazing Wurlitzer.

Our side goes for truth and evidence, because, well, we are the good guys.

The other side will lie and lie and they own a party propaganda organ to keep our side and theirs in line. Without overwhelming evidence our side has no chance. The irony of Traitor Trump getting away with saying ill of Hillary is amazing and it shows how unbalanced our sides are.

Always remember that when the truth was told about Shrub's military service, a brilliant newsman was taken down.

We sadly have to have the burden of truth before we say anything. If we do not have overwhelming evidence, the honest go down in flames while the crooks dance around the fire.

I am not, a "Let's keep the powder dry Democrat." Not by any means. When we cannot yet impeach, we should at every chance remind folk, that we should impeach, imprison and look around for the guilty that made this happen.

That said, I understand why Obama was slow to bring this out into the open. I just hope that our wheels of justice are not stopped and that, for once, those at the top end up loosing everything. because they were traitors. Their families need to be in positions where they are not comfortable or rich because of their associations. Wealth should not protect or cling to traitors.

[TexasBushwhacker]

17. Obama didn't go public with what he had because Mitch McConnell

said it would be unfair to possibly influence the election. But once Comey opened his yap 11 days before the election, the gloves should have come OFF.

[lunamagica]

18. +1

[Skittles]

41. NO SHIT

Obama dropped the ball BIG TIME

[YOHABLO]

19. When it comes to Comey and unfortunately Obama, it's all about inside the beltway

triangulation to cover their asses. It's the ''let's not ruffle any feathers'' and keep lid on this before it get's out to the public, because you know, the public can't handle this. In Comey's case it was about making sure he kept his tenure as FBI director. That didn't work out for him anyway. Surely all those Senators like Feinstein, were very much aware of the Russians cyber attack and sat their and did and said nothing.

[Honeycombe8]

21. Obama was in a lose-lose position. If he had done anything or told the public,

he'd have been accused of doing those things for political reasons.

We know how half the country would have reacted. Even now, Trumpers don't believe 17 intel agencies concluding that Russia hacked our election system. But back then? They would not have believed it for one second.

It WOULD have altered the election, but we don't know how. Either to help HRC or to create a landslide for Trump because of perception of Obama making up a story about hacking to help HRC.

It was a lose-lose. Unlike Obama not to take action. I'd like to hear what he has to say about this before drawing conclusions.

But I wish something had been done.

[LiberalLovinLug]

24. It depends how he went about it

He could have called a press conference with the heads of all 17 intelligence agencies behind him, and soberly and gravely explained that there was a dire threat to the country, and then allow one or two of these heads to speak. About what they could at least.

If Trump and the Turtle start screaming about fake news he could have just stayed on message and ..dare I say...get angry back. Start using harsh language back that anyone that ignores this threat is ignoring the greatest threat to the democracy in our life time.

Instead Trump pulled the blanket out before he even tried by doing what works for Republicans all the time, and that is accusing the other side for crimes that you have or will be committing. So Trump began insisting that the election was "rigged", and that he may not accept the results. Brilliant reality TV tactics. Because now the Democrats have to come back even further and now must defend staying silent when something might have been done. Or at least would have had a running start and been on record BEFORE the election.

[LenaBaby61]

27. Totally agree with you ....

On everything you said.



When Pres. Obama went high, Mitch McConnell kicked him in his private parts.

Dems leadership mostly STAYS getting kicked in their private parts, which meam all of us Dems get kicked too

[Honeycombe8]

28. Well, Obama DID do some things. Just not public things, and not enough.

He authorized some cyberwar actions, I think I read?

The govt people, it seems to me, are obsessed with this "the people can't lose confidence in our election system!" thing. Even now, intel is hesitant to say whether the cyberhacking changed the results or whether there's any evidence of that. (Of course it did, if only by trolling & convincing people through fake news to vote for Trump.)

[Sunlei]

30. The *day after* Obama was briefed with the first classified report, he released a public report.

This archived presser covers a lot of answered questions about 2016 public information.
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/11/press-briefing-press-secretary-josh-earnest-1112017

Also in the archives are daily press briefings from August & September 2016, that have hundreds more answered questions documented. The news, the media never reported every detail. That would be impossible. Obama admin. had daily press briefings, some days 2 or 3 press briefings. Obama spoke live sometimes 3 or 4 times a week about the 'issue'. He "48 hour" evicted two mansions full of Russians using armed guard escorts over the Christmas holiday.

What more could he alone have done? Even today Obama can't/won't speak about this hacking thing because its obviously current investigations.

[Honeycombe8]

31. According to WaPo, Homeland Security issued written release 10/7/16.

Last edited Mon Jun 26, 2017, 01:27 AM - Edit history (1)

I'm dismayed at how ineffectual the Democrats were at handling this Russian cyberhacking and interference in our election, particularly Obama. The Republicans knew practically as soon as Obama did, and flatly refused to do or say anything about it. They were snickering behind closed doors at what they were getting away with...our country being taken over by an enemy foreign nation.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/world/national-security/russia-hacking-timeline/?utm_term=.4cb8e00dd3e9

Note: These are not quotes. I've worded bits and pieces in my own words, and incl. only parts of the timeline. You can find the whole timeline in the link.

The public was first notified on 10/7/16 by an unsigned Dept of Homeland Security written release. This was sandwiched between the Access Hollywood tapes and Comey's October surprise.


Aug 2016: Intel sends secret report to Obama, states Putin is directing the interference.

8/1/2016: CIA sends warning to Russia

8/4/2016: Obama gives orders for aides to seek bipartisan support to combat the problem & to get consensus from the intel agencies on Russia's role. Aides meet obstacles at every turn.

8/11/2016: CIA director Brennan starts meeting w/Congressional leaders about the issue.

8/17/2016: TRUMP IS BRIEFED ON THE KREMLIN'S INTERFERENCE.

8/26: Hackers target voter registration systems.

(NOTE: THE PUBLIC STILL IS NOT TOLD ANYTHING)

September: Democrats want to tell the public, but Republicans don't want the public to lose confidence in the election system (that's the reason they give).

9/10/16: The White House faces mounting pressure from lawmakers and national security officials to blame Russia for election interference. But the intelligence community has still not reached consensus on Putin's role and intentions.

THE PUBLIC FINALLY LEARNS SOMETHING:
9/22/16: Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrats on the Senate and House intelligence committees, go around the White House and issue their own statement on Russian interference.

October: Secretary of State John Kerry tries to get the administration to confront Russia. His staff produces a memo that includes a package of retaliatory measures, but the response at the White House was essentially "Not now."

(NOTE: THE PUBLIC STILL IS NOT TOLD ANYTHING DEFINITIVE, AND NOTHING BY THE WHITE HOUSE. REPUBLICANS ARE NOT JOINING IN THE CONCERN AT ALL AND WILL NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANYTHING.)

THE TRUMP ACCESS HOLLYWOOD TAPES HAPPEN.

10/7/16: The Dept of Homeland Security issues a written release that starts by saying, "The U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC) is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from US persons and institutions, including from US political organizations. The recent disclosures of alleged hacked e-mails on sites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks and by the Guccifer 2.0 online persona are consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts. These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process."

December: WaPo reports that a secret CIA report concludes that Russia intervened in the election.

[Sunlei]

32. sorry you can't read that one daily press briefing. I read/watched them all for 8 years.

[Honeycombe8]

33. It's super long. I'm not going to read all of that & try to figure out which part YOU think is

relevant.

I skimmed parts of it and saw nothing about an Obama press conference on Russia interfering with the election.

I have revised my post, though, to summarize what I DID find: A Washington Post timeline of events. It does not show a press conference by Obama, or any dissemination of information about this matter by Obama to the public. There is a Homeland Security written release in October. That's it. That was in the midst of the Access Hollywood tapes.

It's so curious why Obama took the stance he did. He did do SOME things. But others in teh Dem Party were frustrated at his inaction. Feinstein, Schiff, Kerry. It's almost as if Obama was afraid of the Republicans. He kept saying it would look partisan. That would fly early on, but later? And the sanctions he proposed in the end were not strong. Maybe it has to do with him not wanting to leave this mess in his legacy? Presidents are usu. concerned about their legacies near the end of their 2nd term.

[Sunlei]

36. They worked directly with local/state officials. IMO that was proper for our election integrity.

We'll have to agree to disagree because I am not carrying a drop of water for Republicans about Obama. Maybe in two or three years when more is known about what the Republican party did with the Russian government.

[Honeycombe8]

39. No, they did not. They TRIED to work w/local & state officials, but Republican states would not

cooperate.

[Sunlei]

40. The states effected by the discovered LOCAL 'hacks' aren't even listed in public yet.

[Honeycombe8]

48. Yes. That's 2 different things, though. Who the DHS tried to work with, ...

and which states' voting systems were ultimately hacked.

[Sunlei]

49. I bet there are hacks and malwares not even caught. There was malware caught in Ukraines election

that de-compiled after it changed votes. That hack was caught and removed.

[DallasNE]

43. It Was A Lose-Lose Situation

It was rather late when all 17 intelligence agencies finally concluded that Russia was responsible. Even then Republicans would have claimed it was arm-twisting that was responsible for the unanimous decision by all 17. Indeed, if memory serves me correctly, Republicans did make that claim. Then what? Like you said, lose-lose. Still, I wish Obama would have made a prime-time speech covering this topic, letting the chips fall where they may.

[SHRED]

26. Schiff should have pivoted

I thought he was smarter than this.

[Honeycombe8]

34. Pivoted to what? nt

[Sunlei]

29. Republicans ordered the Russian experts dossier over a YEAR ago & never said a fucking WORD.

a D had to turn it over to the FBI.

[Honeycombe8]

35. The Republicans sold out their country for a bag of gold. nt

[Tarheel_Dem]

45. Schiff has lost it. Trump began screaming about a "rigged system" before the GE began. Can you....

imagine Obama coming out to confirm it? People act as if it would have made a difference. Had Hillary been declared the winner, they would never have accepted the outcome, just as I don't accept the "election" of Donald Trump. The big difference is those 2nd Amendment remedies they kept talking about at those insane rallies might possibly be what we would've been dealing with right now. Besides, we & the media were fully consumed with Pussygate when all this began to come to light.

I don't like Schiff trashing Obama for something the Republicans would have had him drawn & quartered for.

[Not Ruth]

46. Schiff is catfishing Trump IMHO

It is not about saying what you believe or is true. It is not about what the public perceives. It is about your opponent walking into a checkmate.

[xor]

50. Perhaps they could have, but what exactly?

Also, do we know what steps were taken? What different steps should have been taken, or what more should have been done? They were obviously doing something because these investigations into the Russian connections have been a focus for awhile now. As for the Russian propaganda campaign to sway the election here. How do you combat that? Shutdown the internet and only allow approved communication among the population? I'm thinking not. Any solution to that problem is going to be something that is going to take a long time to figure out and make work, and it's going to have to be an American things instead of a partisan political thing in which only one side addresses the issue. Maybe if the Russians or Chinese or whoever throw their weight behind a democrat they find corrupt enough for their liking then the Republicans will get on board with coming up with ideas to counter these operations.