Trump Asks Buddy Putin To Help Him Against Clinton (UPDATED)

Well, now neo- fascist banana Republican and Siberian candidate Donald "Rump" Trump is dropping the pretense and actually publicly soliciting his pal and business partner Vladimir "Vlad the Invader" Putin to meddle in our elections:

“If they hacked, they probably have her 33,000 emails. I hope they do,” Trump said at a press conference at his resort in Doral, Florida.  

The Republican presidential nominee was referring to the widely held suspicion that Russia is responsible for hacking the Democratic National Committee’s servers, resulting in the leak of tens of thousands of emails just days before the party’s nominating convention in Philadelphia. 

Trump said that he hoped the hackers had also accessed Clinton’s private email servers. “They probably have her 33,000 emails that she lost and deleted.” 

Trump then addressed the rogue nation directly, saying “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.”

We'll let this Clinton campaign statement speak for us:

"This has to be the first time that a major presidential candidate has actively encouraged a foreign power to conduct espionage against his political opponent. That's not hyperbole, those are just the facts. This has gone from being a matter of curiosity, and a matter of politics, to being a national security issue."

Maybe the Obama administration should reconsider the policy of giving this treasonous cancer national security briefings.

BONUS:  Here's Steve Benen asking the right questions.

What more could Trump do to convince people about the dangers of his candidacy? How is this not a disqualifying moment?  

Try to imagine – no, really, take a moment to think about – how significant a scandal it would be if Hillary Clinton publicly urged Russia to do her a favor, target a GOP rival, and help her win an election. How quickly would her career in public life end? How many congressional hearings and investigations would Republicans demand?

UPDATE:  Here's more reaction from the national security community on Rump's disqualifying comments.