Friday, December 6, 2019

A Different "Russia If You're Listening" Moment



When the House Intelligence Committee released its report on its impeachment inquiry, they revealed phone logs indicating that Russian asset and con man Donald "Impeachable Me" Trump used a personal, unencrypted cell phone to communicate with his corrupt lawyer Rudy "Rudy Colludey" Giuliani while Giuliani was foraging in Ukraine for false conspiracy dirt on former VP Joe Biden. This means that Russian intelligence, for one, was likely listening to calls placed from Ukraine, and had knowledge of Trump's scheme to extort Ukraine for that dirt before it became public. As the Washington Post reports:
"The disclosures provide fresh evidence suggesting that the president continues to defy the security guidance urged by his aides and followed by previous incumbents — a stance that is particularly remarkable given Trump’s attacks on Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign for her use of a private email account while serving as secretary of state. 
The connection to the Ukraine campaign is also troubling because of how Moscow could exploit knowledge that Trump was secretly engaged in efforts to extract political favors from the government in Kyiv." (our emphasis)
Trump regime officials acknowledge that Trump uses his personal unsecured cell phone to communicate with Giuliani, despite the security risk, and who's listening? Russia:
"Trump and Giuliani have effectively 'given the Russians ammunition they can use in an overt fashion, a covert fashion or in the twisting of information,' said John Sipher, former deputy chief of Russia operations at the CIA. Sipher and others said that it is so likely that Russia tracked the calls of Giuliani and others that the Kremlin probably knows more now about those conversations than impeachment investigators. 
'Congress and investigators have call records that suggest certain things but have no means whatsoever of getting the actual text' of what was said, Sipher said. 'I guarantee the Russians have the actual information.'” (our emphasis)
Trump was a national security risk the moment he announced his candidacy for President. His reckless disregard for established communications security puts us at risk on a daily basis, and gives Russia the upper hand in dealing with us.

(photo: "Remember to tell Vladimir. Oh never mind, I just did.")

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