Clinton’s Russia Diversion On DNC Leaks Hides Her Own Kremlin Connections
MICHAEL SAINATO
Allegations the primaries were rigged for Clinton by Bernie Sanders supporters were dismissed as conspiracy theories, until WikiLeaks exposed nearly 20,000 internal DNC e-mails showing staff and DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz was actively working against the Bernie Sanders campaign to help Hillary Clinton.
Instead of holding anyone accountable for undermining democracy in the DNC, the Clinton Campaign has done damage control to alleviate the negative publicity while producing no changes that would limit their power over the Democratic Party. DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned only to be immediately hired by the Clinton Campaign and replaced with another loyal Clinton surrogate, Donna Brazile. In order to distract from the content of the DNC e-mails, the Clinton Campaign and the mainstream media has resorted to their own conspiracy theories about Russia and WikiLeaks trying to influence the election by helping Trump.
Per @MalcolmNance, any information coming through Russian intelligence is likely to contain info that has been faked. Media beware.
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) July 28, 2016
At a press conference in Miami on July 27th, Donald Trump said “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.” He also added if he were to say what was said in the DNC e-mails about Bernie Sanders’ religion and about Hispanics in DNC’s marketing strategies, he would have to drop out of the race while Clinton and the DNC enjoys impunity from being held accountable.
Pro-Clinton mainstream media outlets went out to call Trump treasonous for the comments, yet Clinton, for having 30,000 missing e-mails is able to avoid any consequences. Trump’s comments were the same comedic trolling of Clinton he has gained popularity with voters for, yet instead of critiquing Trump on policy issues they choose to distort these comments into an actual invitation for Russians to hack into the United States.
“Legally speaking, there’s no actual item here,” said Mark Zaid, an attorney specializing in national security law, in an interview with Slate. “It would have to be more than just words. It would be taking action against the United States in specific, actual situations.”
The DNC has also tried desperately to connect Donald Trump with the Russian government in order to somehow debunk the content of the WikiLeaks releases. While the Clinton Campaign is trying to use Russian conspiracy theories to flip the negative publicity from WikiLeaks, ties between Russia and the Clinton Campaign actually exist. Clinton’s Campaign Chair, John Podesta, co-founded the lobbying firm the Podesta Group with his brother Tony Podesta.
Earlier this year, the Podesta Group registered as lobbyists for Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, naming three staffers from the group, including John Podesta and two former assistant secretaries of state in the registration. “Western intelligence is well acquainted with Sberbank, noting its close relationship with Vladimir Putin and his regime,” wrote John Schindler in an April 2016 article for the Observer. “Funds moving through Sberbank are regularly used to support clandestine Russian intelligence operations, while the bank uses its offices abroad as cover for the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.”
Also, during Clinton’s service as Secretary of State, the Podesta Group lobbied on behalf of Uranium One to the State Department, which the Russian government took control of gradually between 2009 and 2013. The company controls a sizable proportion of the United States’ uranium production capacity. “As the Russians gradually assumed control of Uranium One in three separate transactions from 2009 to 2013, Canadian records show, a flow of cash made its way to the Clinton Foundation,” reported the New York Times in April 2015. “Uranium One’s chairman used his family foundation to make four donations totaling $2.35 million. Those donations were not publicly disclosed by the Clintons, despite an agreement Mrs. Clinton had struck with the Obama White House to publicly identify all donors. Other people with ties to the company made donations as well.”
The New York Times also cited that shortly after Russia announced they would attempt to become majority stakeholders in Uranium One, Bill Clinton received $500,000 for a Moscow speech “from a Russian investment bank with links to the Kremlin that was promoting Uranium One stock.”
Although tensions between Russia and the United States were not as tense during Clinton’s service as Secretary of State as they are now, the connections between the Clintons and Russia renders any argument using Russia as a tactic to divert attention from the WikiLeaks release suspect.
