As the recent scandal illustrates, Russia has become one of President Trump’s greatest threats, as well as an indicator that the American people must come together. In 2015, British spy agency GCHQ warned U.S. intelligence about what they considered “suspicious” activity between Trump associates and Russian intelligence operatives. On Facebook and Twitter, Russian operatives put up “imposter” ads, which were designed to exacerbate party tension by targeting groups such as Black Lives Matter. While this may not have been Russia directly changing the vote of the election, this certainly may have shifted the minds of moderate voters.
During the 2016 campaign, top Trump advisors and Donald Trump Jr. met with Russian attorneys who claimed to have “official documents that would incriminate Hillary.” Later, Trump’s top campaign aides, Michael Flynn and Jared Kushner, had contact with Russian operatives. Then, Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, stating that Kushner had directed him to seek policy commitments from Russian ambassadors. After the election, Trump had FBI director James Comey fired, supposedly for his poor administration of the Clinton email investigation.
Now, Trump and fellow Republicans have accused the democrats of conducting a witch-hunt. The truth-laden conspiracy took root when it came to light that the Clinton campaign and the DNC had hired Fusion GPS to fund research about Trump. Christopher Steele, an ex British spy, was one of the main informants on Trump’s connections with Russia.
Considering the evidence, it is clear that the election was rigged, though collusion may be too strong a word. There was most certainly Russian interference, but was it really so bad? The American people needed to know about Wikileaks and the DNC, that Bernie Sanders had been cheated out of the nomination. Sure, it caused some people to change their minds, but the truth should always be told. Additionally, the ad-attacks Russia launched on U.S. media caused us to increase tensions and division. We made the choice not to look past our differences. They simply gave us the means to do it.
Additionally, the FBI does seem to have a strong preference for Hillary Clinton. Texts between FBI agents were released discussing an “insurance policy” if Trump were to somehow clinch the election. If that’s not enough evidence, the fact that Comey twice opened the case on Hillary for her emails without charging her is demonstrative enough.
It’s no secret that Hillary Clinton maintains a cozy relationship with the media. Chuck Todd made a very memorable CLP at Furman called Alternative Facts and Partisan Media: Missing Walter Cronkite. Todd spoke out against Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway’s “alternative facts,” but around the time Wikileaks released the DNC emails, additional correspondence from John Podesta of Russia also surfaced, stating that Todd and his wife hosted a dinner party in 2015 for Hillary Clinton’s communications director. This connection by no means vindicates Trump, but it causes us to wonder how rampant corruption is on all sides of our government.
It should be clarified that despite popular opinion, FBI investigation does not mean indictment. There was at least interference in our election from the Russians. You can call it collusion, but at the end of the day, the American public, albeit begrudgingly, chose to elect President Trump. We, even as members of the left, once shamed Trump during the third debate for the remark “I will keep you in suspense” because we believed that did not honor the American system. We defaced him and resorted to name-calling, but we cannot allow ourselves to be hypocrites. He is the president now. We can challenge him within constitutional boundaries, but another Watergate, which would seem unjustified to many, would be critically divisive in these polarized times.
“We are all Democrats, we are all Republicans,” said Founding Father President Thomas Jefferson in his inaugural address. It is time to do as President Trump said in his State of the Union Address. It is time to come together.
