Russia – Page 7 – Deep Left Field

The Latin phrase quid pro quo literally means “what for what” or “something for something,” and it defines a favor or advantage granted or expected in return for something.

Ever since 2016, there have been numerous investigations trying to determine if there was indeed a quid pro quo between Donald Trump’s first presidential campaign and Russia, especially the highest levels of Russian intelligence and the Kremlin.

Proof has now been laid out by the Treasury Department that carefully explains how the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia did indeed work in concert with one another to steal the election for Trump, making him an illegitimate president.

CNN reports that the link between the Trump camp and Russia can be found in the person of a man named Konstantin Kilimnik, who has deep links to the intelligence services of Russia:

“The new revelations about Moscow’s election meddling came as part of the Biden administration’s slate of sanctions against Russian actors on Thursday over Russia’s election interference as well as the SolarWinds hack and Russia’s ongoing occupation of Crimea.
“After then-President Donald Trump repeatedly denied or downplayed Russia’s election interference in 2016, senior Trump administration officials, including Trump himself, refused to acknowledge or elevate Russian operations in 2020 and sought to characterize China as the greater threat.
“The sanctions also included the US government’s acknowledgment for the first time that a Russian-linked intelligence operative named Konstantin Kilimnik provided information on Trump campaign polling strategy and data to the Russian intelligence services in 2016.”

The passing of polling information to Russian intelligence was especially helpful to the Kremlin because it allowed so-called “troll farms” to target specific audiences on social media sites in an attempt to turn voters away from 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and toward Trump. That was a huge advantage for Trump because his campaign’s digital operation relied on misinformation and lies about Clinton to place doubt in the minds of American voters.

The Biden administration’s new sanctions are some of the most extensive and far-reaching ever placed on any foreign government, NBC News noted:

“Under the order, the Treasury Department has blacklisted six Russian technology companies that provide support to the cyber program run by Russia’s intelligence services.
“Treasury also sanctioned 32 entities and individuals for ‘carrying out Russian government-directed attempts to influence the 2020 U.S. presidential election, and other acts of disinformation and interference,’ as well as eight individuals and entities associated with Russia’s actions in Crimea.”

For the first time since President Obama left office, the Oval Office is occupied by a man who understands that Russia and Vladimir Putin are a direct and ongoing threat to U.S. national security.

Additionally, Treasury’s report also clears the way for the Department of Justice to file criminal charges against former president Trump and members of his 2016 campaign. Here’s hoping Attorney General Merrick Garland will do exactly that.

As if it wasn’t bad enough that failed, one-term former President Donald Trump repeatedly kowtowed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, it turns out that Russian hackers also managed to steal what is being called the “crown jewels” from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The Associated Press (AP) reports that hackers from Russia managed to steal emails from top officials in the DHS, which could have serious implications for U.S. national security:

“Suspected Russian hackers gained access to email accounts belonging to the Trump administration’s head of the Department of Homeland Security and members of the department’s cybersecurity staff whose jobs included hunting threats from foreign countries, The Associated Press has learned.
“The intelligence value of the hacking of then-acting Secretary Chad Wolf and his staff is not publicly known, but the symbolism is stark. Their accounts were accessed as part of what’s known as the SolarWinds intrusion, and it throws into question how the U.S. government can protect individuals, companies and institutions across the country if it can’t protect itself.”

The Biden administration is trying to decide exactly what sanctions to impose on Russia for the DHS hack, but based on the AP’s reporting, it seems fair to surmise the punishment will be severe.

Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) says targeting the DHS allowed Russia to have access to some of the most carefully guarded secrets in the world:

“The SolarWinds hack was a victory for our foreign adversaries, and a failure for DHS. We are talking about DHS’s crown jewels.”

Since Homeland Security is tasked with overseeing several important agencies — including the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Customs Service, the Russian hack means Russian intelligence may have obtained information that could directly impact the security of the United States.

Though it remains unclear exactly how harsh the White House will choose to be with sanctions, it has already become clear to Russia that relations between the two nations will continue to be strained. When Biden was recently asked if he thought Putin was a “killer,” he quickly replied that he did.

Trump, on the other hand, tried to suggest there were many killers in the United States, trying to excuse Putin’s murderous actions.

One thing is certain: Russia and Putin will no longer be coddled by the American head of state. And based on their actions, they damn well shouldn’t be.