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Coincidence?
But coincidentally or not, the twinning events on Thursday morning are a very important reminder: Donald Trump (still) does not seem to believe that Russia not only actively ingested in the 2016 elections, but the # 39, did with the express purpose to help Trump and wound Hillary Clinton.
This is, of course, the unanimous conclusion of the intelligence community. And virtually all elected – Republicans or Democrats – in the country. "There is no doubt that Russia views its past efforts as successful and considers the 2018 mid-term elections as a potential target for Russian influence operations," said National Intelligence Director Dan Coats at A hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee. And, somehow, Donald Trump too. "I never said that Russia was not meddling in elections, I was saying that it was maybe Russia or China or another country or group, or a 400-pound genius sitting at reads and plays with his computer ". Trump tweeted in February. "The Russian" hoax "was that the Trump campaign was being played with Russia – it never did!
This is not correct. Not even close.
How? Why? The answer, I think, is simple: Trump confuses the interference of Russia in the 2016 elections with the idea that his campaign was complicit with the Russians. He can not separate the two in his mind – although they are clearly different things and one can easily understand that both do not have to be true. He is willing to accept Putin's denials, despite what the intelligence community told him, because he wants to believe that the entire history of Russia – from interference to collusion – is obviously made from scratch. ] The point: Trump's repeated claims that Putin's denial of participation in the 2016 election is, at first glance, hard to believe. There is ample evidence to suggest that Russia has been engaged in a broad and deep campaign of misinformation and persuasion to help Trump and wound Clinton. And that they will seek to meddle in the next elections. And yet, faced with all this evidence, Trump chooses to believe Putin's unfounded denials
