By DR. LARRY MOSES
No one asked me but… I would like to tell you that I watched the entire Comey testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, but I did not. Very early in the testimony Republican Senator Risch from Idaho got to the crux of the matter. Remember this hearing was not about Russian hacking of the DNC, nor the Russian influence on the 2016 election. It was a hearing to determine if President Trump obstructed justice by ordering FBI Director James Comey to drop the investigation into General Flynn’s connections with Russia. Below are the questions of Senator Risch and the answers by James Comey.
RISCH:“I — I want to drill right down, as my time is limited, to the most recent dust-up regarding allegations that the president of the United States obstructed justice. And, boy, you nailed this down on page 5, paragraph 3. You put this in quotes — words matter. You wrote down the words so we can all have the words in front of us now. There’s 28 words there that are in quotes, and it says, quote, “I hope” — this is the president speaking — “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.” Now those are his exact words, is that correct?
COMEY: Correct.
RISCH: And you wrote them here, and you put them in quotes?
COMEY: Correct.
RISCH: Thank you for that. He did not direct you to let it go.
COMEY: Not in his words, no.
RISCH: He did not order you to let it go.
COMEY: Again, those words are not an order.
RISCH: He said, “I hope.” Now, like me, you probably did hundreds of cases, maybe thousands of cases charging people with criminal offenses. And, of course, you have knowledge of the thousands of cases out there that — where people have been charged. Do you know of any case where a person has been charged for obstruction of justice or, for that matter, any other criminal offense, where this — they said, or thought, they hoped for an outcome?
COMEY: I don’t know well enough to answer. And the reason I keep saying his words is I took it as a direction.
RISCH: Right.
COMEY: I mean, this is the president of the United States, with me alone, saying, “I hope” this. I took it as, this is what he wants me to do. Now I — I didn’t obey that, but that’s the way I took it.
RISCH: You — you may have taken it as a direction, but that’s not what he said.
COMEY: Correct. I — that’s why…
RISCH: He said — he said, “I hope.”
COMEY: Those are exact words, correct.
RISCH: OK, do you (ph) — you don’t know of anyone that’s ever been charged for hoping something. Is that a fair statement?
COMEY: I don’t, as I sit here.
This exchange took place very early in the hearings. Everything after that sounds like a jilted lover hoping to bring as much pain as possible to the one who jilted him.
No one asked me but… Do I believe the Russians attempted to influence the most recent Presidential election? Of course, they did.
I am still trying to figure out why they preferred Trump over Clinton. Clinton had proved herself to be one of the most inept Secretary of States in the history of the country. Putin may have felt the chaos that has been created by Trump’s election would benefit the Russian cause around the world. If this is the case, the Democrats have played right into Putin’s hand. The Democrats have caused more problems for America than any collusion that may or may not have taken place between the Russians and Trump campaign officials.
The former FBI director, during his testimony cited above, stated that he had no doubt the Russians had hacked the DNC. However, he also said there was no evidence of votes being tampered with.
Clinton lost the election not because of fraudulent votes, but due to a faulty campaign. She nonchalantly accepted the fact that Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and other traditional blue states would vote for her; therefore, she did not need to campaign there. She failed to realize that Democrats in those states had watched eight years of their needs being ignored by the party they had loyally supported for generations. They, therefore, joined the “deplorables” in voting for Trump.
I believe it is disingenuous for America to voice its objection to Russian meddling in its campaign process. We are a country that has abused its power. We dictate to people all around the world what is and what is not an acceptable form of government.
This arrogance is not new. Most of the southwestern United States came about when we invaded Mexico under the banner of “Manifest Destiny”. When a proposed treaty over rights to build in, what was then a Colombian territory, was rejected, the U.S. threw its military weight behind a Panamanian independence movement; eventually negotiating a deal with the American backed revolutionary government giving the United States rights in perpetuity to the canal zone.
In the 1930’s, United States Marines were interfering in local political affairs throughout South America. The Vietnamese War was triggered when the United States refused to allow a unification election to take place for fear the vote would support Ho Chi Minh, the leader of the communist government of North Vietnam. Later a South Vietnamese government was overthrown by a CIA-backed coup.
We have destabilized the Middle East by overthrowing regimes that we have found distasteful. Recently a past President of the United States openly endorsed a French Presidential candidate. One must wonder why we would assume that a foreign government would not attempt to intercede in an American election.
I am not condoning Russian meddling in American elections. I am merely stating that I am amazed that anyone is shocked that the Russians would try to interfere in an American election.
I do not find it amazing that investigators believe that the Russians hacked the DNC. But I do find it hard to believe those same investigators do not believe the Russians hacked Clinton’s private server with classified information on it. Which do you believe would be of more interest to the Russian government?
Thought of the week…I think being jilted is one of life’s most painful experiences. It takes a long time to heal a broken heart. It’s happened to all of us and never gets any easier. I understand, however, that playing one of my albums can help.
– Frank Sinatra
