President Donald trump “dangerously naive.”
He noted the “pathological reluctance to criticize all that makes the Kremlin.” He discreditied American intelligence agencies and “declares all over the world, we can’t believe them”.
How about trump’s failure to Express opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin to recognize the recent murder and poisoning of the critics of Putin because, in the words of trump, in America, too, have “killer”? “I don’t think we ever heard from the Oval office is more dangerous statement than this,” said Democrat Adam Schiff (Adam Schiff), a senior member of the intelligence Committee in the house of representatives in its expanded interview for our new podcast, The Global Politico.
Schiff, a lawyer, a Harvard graduate who made his career on the prosecution of FBI agent trapped in the Soviet Union placed the trap of the “sex for secrets” is one of the leading Democrats calling for a more serious investigation of the mysterious trump ties with Russia. Last week, when the national security Advisor, Michael Flynn (Michael Flynn) was forced to resign after she misled the Vice President, lied about his telephone conversation with the Russian Ambassador in December, Schiff immediately demanded to expand the investigation of hacker attacks during the elections in 2016, which is conducted by the intelligence Committee of the house of representatives. He demanded to include in the investigation the case of Flynn, at the end of last week Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (Devin Nunes) reluctantly agreed.
Now Schiff speaks openly of the possible concealment of a crime is a mutual responsibility in Flynn. “There is a serious question about how he acted: on their own or at the behest of the current President or other representatives of the administration, says Schiff. — Who else was aware that he was misled by the Vice-President and thereby misled the country?”
Throughout our conversation, Schiff talked about Russia under Putin, these words, which I rarely hear in the nearly two decades that light in the media US relations with the Kremlin. Similar expressions, I almost never hear from the Democrats in recent years, during which associated with Putin criticism could be heard mainly from Republicans who thought that President Barack Obama sought to resist Russian aggression. “Russia is a big threat to our country, says Schiff. Russians are doing everything they can to destroy democratic institutions in Europe just as they did in Russia itself. And just like they tried to do it in our country, in the elections… There is a real opposition with a real threat, an evil force”.
Perhaps the most striking in the rhetoric of this kind is, from whose lips it sounds, and those party differences which it portends for American foreign policy in the future as a new generation of “hawks” inimical to Russia. After all, Schiff is a freshman at this “factory of indignation”, a quiet and gentle Congressman, whose Twitter posts were usually filled with tactful comments about the hearings and weighted, the deliberate political tediousness, by which he earned his fame. Almost all the articles ever written about this California Democrat, athlete-Ironman triathlete, who keeps a strict workout regime to always be in shape, it is called “the most moderate of moderates”.
But that was before trump with his unexpected and largely inexplicable admiration for Putin. Schiff in recent months, turned his high position in the house of representatives Committee on intelligence in the new public post. Now we can say that he plays the role of the main grandstand on Capitol hill, requiring the Republicans to conduct an investigation not only of hacker attacks during the Russian elections in 2016, but possible relationships trump and members of his staff with the authorities of Russia, an authoritarian leader which makes trump (according to him) admirable. Schiff tells me that a special Commission would examine “any contacts between Russia and the U.S. persons” to find out “whether any persons from the United States” involved in the hacking of computer networks during the elections of 2016″.
But it was not clear whether the Commission of the house of representatives to address this issue really is and how successful will the work of the Committee. Schiff and other Democrats have denied in their attempt to create the special incorporated Commission of inquiry, and they do not know exactly to what extent they will cooperate with the FBI, which is conducting its own investigation into Flynn’s and the larger cases on hacker attacks in Russia in the period of the election campaign in 2016. And from Republicans from the house of representatives still exists opposition — they are against to the members of the party participated in a very detailed investigation of the President’s actions.
Although Republican senators under pressure from the “hawks” John McCain (John McCain) and Lindsey Graham (Lindsey Graham), militant against Russia, began to speak about his investigation into tougher, in the house of representatives nuñez who worked on the transition team of the trump refers to the investigation much more skeptical. First, núñez last week refused to extend the investigation, involving him Flynn, saying that he prefers (as strongly requested by the President) to investigate the leaks, which became known information about a telephone conversation Flynn. Sunday núñez participated in a talk show in order to cast doubt on the insistence of Schiff that the group will investigate whether and to what extent any Americans associated with trump would be involved in the Russian hacker attacks.
“We are not going to start a witch hunt against the American people, against American citizens,” said he to the representative of CBS, John Dickerson (John Dickerson). However, he said: “as far As I know, our law enforcement agencies do not have such information”.
Regardless, what will the unfolding of the investigation against Russia, trump and Putin, heated debates and controversies have influenced American policy and led to one inevitable consequence — the return of rhetoric and the ominous warnings during the cold war against Russia. Three American presidents in a row — bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama started his presidential activities with hopes to forge closer relations with Putin, and finished it, having lost this hope, ruining relationships and almost ceased to communicate with him.
But now, after trump during election campaign called Putin a better leader than Obama, and the U.S. intelligence community found that Russia has made cyber attacks specially in order to increase the chances of trump in the presidential race, the prospects of another attempt restarting American-Russian relations became even more bleak. Trump acknowledged this in his passionate speech at a recent press conference, imagine Putin watching this whole scandal, decides that “President trump will not be able to ever get along with Russia because of the pressure which he experiences in this fictional story.”
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Being the main Democrat in the Committee of the house of representatives, Schiff is one of the “gang of eight” (gang of eight) is a group of members of Congress, which is composed of four key leaders from both chambers and four members of the intelligence committees who participate in briefings and receive a special secret reports from us intelligence (unlike other members of Congress). Working together with Dianne Feinstein (Dianne Feinstein), a senior Democrat in the Senate Committee on intelligence, who also is a member of the “gang of eight”, Schiff in the early fall of last year began to sound the alarm about Russia’s interference in elections.
They met, as now admits Schiff, strong resistance on the part of the Obama administration when he tried to force the White house to make public the evidence that the Russians were committed to a hacker attack. Schiff during an interview said that he and Feinstein tried to influence members of the national security Council, to make such a statement, but was refused. “The administration is very reserved attitude to the idea to make it public,” he says. Especially at a time when trump has publicly lamented the fact that, in his view, the Democrats will try to rig the election in favor of Hillary Clinton.
They teamed up with Feinstein and 22 September made its own statement that Russia is making “serious and concerted” effort to interfere in the election campaign of 2016. This statement in October confirmed the Obama administration, and then, after the election, the public learned from US intelligence that a hacker attack was carried out in order for the elections were won by the trump. Many Democrats today still resent due to the fact that the recognition of the facts is so fascinating, and wonder whether it will turn so that indecisive Obama’s actions in response to hacker attacks and his reluctance to speak more decisively to the eighth of November, unwittingly contributed to the victory for trump in the presidential election.
Anyway, from a conversation with Schiff becomes clear that today there is a brand new policy towards Russia. This is especially true on Capitol hill, where previously it was the Republicans (even long after the end of the cold war and the collapse of the Soviet Union 25 years ago), were much more critical of the authoritarian rule of Putin and an expansionist foreign policy in the post-Soviet space.
Most of them are still disposed towards this mission — and when I went to allegations that trump is considering lifting some sanctions against Russia, one of the first presidential decrees on the part of Republican congressmen began a strong resistance. Their disagreement was expressed, in particular, and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (Mitch McConnell) who helped to shelve or at least delay the implementation of any plans. In connection with the ensuing scandal with Flynn and his complicated ties with Russia, the likelihood that the implementation of these plans will now, even less. Núñez in his statements in an interview with CBS pointed to this new reality — and probably hinted at the warnings of Schiff against Russia. “Now there are “hawks” inimical to Russia, — he said with a hint of dry irony. — I think that in Congress more “hawks” than the congressmen and senators”.
According to Schiff and other members of the new camp anti-Russian “hawks”, there is a clear link between the threatening steps of Putin and the growing influence similar in their views of the national-populists — such as the trump in the United States, and other politicians in Europe. “We are now in the new state war of ideas, which is becoming more popular authoritarianism, and we should resist it,” he says.
So what about Republicans who in recent years was rushed to criticize Obama for his “soft” attitude to Putin and warned about the Imperial designs of Russia in regard to Eastern Europe? The same party that applauded when presidential candidate in the 2012 election MITT Romney (Mitt Romney) called Russia a geopolitical threat No. 1 for the United States? Really, I asked Schiff, his fellow Republicans suddenly changed their opinion about Russia now when trump moves another political line?
His response was equally clear and the balance of power in Congress against the President, trump, and all that relates to foreign policy. And this tells us that although most Republicans are not openly turns away from his belligerent new President, the situation is likely to change.
“They have not changed their opinion about Russia. I think that they feel for her the same distrust as before. But they still don’t want to contradict the President says Schiff about his fellow Republicans. — They have no illusions about Vladimir Putin; none of them considers him a friend. They all recognize that great evil, which he makes dropping bombs on civilians in Aleppo, invading neighbouring countries, killing journalists. So, I don’t think their opinion has changed — I don’t think that Donald trump has convinced them that Russia somehow has now become our friend.”
