(01-11-2019 03:34 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  That's hard to answer because we don't know all the facts. But it will be easiest to answer if we assume that there was coordination.
It's logical to think that some of the specific efforts (like what populations in the states to target with their troll campaigns) could have been driven/informed by the Trump campaign.
The timing of actions (such as the release of the email dumps) could have also been driven/informed by the Trump campaign (remember, the email dump was done hours after the Access Hollywood tape was released).
And we also don't know if Russia would have done so much had they not had a campaign that was willing to play ball. As I said in my response to the email, we've seen the Trump admin advance a number of Putin-friendly policies. And Trump has a history of spouting off Russian conspiracy theories/propaganda such as how Russia was right to invade Afghanistan, how Montenegro might try and start WWIII, or how Poland may invade Belarus. So we very well could have seen a more aggressive Russia because a candidate said they would be supportive of their causes.

(01-11-2019 05:45 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  And I provided answers easily if we assumed the allegations were true...

So, step 1: per the last quote "assume the allegations are true"

step 2: make an assertion, such as the bolded to support step 1

step 3: ignore anything that contradicts step 2

Case(s) in point:
a) The Administration drastically increases overall amount of military aid to Ukraine
b) Trump increases levels of lethal arms to Ukraine
c) Trump authorizes and sends state of the art anti-armor weaponry to Ukraine
d) Administration wipes out 400+ (a battalion) of Russian soldiers in Syria
e) Trump Administration ordered multiple Russian consulates in the United States closed and expelled 60 Russian intelligence officers.
f) The Trump Administration has issued sanctions against more than one hundred Russian actors and oligarchs for various reasons
g) The U.S. has increased troops and its military capability in Eastern Europe and dramatically increased training and drills with its NATO partners.
h) President Trump signed the "Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act" into law
i) The U.S. announced tighter financial sanctions on Russian banks and energy firms due to Russia's continued interference in Ukraine

That makes it easy! When you ignore a-i, lad is spot on....