(05-20-2020 10:08 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(05-20-2020 10:03 AM)At Ease Wrote:  

Quote:While right-wing media continue to whip their audiences into hysteria over a nefarious Obama-led plot to undermine Trump, the documents — strategically released by Trump’s political lackeys atop the intelligence and law enforcement communities — do absolutely nothing to further such asinine conspiracy theories. In fact, they prove the opposite.

The recently disclosed files show the Obama administration’s diligence and focus in the wake of Russia’s sweeping assault on American democracy. Moreover, contrary to unhinged right-wing conspiracy-mongering, the materials demonstrate Obama’s dedication to upholding the FBI’s independence from improper political influence.

Quote:Some context is in order. In late 2016, then-President Obama slapped aggressive sanctions on Moscow in retaliation for Russia’s sweeping assault on American democracy. Flynn, coordinating with “senior members” of the Trump team, then colluded — in the truest sense of the term — with a high-level Russian government official to undermine U.S. pressure on the Kremlin.

Putin’s uncharacteristically tepid reaction to Obama’s sanctions — including the expulsion of 35 Russian spies living in the United States — left America’s foreign policy, intelligence and law enforcement agencies stunned. After sifting through reams of intelligence, the FBI finally made sense of the normally combative Russian leader’s tame response. Thanks to routine, legal surveillance of foreign government officials, the bureau found that Flynn asked Putin, through a Russian ambassador, not to respond to Obama’s sanctions.

Quote:Conspiracy theories aside, senior Obama officials like former Vice President Joe Biden had a pressing national security interest in understanding how and why an unnamed U.S. citizen (ultimately revealed to be Flynn) undercut U.S. pressure on the Kremlin after the 2016 election. We can only hope that Trump would be so diligent under similar circumstances.

https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-jus...d-properly

No, no, no, the Obama admin should have KNOWN that the tepid response was because the Trump admin was incoming and therefore would have been friendlier and reversed sanctions.