The Anti-Russia Brouhaha By Jacob G. Hornberger!!
(2017-05-12 at 14:20:14 )

The Anti-Russia Brouhaha by Jacob G. Hornberger

There is so much I just do not get about the anti-Russia brouhaha that has the Washington establishment, the mainstream press, the leftist movement, and even some conservatives all roiled up. To me it looks like one giant political carnival that serves no other purpose than to give these people something new to get all upset about.

Yesterday, I received an email from a top-level leftist organization breathlessly seeking a donation from me so that it can pressure Congress into appointing an independent prosecutor to look into what is now being called Russia-gate.

I wrote back with some pointed questions. I did not expect an answer and I have not received one. I suppose they just wanted my money, no questions asked.

People are saying that Russia interfered with or meddled in Americas 2016 presidential election and that Donald Trump colluded with Russia to win the election.

But what does that mean? No one ever says. Does it mean that Russia contacted American voters with robo calls? Did it donate money to Trumps campaign? Did it strategize with Trump and his campaign team? Did it offer campaign advice to Trump and his team?

Most important, would any of that be illegal under United States law?

The only thing I have seen in the press is that Russia supposedly hacked into an email account and disclosed to the public some communications that Clinton wanted kept secret from American voters. The notion, I think, is that when people read those communications, they decided not to vote for Clinton.

I can see understand that hacking into an email account would be illegal. But there is a simple remedy for that - a criminal indictment. To my knowledge, no indictment has been issued against Russian officials for illegally hacking into the Clinton campaigns email accounts. Why not? Could the reason be that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department have failed to come up with evidence that would even rise to the low level of "probable cause" that Russia engaged in such conduct, much less the required burden of proof in a criminal case - "beyond a reasonable doubt"?

When they say that Russia meddled or interfered with the United States election and that Trump colluded with Russia to win the election, they are apparently talking about something more than illegally hacking into an email account, like maybe Trump talked to Putin or other Russian officials about how to defeat Clinton.

Is it illegal to do such a thing? It might well be, I really do not know. But every time I read an article about the brouhaha in the mainstream press, I look for some allegation of illegality and I have not found one yet. If there is not any evidence that Russia and Trump have done something illegal, as compared with politically unpopular, then what is all that brouhaha about appointing a independent prosecutor all about? Is it not the purpose of an independent prosecutor to go after someone who is alleged to have committed a crime rather than a politically unpopular act?

Let us assume that Trump regularly consulted with Russian officials about how to win the campaign. Let us assume that Russian officials gave Trump political advice because they did not want Clinton elected.

Is that really against the law? If so, does the law apply to other governments or just the Russian government? If Trump consulted with French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen on how to win his election, would that have been illegal? Or with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair?

Who cares who a presidential candidate consults with in the process of trying to win an election? And why should the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is purportedly about investigating criminal offenses and not political strategies, care?

Maybe the brouhaha is about promises that Trump might have made to the Russians, such as bringing an end to the new Cold War that the United States national security establishment has ignited, or promising to dismantle NATO, which was the root cause of the crisis in Ukraine and the Crimea, or promising to lift the vicious sanctions against Russia, or promising to rein in the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency, which have a vested interest in keeping the Cold War going, or promising to reduce the Pentagons and Central Intelligence Agencys forever wars along with their ever-increasing budgets, or simply promising to establish peaceful and friendly relations with Russia, just as President Kennedy was doing at the time he was assassinated.

So what? Presidential candidates make promises to people all the time. Since when are campaign promises an illegal act? If a presidential candidate says, "Vote for me and I promise to reduce your taxes," is he violating the law?

When Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt promised voters that they would keep America out of war and then broke their promises to embroil America in two deadly and destructive world wars, was that illegal?

Defense Intelligence Director Flynn supposedly lied to Trump about talking to the Russian ambassador to the United States and got fired. I fully understand that lying is not good a thing. But was it a crime to talk to the Russia ambassador? I do not think so. If it was, do you not know that Flynn would have been indicted by now? And why should it be a crime to talk to any ambassador, including Russias ambassador? I do not even think it was a crime when Flynn lied to Trump about the matter. It certainly was a crime when the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper Jr. lied to Congress about the National Security Agencys secret surveillance of the American people. Yet, he was never indicted and very few people in Washington got all bent out of shape that he avoided any punishment.

And am I the only person who feels a bit creeped out that Flynns lie got outed because of secret recordings of the Russian ambassadors telephone conversations? What business does the United States government have in listening in on and recording anyones telephone conversations? I have always thought that that is the sort of thing communist or totalitarian regimes do.

Finally, there is a judicial doctrine called "the clean hands" doctrine. It holds that when a party comes into court seeking equitable relief, it must have "clean hands." If it has unclean hands, it will be denied relief and thrown out of court.

I realize that we are dealing with the court of public opinion rather than a judicial court, but why should the same principle not apply? What I find absolutely fascinating about the entire anti-Russia brouhaha is that the complainers hardly ever call for an end to United States meddling in foreign elections or foreign political affairs.

If it is bad for Russia to be meddling in United States elections, then why is it not considered bad for the Central Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon to be meddling in foreign elections and foreign political affairs, including those in Ukraine?

And that includes clearly illegal acts on the part of the Central Intelligenc Agency and Pentagon - i.e., things like assassination, coups, bribery, kidnapping, and even invasions.

When they complain about Russias supposed interference with the United States presidential election, United States officials never vow to stop their own interference with elections and political affairs in foreign countries?

What gives with that?

That is coming into the court of public opinion with unclean hands and refusing to vow to clean those hands. Why should anyone pay attention to someone seeking relief who has unclean hands and vowing not to clean them?

Finally, there are some who are lamenting that so much time and attention are being devoted to the anti-Russia brouhaha. Not me! I think it is great!!

The more time these people spend on this meaningless circus is less time they have to devote to enacting more measures that will destroy our liberty and well-being, such as Trumps wars on trade and immigration, the construction of his Berlin Wall along the United States-Mexico border, and his plans to ramp up the drug war.

Printed here with permission from Mr. Jacob G. Hornberger of The Future of Freedom Foundation!! Their Great Website!!