Trump has been lying about the Russian hack. He just accidentally admitted it himself.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

The Plum Line | Opinion

Trump has been lying about the Russian hack. He just accidentally admitted it himself.

By Greg Sargent

@theplumlinegs

December 16 at 9:25 AM

THE MORNING PLUM:

In recent days, Donald Trump has been spinning a new narrative about CIA charges of Russian interference in our election: The administration did not leak the news of this finding until after Trump won, which shows this is just an after-the-fact effort to undercut the significance of his victory over Hillary Clinton. As Trump tweeted Thursday: “If Russia, or some other entity, was hacking, why did the White House wait so long to act? Why did they only complain after Hillary lost?”

This is not some small offhand remark. It represents an effort by Trump — one that is going to continue — to construct an alternative narrative to replace the increasingly substantiated one in which Russia may have in fact tried to interfere in our election to help him, which would obviously carry enormous significance on many levels. ... But Friday, Trump send out a new tweet that accidentally reveals that he knows this entire narrative is a lie:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/809717035353722880

Trump is referring here to news that broke in late October: That a hacked email showed that interim DNC chair Donna Brazile may have leaked a Democratic primary debate question to Clinton’s campaign in advance. Brazile publicly blamed this leak on Russian hackers who were out to divide Democrats by feeding the perception among Bernie Sanders supporters that the DNC was putting its thumb on the scales for her. This built on a formal statement that the intelligence community put out earlier in October declaring itself “confident” that Russia was trying to interfere in the elections by hacking into DNC emails.

And so, by referring to this episode, what Trump is inadvertently revealing here is that, yes, the complaint about Russian hacking to hurt Clinton did in fact precede the election, and this was widely and publicly known. Of course, there is ample other evidence that Trump is fully aware of this. The intel community had publicly declared it weeks before the election. Trump had reportedly been privately briefed on it by U.S. officials. Trump was confronted with evidence of the hack at a debate with Clinton that was watched by tens of millions of people. At the debate, he cast doubt on the notion that Russia had hacked the materials to hurt Clinton. And yet, as Mark Murray points out, Trump himself widely referenced the material dug up in the hacks at rallies, where he used that material to — wait for it — try to damage Clinton.

[pscot]

1. What did Trump know, and when did he know it?

Back in July Trump invited the Russians to hack the Clinton campaign. Did he know at that time that the campaign had been hacked? He had an internet link to sources in Russia at that time. Had he already had a heads-up that the hack had taken place? We need a look at the emails of the Trump campaign.

[blue neen]

3. Exactly.

What did Trump know, and when did he know it.

This needs to be repeated until it is answered!

[pscot]

4. Here's a timeline

that looks at the Putin/Trump bromance.

on edit: I found this on Reddit.

[ginnyinWI]

2. He's a boastful blabbermouth!

Really. He can't resist letting things slip that he thinks might make him look good. And not being all that smart, or informed, he's a loose cannon.

Foreign leaders will be able to play him like a fiddle.

The small ray of hope here is that if and when the GOP in Congress decides to turn on him, they'll be able to outmaneuver him and kick the bum out.

[pscot]

5. He's looking more like a nexus of evil

TThe people he's puuting in will have enormous power. Trump isn't a hands on guy. He's franchising out the government. The charter school crowd control Education and the same principal applies in all the agencies. It's a disease and it's going to make the country sick.