WIRED: Russia Doesn't Want Bernie Sanders. It Wants Chaos

[Dennis Donovan]

https://www.wired.com/story/bernie-sanders-russia-chaos-2020-election/

BRIAN BARRETTSECURITY02.21.2020 08:41 PM

The point of Kremlin interference has always been to find democracy’s loose seams, and pull.

If there’s one line intelligence officials have stuck to about Russian interference in US elections, it’s that it never stopped. Not after the 2016 election, not after the 2018 midterms, and certainly not now, well into the 2020 primary season. Which is why it should be no great surprise that, as The Washington Post first reported Friday, US officials warned Bernie Sanders that Russia is “attempting to help” his presidential campaign. It also shouldn’t be read as any kind of endorsement.

The Post is slim on details, other than saying that both Sanders and President Trump were briefed on Russia’s efforts. The news follows reports Thursday that intelligence officials recently briefed Congress about Russian interference aimed at helping reelect Donald Trump.

“I don’t care, frankly, who [Russian President Vladimir] Putin wants to be president,” Sanders said in a statement to the Post. “My message to Putin is clear: Stay out of American elections, and as president I will make sure that you do." The Sanders campaign did not immediately respond to WIRED's request for comment.

"All of this is part of Russia’s much broader effort to cast democracies as feckless, ineffective, and corrupt."

JESSICA BRANDT, ALLIANCE FOR SECURING DEMOCRACY

To close observers of Russian interference, this all sounds wildly familiar. In 2016, Russian misinformation agents and hackers worked to boost Trump’s electoral chances, but also threw some of their support behind Sanders as he ran against Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment of the Internet Research Agency troll farm detailed how IRA operatives were instructed to “use any opportunity to criticize Hillary and the rest (except Sanders and Trump—we support them).” In the summer of 2016, pro-Sanders IRA Facebook accounts spread rumors that Clinton had stolen the Iowa caucus from Sanders and that her campaign had gotten illegal mail-in votes in Broward County, Florida.

</snip>

[Squinch]

1. It wants trump.

[Dennis Donovan]

2. Trump is part of that chaos. But it wants to rip the Democratic party to shreds

...and it's working.

[SharonClark]

24. Only on DU.

[CalFione]

4. Getting Bernie as Trump's opponent is part of that goal

[Squinch]

6. Of course.

[Dennis Donovan]

7. 470 posts in 5 days?

Hmm... Welcome to DU! Took me months to amass that many posts.

[Cha]

18. Some of us post more than others..

and I like their posts.

[sheshe2]

21. It is not always about quantity...

it is about quality. I have no issues with their posts.

I have only been here since late 2012 less than a month before the elections and have 62.5K posts. I am chatty, not so much lately. 24/7 momcare is a killer.

[Cha]

19. Exactly right.. keep on Posting!

[madville]

3. "The Post is slim on details"

And people are losing their minds, sounds like the chaos theory has some merit.

[Dennis Donovan]

5. Exactly

[Moderateguy]

10. We the politically active are losing their minds

I assure you a majority of Americans have not even noticed

[Iliyah]

8. None of the people I know . . .

is losing their minds. We down here are just trying to survive and survival keeps us pretty grounded.

Regarding Chaos, it started with t-rump who is the puppet for Putin. Republicans are helping as well.

But this establishment bullshit is pissing me off.

[TwilightZone]

9. Sorry, but that's ridiculous.

It's patently obvious that they want to keep Trump in power because they have control over him. Clearly, right or wrong, they believe Sanders would be the weakest candidate against Trump.

They, no doubt, also want chaos, but the two are not mutually exclusive. In fact, with Trump, chaos is pretty much the default.

People are way overthinking this.

[Cha]

20. Exactly. So much spinning goin' on

[Moderateguy]

11. Trump delivers all the chaos they want/need

They think that Sanders will be the easiest candidate for Trump to beat

[Cal Carpenter]

12. Thank you for posting this

We know for a fact that Russia interfered in our election in 2016. We know that Trump did nothing about it. Many assumed it was still happening, even here on DU.

Now we have confirmation.

It's all about FUD. And it seems to be working.

[PETRUS]

13. FUD

Apart from the obvious reason that intelligence briefings are not meant for public consumption, that would be a reason to try to deal with the situation quietly. It's out now, but note that no Democrats privy to this information made a general announcement.

[Iliyah]

15. Both parties knew . . .

[PETRUS]

16. True.

I omitted mention of Republicans, because my understanding is that they're fine with the shenanigans.

[Cal Carpenter]

17. Good point. None of this is actually helping him anyway.

All these headlines are just casting doubt on his credibility as a candidate.

How does this help him? It just hurts the whole party, and the legitimacy of our democracy.

[Meadowoak]

14. Vote blue, no matter who! And take 2 friends with you. That is all.

[Garrett78]

22. Yep. Anybody who becomes the frontrunner will become a target. That's how they roll.

[Cal Carpenter]

23. Kick

[SidDithers]

25. Russia wins both ways if Bernie is the nominee...

Trump re-elected and hi pro-Russia policies continue.

Bernie elected, and Putin doesn’t have to worry about sanctions or pesky stuff like the Magnitsky Act. Bernie’s already voted against both.

Win-Win.

Sid

[uponit7771]

26. NO !!! They want Trump ... stop ... M$M ... just stop

[PubliusEnigma]

27. It wants Trump, and the easiest path to Trump is through Bernie Sanders.