Senate committee unanimously agrees there was massive Russian interference in the 2016 election

[Elixir]

And for our friends here who continue to insist "this is no big deal, they've been doing it since the Soviet days," the point is that as of now, literally everyone with any shred of authority on the subject says "yes, the Russians have been and will continue to interfere in our elections.": Everyone. Republicans. Democrats. Every single US intelligence agency.

Can you explain how ?

I suggest you start here:

https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Report_Volume1.pdf

And here:

https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Report_Volume2.pdf

It is (of course) heavily redacted to protect sources and methods, but the conclusion is clear: They attacked our election infrastructure.

By the way, you can't sell this as a partisan hit job, as the report was prepared by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committed under the auspices of Republican leadership, and backs up the intelligence communities' assessment of the threat. This has been in the works for three years, and I suspect you'll hand-wave the whole thing away without reading any of it, as it reaffirms something you insist is not a real problem.

YABUT! Some republican hack wrote a FOOTNOTE! Footnote I tellya!

 

[Koyaanisqatsi]

The inescapable conclusion is that while Trump did not actively collaborate with the Russians,

That has never been established. Quite the contrary in fact. Mueller's conclusion was inescapable; they could not exonerate Trump.

 

[Koyaanisqatsi]

And for our friends here who continue to insist "this is no big deal, they've been doing it since the Soviet days," the point is that as of now, literally everyone with any shred of authority on the subject says "yes, the Russians have been and will continue to interfere in our elections.": Everyone. Republicans. Democrats. Every single US intelligence agency.

Can you explain how ?

Again, go here: Russian Influence Measured.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Huh? This isn't the Onion??

They actually admitted it??

Can't find the head-exploding smiley.

 

[Koyaanisqatsi]

From an cursory skim through the second one I see terms like "Russia's Weaponization of Social Media". So yeah, I'm going to have to hand wave that sort of thing because it's a bullshit term.

Nobody gives a fuck what you think is or is not a "bullshit term."

 

[TSwizzle]

https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Report_Volume2.pdf

It is (of course) heavily redacted to protect sources and methods, but the conclusion is clear: They attacked our election infrastructure.

One communication obtained by the Committee details an IRA employee's description of Election Day 2016, from the vantage of an information warfare operative: "On November 9, 2016, a sleepless night was ahead of us. And when around 8 a.m. the most important result of our work arrived, we uncorked a tiny bottle of champagne ... took one gulp each and looked into each other's eyes .... We uttered almost in unison: 'We. made America great"

 

[Ford]

From an cursory skim through the second one I see terms like "Russia's Weaponization of Social Media". So yeah, I'm going to have to hand wave that sort of thing because it's a bullshit term.

Nobody gives a fuck what you think is or is not a "bullshit term."

He even admits to only skimming the document and hand-waving the entire thing because he found some words he thinks are important. He's currently looking to cherry-pick parts which support his assertion that nothing happened.

So he knows he's full of shit, and is setting about confirming that fact. This should be entertaining to watch TSwizzle outsmart the entire US intelligence community from his mighty keyboard war-room.

 

[fromderinside]

RU sayin' TSwizzle is a Don Quixote spouting?

 

[laughing dog]

From an cursory skim through the second one I see terms like "Russia's Weaponization of Social Media". So yeah, I'm going to have to hand wave that sort of thing because it's a bullshit term.

Nobody gives a fuck what you think is or is not a "bullshit term."

Hold on there. TSwizzle is an expert in bullshit terms.

 

[TSwizzle]

[He even admits to only skimming the document and hand-waving the entire thing because he found some words he thinks are important. He's currently looking to cherry-pick parts which support his assertion that nothing happened.

Ok, Instead of being obnoxious, help me out and show me exactly what it is I should be concerned about. The gist of it seems to be a department in Russia used (weaponized, lol) social media (primarily Facebook/Twitter) to post shit on the interweb. This doesn’t sound like much to me. So how exactly did this in any way shape the outcome of the 2016 election?

 

[Trausti]

[He even admits to only skimming the document and hand-waving the entire thing because he found some words he thinks are important. He's currently looking to cherry-pick parts which support his assertion that nothing happened.

Ok, Instead of being obnoxious, help me out and show me exactly what it is I should be concerned about. The gist of it seems to be a department in Russia used (weaponized, lol) social media (primarily Facebook/Twitter) to post shit on the interweb. This doesn’t sound like much to me. So how exactly did this in any way shape the outcome of the 2016 election?

Only those who drink the Kool-Aid and wear the aluminum hats can really understand it.

 

[Trausti]

The inescapable conclusion is that while Trump did not actively collaborate with the Russians,

That has never been established. Quite the contrary in fact. Mueller's conclusion was inescapable; they could not exonerate Trump.

Jumping Jesus on a pogo stick, you can’t be this dense.

 

[Trausti]

Good grief. All this time (three years or so) and money spent because someone in Russia ran a few Facebook ads ? Where is the evidence that any of this had a tangible impact on the outcome of the election ? What is the purpose of these reports ?

Whoa. Russia spent $100K on Facebook ads. $100K!!! That’s like a paralegal’s pre-tax annual salary! You really need to start taking this more seriously.

 

[TSwizzle]

Whoa. Russia spent $100K on Facebook ads. $100K!!! That’s like a paralegal’s pre-tax annual salary! You really need to start taking this more seriously.

I did see that figure in the report. So Russia spends $100k and the US government must have spent 10 times that amount chasing shadows over three years and some people are outraged with Russia?! Their outrage is seriously misplaced. Putin must be laughing his ass off. What was the expression again, pwaned/pwned or something ?

 

[Trausti]

Whoa. Russia spent $100K on Facebook ads. $100K!!! That’s like a paralegal’s pre-tax annual salary! You really need to start taking this more seriously.

I did see that figure in the report. So Russia spends $100k and the US government must have spent 10 times that amount chasing shadows over three years and some people are outraged with Russia?! Their outrage is seriously misplaced. Putin must be laughing his ass off. What was the expression again, pwaned/pwned or something ?

I do imagine a bunch of Ivans at the FSB drunk on vodka and laughing their asses of at how successful their trolling was. This may be the mother of all trolls. 4chan ain’t got nothing on this.

 

[Ford]

[He even admits to only skimming the document and hand-waving the entire thing because he found some words he thinks are important. He's currently looking to cherry-pick parts which support his assertion that nothing happened.

Ok, Instead of being obnoxious, help me out and show me exactly what it is I should be concerned about. The gist of it seems to be a department in Russia used (weaponized, lol) social media (primarily Facebook/Twitter) to post shit on the interweb. This doesn’t sound like much to me. So how exactly did this in any way shape the outcome of the 2016 election?

See, the reason I linked the report was so that you could read it yourself, not skim over it, think you got the "gist" from the little you took the time to read, and then ask me to finish your homework for you.

Again, read the fucking report. Though heavily redacted, even someone "skimming" the documents (there's two parts, of which you clearly only skimmed one) could ascertain that the Russians (including the GRU) were launching cyber attacks on state election infrastructure, probing weaknesses, and gathering information regarding ways to disrupt our election. The social media aspect was just one facet of a multi-pronged attack. While there's no compelling evidence they were actually able to alter vote tallies, it's not for a lack of trying.



It is also worth noting that I already fucking told you what you should be concerned about. Allow me to quote...me:

Not only has [Trump] flatly denied Russian interference, his White House (and the man personally) attempted to shut down investigations into said interference. He publicly trashed "this Rusher thing" and privately tried to fire the person in charge of the investigation. His lap-dog AG swept the report under the rug, and is now (by order of Trump) investigating the investigation! Furthermore, Trump has stymied multiple attempts to sanction or put pressure on Russia over their meddling. Mueller indicted over a dozen Russian companies and individuals for attacking the United States. Yet the President - the person who is in charge of defending the nation - didn't lift a finger against those individuals, companies, or their country.

What part of that don't you get the gist of?

 

[JohnG]

In order for me to buy into this Russia stuff I would need a smoking gun, something like Trump's campaign people giving detailed polling data directly to the Russian govt.

Kidding aside, I don't think the Republican Senate wants to go down in history as the ones who just buried their heads in the sand. Mueller already laid all this out. Nobody did anything about it. The Ukrainian stuff was criminal and the Senate did zero.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Huh? This isn't the Onion??

They actually admitted it??

Can't find the head-exploding smiley.

The truth is, the GOP in the Senate hasn't been much denying it, they just aren't proclaiming it loudly. The House GOP have been the McCarthyites as far as denial.

Coming out with the report... now... and not really following it up... that is the bigger problem. McConnell is trying to cover tracks here while pretending to be non-partisan, at least on this issue.

 

[ZiprHead]

Good grief. All this time (three years or so) and money spent because someone in Russia ran a few Facebook ads ? Where is the evidence that any of this had a tangible impact on the outcome of the election ? What is the purpose of these reports ?

Whoa. Russia spent $100K on Facebook ads. $100K!!! That’s like a paralegal’s pre-tax annual salary! You really need to start taking this more seriously.

Have you ever used Facebook. It appears you haven't.

 

[ZiprHead]

[YOUTUBE]https://youtu.be/f8te_Og93hk[/YOUTUBE]