"Not a Hoax": Mueller Destroys Trump’s Lies About Russian Interference in 30 seconds
July 25th 2019
Robert Mueller (Medill DC)
By Oliver Willis
Special counsel Robert Mueller testified to the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday that Russia’s attack on the American election in 2016 was “not a hoax,” a direct rebuke to Trump.
“Would you agree that it was not a hoax that the Russians were engaged in trying to impact our election?” Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) asked Mueller at the hearing.
“Absolutely, it was not a hoax,” Mueller replied. “The indictments that we returned against the Russians — two different ones — were substantial in their scope.”
Attempting to undercut the investigation and its revelations about him and his inner circle, Trump has repeatedly described the probe as a “hoax.”
“Russia, Russia, Russia! That’s all you heard at the beginning of this Witch Hunt Hoax,” Trump wrote in May. Later that month Trump declared the investigation was “The greatest Hoax in American History.”
“A Treasonous Hoax,” Trump claimed.
As far back as March of 2017, when he had only been in the presidency for two months, Trump whined, “Trump Russia story is a hoax.”
In fact, Trump has a habit of describing real things as a “hoax.” Before he began his multiyear complaints about the Russia investigation, he was attackingclimate change as a “very expensive hoax.”
In addition to dismantling Trump’s mythmaking, Mueller’s testimony also highlighted the danger that Trump’s allies in the Republican Party are ignoring.
“We have underplayed to a certain extent that aspect of our investigation that has, and would have, long-term damage to the United States that we need to move quickly to address,” Mueller testified.
While Democrats have pushed for election security legislation citing the 2016 attack, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has led a resistance against that demand.
He and Republicans in the Senate have stopped the legislative process for these bills, which are designed to combat attacks like the ones Russia used to help Trump.
The approach has gone hand-in-hand with Trump’s acquiescence to Russia and Vladimir Putin. Trump even denigrated American intelligence agencies for investigating the election attack while he stood next to the autocratic Russian.
The attacks were not a hoax, and America’s guard is still not up. Trump has left America vulnerable to a foreign adversary, and his party is aiding and abetting him.
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