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JustSecurity: Republican Leaders are Playing a Dangerous Game
https://www.justsecurity.org/67681/republicans-are-playing-a-dangerous-game/Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, recently told an NBC News reporter, “Every elected official in the Ukraine was for Hillary Clinton. Is that very different than the Russians being for Donald Trump?”
This false equivalence—a tactic used by Russia itself—completely and dangerously mischaracterizes the threat we are facing.
What Republicans like Burr are pointing to as Ukrainian interference amounts to a few op-eds and tweets from Ukrainian officials who took issue with candidate Trump saying he might recognize Crimea as Russian territory. Republicans have also pointed to the publication of “the black ledger,” a document that outlines secret, illegal payments from former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Included in that ledger was the name Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager. Republicans claim that the release of this information was aimed at damaging Trump’s campaign. In hearings, Republicans have also repeatedly described the “ledger” as a “disputed” document. It is worth remembering that the chief critic of the document’s veracity is Manafort himself, and the Associated Press corroborated some of the ledger’s payments to him. It is also worth noting that the original reports in Ukraine about the ledger did not mention Manafort. His name first became associated with the ledger when the New York Times reported on it three months later.
So Ukrainian officials publicly expressed a dislike for candidate Trump and, separately, looked to hold corrupt Yanukovych associates—one of whom happened to be Trump’s campaign chairman—accountable.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, is aiming to destroy Western democracies. Does that sound overblown? Here are Putin’s own words about the end of liberalism: “The liberal idea has become obsolete,” he told the Financial Times. “It has come into conflict with the interests of the overwhelming majority of the population.”
Russia has been running, and continues to run, a covert intelligence operation aimed at duping Westerners and inflaming internal divisions, in order to break down our democratic institutions. Putin aims to bring down the Western liberal order, which—with the United States at the helm—has generally brought peace and stability to the West for 70 years.
Republicans should ask themselves why Putin sees them as a good partner in this task.
This false equivalence—a tactic used by Russia itself—completely and dangerously mischaracterizes the threat we are facing.
What Republicans like Burr are pointing to as Ukrainian interference amounts to a few op-eds and tweets from Ukrainian officials who took issue with candidate Trump saying he might recognize Crimea as Russian territory. Republicans have also pointed to the publication of “the black ledger,” a document that outlines secret, illegal payments from former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Included in that ledger was the name Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager. Republicans claim that the release of this information was aimed at damaging Trump’s campaign. In hearings, Republicans have also repeatedly described the “ledger” as a “disputed” document. It is worth remembering that the chief critic of the document’s veracity is Manafort himself, and the Associated Press corroborated some of the ledger’s payments to him. It is also worth noting that the original reports in Ukraine about the ledger did not mention Manafort. His name first became associated with the ledger when the New York Times reported on it three months later.
So Ukrainian officials publicly expressed a dislike for candidate Trump and, separately, looked to hold corrupt Yanukovych associates—one of whom happened to be Trump’s campaign chairman—accountable.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, is aiming to destroy Western democracies. Does that sound overblown? Here are Putin’s own words about the end of liberalism: “The liberal idea has become obsolete,” he told the Financial Times. “It has come into conflict with the interests of the overwhelming majority of the population.”
Russia has been running, and continues to run, a covert intelligence operation aimed at duping Westerners and inflaming internal divisions, in order to break down our democratic institutions. Putin aims to bring down the Western liberal order, which—with the United States at the helm—has generally brought peace and stability to the West for 70 years.
Republicans should ask themselves why Putin sees them as a good partner in this task.
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