40 Electoral College members demand briefing on Russian interference

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stupidaccountname · 8時間前

The signees of the letter are all Democratic electors, aside from one Republican: Chris Suprun from Texas.

surprise

chaneilfior · 8時間前

I strongly doubt we'll see enough Republican electors go faithless. That said...I wouldn't be surprised if there are 10-20 who do ultimately switch, but who aren't public about their intentions. Just look at the outraged reaction against Suprun -- Republican electors may as well paint a target on their backs if they come forward against Trump right now.

mpv81 · 8時間前

They should all be demanding a briefing.

I posted this in another comment section for an article with 2k upvotes, but the moderators took it down. So, I'm going to post it once more in hopes that the thread sticks around and people can see it.

The campaign season and election results were completely insane. A lot of people are still trying to wrap their head around what has just occurred. I certainly count myself as one of them. Aside from my own political beliefs, it is astounding to me that someone so obviously unsuited for the position is on the precipice of calling the Oval Office his own.

But aside from my (admittedly partisan but still reasonable) disgust at Donald Trump’s seemingly obvious shortcomings as Presidential material, a much deeper sense of dread regarding his ascendency has been swimming through me for the past few months. How large of a role, if any, did Russia play in the election? How much had they helped the Trump campaign? If they were involved and had helped Trump, was Trump complicit in their efforts or simply the unwitting recipient of an electoral nudge? If not, how complicit was he? Was Donald Trump a Russian plant—a real life Manchurian Candidate?

It is such an inherently outlandish idea, that it wouldn’t be odd to disregard it out of hand. A lot of people are. Hell, most people are, including a lot of people in Washington. I understand. I really do. It took a lot of mental wrestling with myself to feel comfortable with my conclusion. I had to ask myself if I wasn’t simply having the emotional, paranoid/delusional reaction to an election loss that I had seen from so many Republican friends and family have after Obama won in 2008. Was my questioning the very national loyalty of Donald Trump the same as the folks shouting about Death Panels and FEMA camps? Was I becoming the old man buying gold from Glenn Beck’s website in 2009 for the coming super-inflation? I remember how absurd all those people had seemed to me and I wanted to make sure that I myself hadn’t fallen into that trap.

So I decided to compile a list of what stood out to me regarding Trump’s potential ties to Russia.

No single piece linked here is damning in itself, but taken in context with everything else, there does seem to be something odd going on. There is no “smoking gun” per se. But there is enough smoke however for a very serious investigation.

Take a look and decide for yourself.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE APPEARANCES OF MASSIVE WEALTH FOR TRUMP

Trump’s celebrity comes solely from his claim of massive wealth and business dealings. His celebrity and his wealth are predicated on the idea of him being ultra-rich.
“Donald Trump’s rule (for his Comedy Central Roast) was, don’t say I have less money than I say I do. Make fun of my kids, do whatever you want, just don’t say I don’t have that much money.”
Timothy O’Brien, a journalist for the New York Times, wrote a book claiming that in his research of Donald Trump he arrived at a net worth of “somewhere between $150 and $250 Million. He is sued by Trump for 5 Billion dollars. The suit is dismissed and further dismissed on appeal.
In a deposition for the O’Brien lawsuit, Trump admits that his net worth is largely arbitrary

Trump: My net worth fluctuates, and it goes up and down with the markets and with attitudes and with feelings, even my own feelings, but I try.

Ceresney: Let me just understand that a little. You said your net worth goes up and down based upon your own feelings?

Trump: Yes, even my own feelings, as to where the world is, where the world is going, and that can change rapidly from day to day …

Ceresney: When you publicly state a net worth number, what do you base that number on?

Trump: I would say it's my general attitude at the time that the question may be asked. And as I say, it varies.

TRUMP’S FINANCES

Ivanka Trumps says: -“The biggest banking institutions are constantly soliciting us,” she said. “But we don’t need a lot of financing because we have a great balance sheet and a tremendous amount of cash.” (Yes, even she seems to love the word tremendous)

In stark opposition to what Ivanka claims, Trumps debt levels (that we know of) nearly doubled in 2016-—630 Million, up from 350 Million in 2015
Beyond finding that companies owned by Mr. Trump had debts of at least $650 million, The Times discovered that a substantial portion of his wealth is tied up in three passive partnerships that owe an additional $2 billion to a string of lenders, including those that hold the loan on the Avenue of the Americas building. If those loans were to go into default, Mr. Trump would not be held liable, the Trump Organization said. The value of his investments, however, would certainly sink.
Trump’s liquidity is relatively limited ($170M) from the previously linked Bloomberg assessment (Significant liquidity isn’t an issue for the ultra wealthy though, as they have access to capital at will via banks. But we know that Trump can’t get loans from major banks anymore.)
Trump has received a STAR tax credit from the state of New York for a number of years. This tax credit is reserved for people that can prove under $500,000 in annual income.
While Trump claims that this tax credit was issued in error, he had to file for it and prove income under the stated amount. "It's strange that a billionaire would apply for a $302 tax benefit and, moreover, that he would take it," said Martha Stark, a property-tax expert and former New York City finance commissioner…
Trump is notorious for not paying contractors on his projects (is he just spiteful or are there cash flow issues?)

ChadHimslef · 8時間前

39 Democrats and 1 Republican. Good luck gaining any traction...

LittleBalloHate · 6時間前

These are (almost) all Democratic electors who are bound to vote for Clinton.

So they want a briefing on Russian interference before they... vote for Clinton?

futtinutti · 49分前

So there is a risk Trump might only get 305 electoral votes instead of 306.

filluwithsynergism · 3時間前

And practically all of them democrats. Lol

Igglecane · 3時間前

Cute headline but spoiler alert they are mostly democrats not voting anyhow.

Hydro-therapy · 4時間前

Another headline : "93% of the EC plan to maintain EC precedent"

Funny how you can spin data any way you want.

mikes94 · 8時間前

The signees of the letter are all Democratic electors, aside from one Republican: Chris Suprun from Texas.

Suprun has already pledged not to vote for Trump, and claimed last week that other Republican electors plan to pick an alternative, too.

Remember these people are partisan hacks and not gov't and policy experts who are looking to make a rational decision. If anything they are the strongest supporters of their party's candidate.

ryokineko · 7時間前

Man-only 1 Republican elector...

truenorth00 · 4時間前

And they're probably all Democrats. It's pointless.

BuzzWeedle · 35分前

Okay, seriously though -- what happened to you guys? 4 and 8 years ago you were making fun of Republicans who were anti-Russia, and fucking 2 months ago you were making fun of Trump when he said the election is rigged -- and rightfully so! And now you've become the very thing you've said you hated. Right-wing conspiracy theorists in 2008 and you have almost everything in common but the man you hate.

new-collossus · 7時間前

The signees of the letter are all Democratic electors, aside from one Republican: Chris Suprun from Texas.

This is not important or significant at all.

Wait1What2Huh3 · 2時間前

That's it? Not all of them?

Noobasdfjkl · 5時間前

Cool. Are they all Democratic electors?

reads article

Yep. Move on, everyone.

myfascistaccount · 5時間前

This is getting ridiculous. CNN is calling this a "cyber attack" which is insane; it's not like they shut down our government computer systems.

What we're talking about is merely leaking information that may have been illegally obtained.

And that illegal obtaining, that hacking, was wrong and should be investigated and punished if possible.

But the act of hacking itself has to be firmly separated from the fact of the information being made available to the public.

Frankly, if the idea is that this information actually caused people to change their votes...then obviously the voters considered this information relevant!!

I mean, it's not like an election is a trial by jury where illegally obtained evidence has to be ignored or else there's a mistrial. No, in an election, it's generally thought that the more information the voters have to consider, the better.

But now it's like the fact that the Russians made us a more informed electorate is being treated as if it's "tampering"...as if our election's integrity depends on voters being in the dark about certain things going on at the DNC.

As far as I see it, however illegally the information was originally obtained, the fact that the public got to see it somehow can only be considered good.

Frankly, if the effect on voters would have been the same whether Russia did it, or an American whistleblower inside the DNC, or John Podesta himself was actually a turncoat and released them himself...I sort of fail to see why how voters got to see this relevant information matters given that voters did apparently consider it relevant.

wattmang · 2時間前

Yes, this will fail spectacularly, just like the recount.

cel_ad0r · 8時間前

39 democratic electors and a single republican.... But don't let that stop this story from going straight to the top of this sub lol

honbadger · 4時間前

Didn't Obama say the information was released to the public in October before the election? The media is only making it a bigger issue now because Obama requested an official review, and because Trump won.

bartManSimpson · 43分前

So you're telling me Bernie can still win

TooTiredToDecide · 4時間前

I'll add this to my "thinga that will never happen" list

Neapola · 2時間前

The headline is misleading. It implies that electors could change their vote if they don't get the info they're requesting, but they're almost all voting for Hillary anyway... so... it wouldn't matter either way.

Republican electors place party above country, so they don't care if Russia interfered.


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