The Siberian Candidate

Vladimir Putin is declaring war on American electoral sovereignty, and nobody seems to be paying attention.

Over a month ago, CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity technology company, released a report describing successful efforts to hack into the Democratic National Committee’s network going back approximately one year. The documents that were stolen, which include both e-mails and voicemails, comprise the WikiLeaks release that you have likely been hearing about.

CrowdStrike’s report detailed their belief that the attack was perpetrated by individuals or groups associated with the Russian intelligence services in the form of two intrusions that have been code-named COZY BEAR and FANCY BEAR. Their conclusion is based on metadata found within the WikiLeak documents with distinct Russian tells that cannot otherwise be explained. It is widely believed that the Russians are leaking the information to WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, who has been releasing them to the public-at-large.

Since that time, the New York Times has published articles stating that there is increased confidence among the United States intelligence agencies that the attacks were coordinated by the Russian government, specifically the F.S.B. and G.R.U. intelligence agencies. According to NBC’s Richard Engel, three top cybersecurity companies agree with the assertion that the Russians are behind the leak. As a result, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting an investigation, and President Obama has confirmed that experts are attributing the leak to the Russians.

But that’s not all. It’s just come out that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, and Clinton Foundation have also been hacked. As for the DCCC, it appears donor information was the target. As for the Clinton campaign, spokesman Nick Merrill states that hackers accessed their data analytics program, but were unable to compromise the campaign’s internal systems. Similarly, the Clinton Foundation is now suspected of having been breached by the Russians. Again, the FBI is now conducting their own investigation into these cyberattacks, and initial reports again link the attack to the Russians.

Obviously, Vladimir Putin isn’t going to come out and admit it, but the evidence appears to piling up and unanimously agreed upon by experts that there’s a direct link, and that Russia is pulling the strings.

But let’s take a step back. Why would the Russians want to hack into the DNC, DCCC, the Clinton campaign, and the Clinton Foundation? Obviously, all four groups are associated with the Democratic Party and/or Hillary Clinton. Julian Assange openly admits he timed the WikiLeaks release to do as much damage to Clinton as possible. According to Richard Engel and many others (including Robby Mook, campaign manager for Clinton’s campaign), it’s because Russia wants Donald Trump to win the 2016 election, as he is pro-Putin and would help further Russian interests (whether intentionally or not).

Now, as you know, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was created in response to the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union. It’s comprised of twenty-eight nations that all pledge to defend one another unquestioningly in case of attack. In short, an attack on one is an attack on all. It’s proven to be a major deterrent against foreign attack. Trump is now threatening to upend that guarantee by setting conditions on defending our allies.

This is seen as a pro-Russian move, as it would allow Russia to move against its former territories (specifically, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) from when it was in the Soviet Union without American or NATO interference. This would give Russia an increased foothold in the region, one it hasn’t had since the early 1990s when the Soviet Union collapsed. Trump, moreover, has repeatedly praised Putin as a strong leader, one whom he admires and would like to be close with. Trump even has longstanding ties to Russian oligarchs. Even more alarming than Trump’s ties are that of Paul Manafort, the national chairman to Trump’s presidential campaign and one of his closest advisors. Manafort’s well-document and all-but-admitted ties to Putin, by and through his consultation with Viktor Yanukovych, the former president of Ukraine, make the connection outwardly visible.

Through the Russian propaganda network, Putin has made it quite clear that he’s picking Trump as his man. Given his renowned hatred for Hillary Clinton, this isn’t a particular surprise. Simply put, it would be better for Putin, and Russia, to have Trump in the White House than Clinton.

Now, I don’t think anybody is accusing Trump of being a willing plant of Putin, engaged in treason against his homeland. However, that said, Trump has encouraged Russia to hack into Clinton’s e-mails (which he now claims was sarcasm, despite refusing multiple opportunities to retract his statement, and upon which he doubled down via twitter). So while Trump may not be openly committing treason, he is, at the very least, encouraging a foreign country to commit espionage and cyber warfare on an American citizen, for the sole purposes of winning an election.

While Trump may not be a willing participant in Putin’s attempt to wrest more global power, there’s real concern that his campaign is being used to further Russian interests at the expense of that of the United States and its allies. It is frankly an unprecedented intrusion into an American domestic election by a foreign power.

I truly don’t believe the importance of this story can be overstated. It’s a coordinated attack on a single individual and/or political party for the purposes of stealing data and information, with the goal of influencing an American election. If there’s anything that America was built on, it’s the sovereignty of our elections and the people’s right to choose their government without influence or intervention by a foreign power. It is upsetting to me and it should be upsetting to you. The questions are, will people start to pay attention, and what are we going to do about it?