swirling even before his election, said Greg Miller in
WashingtonPost.com. This week, however, the story
gained a “disturbing new dimension.” Sources in the
intelligence community say that last week’s classified
intelligence report on Russian interference with the 2016
election included unverified claims by a former British
intelligence officer “that Russian intelligence services
have compromising material and information
on Trump’s personal life and finances,” including
alleged activities with prostitutes on visits to
Russia. Just as explosively, the British dossier
also says Trump staffers actively colluded with
Kremlin agents during the campaign, to damage Hillary Clinton
with leaks of Democratic emails and help Trump win the election.
Trump has denied the allegations, dismissing them on Twitter as
“FAKE NEWS—A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!” Even
if the more salacious details in the British dossier are fabricated,
said Jonah Goldberg in NationalReview.com, you have to wonder:
“Why is admiration for Vladimir Putin and his government the only
issue Trump has never wavered, equivocated, or flip-flopped on?”
Let’s all calm down, said Jim Geraghty, also in NationalReview
.com. These rumors are looking “more and more implausible by
the hour.” In addition to its lurid allegations about prostitutes,
the British dossier—which was compiled and paid for by Trump’s
Republican opponents and, later, by the Clinton campaign—claims
that Michael Cohen, Trump’s campaign lawyer, flew to Prague in
late August of last year for a secret meeting with Russian agents.
Cohen, however, denies having ever been to Prague in his life, and
says he can prove that on the dates in question he was touring U.S.
university campuses with his son. If such a substantive claim has
already been debunked, why should we “put more faith in the other
allegations?” When it comes to big bad Russia, some Americans
will “believe anything,” said David Keene in WashingtonTimes
.com. These rumors reek of old Cold War paranoia.
Then why does Trump keep trying to downplay the importance
of election interference by “our fiercest
geopolitical adversary”? asked Kathleen Parker
in The Washington Post. Last week our intelligence
services told Trump to his face that Putin
personally approved the major hacking operation
into Democratic officials’ emails in order
to hurt Clinton’s campaign and help get Trump
elected. “Is it that he’s so thin-skinned that he
can’t tolerate anyone thinking that he might have benefited from
the cyberattack?” Trump won the White House “fair and square,”
said The Wall Street Journal in an editorial, but it’s bizarre for
him to keep promising warmer relations with a dictatorial bully
who invaded Ukraine, annexed Crimea, and massacred civilians in
Aleppo. Trump’s determination to minimize Russia’s obvious role
in the hacks “makes him look like a sap for Mr. Putin.”
This “troubling” mess demands a full congressional investigation,
said David French in NationalReview.com. We need to know if
there’s any truth to allegations that Trump’s campaign team was
secretly working with the Russians; we’d also better find out if our
intelligence services are so hostile to the incoming president that
they’re leaking damaging information to undermine his legitimacy.
Whatever happens from here, said David Remnick in The New
Yorker, Putin’s hack succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. Our
pro- Kremlin president-elect is now openly warring with U.S. intelligence
agencies, Washington is in chaos, and our democracy has
been tarnished. As Russia analyst Strobe Talbott put it this week,
for Putin “this was like winning 17 jackpots all at once.”