Intelligence Community Releases Declassified Report on Russia’s Influence of the Election

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Late last week, the intelligence community released their report following an investigation into the alleged influence of the 2016 election by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Intelligence agencies. The report is a declassified version of a much more detailed report which concluded that Putin “ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election.” It went on to say that Putin’s motives were to “denigrate” Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and that he had “a clear preference for President-elect Trump.” The report details the reasons Putin does not like Clinton and outlines the ways the Russian government influenced the election including the hacking of John Podesta and the DNC, leaks to WikiLeaks, and hacking the RNC. Read the full report below or download a PDF copy HERE.

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News Source: The New York Times

HFA Statement On Trump’s Immigration Meeting

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Hillary for America Chair John Podesta released a statement responding to the meeting Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee held. A copy of the statement is below:

“We believe the RNC official in the room, the campaign’s statement after the meeting and the candidate himself that Donald Trump’s immigration plan remains the same as it’s always been: tear apart families and deport 16 million people from the United States. One need look no further for confirmation than Donald Trump’s own words and the TV ad released on Friday that’s being lauded by white supremacists.”

RNC Official:

Breitbart: RNC Official at Trump’s Hispanic Meeting Debunks False BuzzFeed, Univision Reports that Donald Succumbed to Amnesty Activists

Trump campaign statement: 

“Mr. Trump said nothing today that he hasn’t said many times before, including in his convention speech—enforce our immigration laws, uphold the Constitution and be fair and humane while putting American workers first.  Today’s conversation was productive and enlightening, and Mr. Trump looks forward to speaking with these leaders again soon and often.” — Steven Cheung, Trump Campaign

Donald Trump’s Own Words:

TRUMP’S POSITION HAS BEEN THAT HE WOULD “HUMANELY” USE A DEPORTATION FORCE TO ROUND-UP AND DEPORT 16 MILLION PEOPLE

Trump: “You’re Going To Have A Deportation Force, And You’re Going To Do It Humanely.” “‘But still tell me the how. Are you going to have a massive deportation force?’ Brzezinski asked. Trump responded affirmatively: ‘You’re going to have a deportation force, and you’re going to do it humanely, and you’re going to bring the country — and, frankly, the people, because you have some excellent, wonderful people, some fantastic people that have been here for a long period of time.’” [Washington Post, 11/11/15]

Trump: “It’s Not Only Deportation. It’s Building A Wall And I Mean A Real Wall… But It’s Going To Be Done In A Very Humane Fashion. People Will Have To Go Out, They Are Illegal Immigrants.. They Have To Go Out And They Have To Come Back Legally.” TRUMP: “Well first of all, it’s not only deportation. It’s building a wall and I mean a real wall. Mexico will pay for the wall. Most politicians wouldn’t understand how you go about doing that. It will happen. It’s basically quite simple. But it’s going to be done in a very humane fashion. People will have to go out, they are illegal immigrants, they came in illegally. They have to go out and they have to come back legally. Bret, there will be a deportation, and hopefully they’ll be able to come back into the country.” [Special Report with Bret Baier, Fox News, 11/12/15]

Trump: “You Can Do It On A Humane Basis… Good Ones Can Come Back, But They Have To Go Through A Process” A “Long Process.” TRUMP: “And you can do it on a humane basis. You can do it on a basis where it works. And they come back — good ones can come back, but they have to go through a process. We have million of people wanting to get into the country and they are doing it legally, and they’re going through this long process, and it’s really unfair to them also.” [Mornings With Maria, Fox Business, 11/6/15]

Trump Said Undocumented Immigrants Who Were Rounded Up Were “Going To Be Happy Because They Want To Be Legalized… I Know It Doesn’t Sound Nice, But Not Everything Is Nice, Somebody Has To Do It.” SCOTT PELLEY: “Let’s assume your wall has gone up.” DONALD TRUMP: “Good.” SCOTT PELLEY: “Eleven, twelve million illegal immigrants—” DONALD TRUMP: “Or whatever the number is.” SCOTT PELLEY: “Still in the country, what do you do?” DONALD TRUMP: “If they’ve done well, they’re going out and they’re coming back in legally. Because you said it—” SCOTT PELLEY: “You’re rounding them all up?” DONALD TRUMP: “We’re rounding them up in a very humane way, in a very nice way. And they’re going to be happy because they want to be legalized. And, by the way, I know it doesn’t sound nice, but not everything is nice, somebody has to do it.” SCOTT PELLEY: “It doesn’t sound practical.” DONALD TRUMP: “It is practical. It’s going to work. They have to come here legally. And, you know, when I talk about the wall, and I said it before, we’re going to have a tremendous, beautiful, wide-open door. Nice big door. We want people to come into the country.” [60 Minutes, CBS, 9/27/15]

TRUMP COMPARED HIS “HUMANE” MASS DEPORTATION PLAN TO OPERATION WETBACK

Trump Compared His “Humane” Mass Deportation Plans To Operation Wetback, Saying Eisenhower Did This In The 1950s “And It Worked.” “Trump made his affinity for Operation Wetback clear during an interview with CBS’s Scott Pelley in September. Speaking on 60 Minutes Overtime, Pelley asked Trump to explain his plans for curbing illegal immigration. ‘We’re rounding them up in a very humane way, a very nice way,’ Trump said, as he has expressed before. ‘What does that roundup look like to you?’ Pelley pressed. ‘How does it work? Are you going to have cops going door-to-door?’ Trump interjected: ‘Did you like Eisenhower? Did you like Dwight Eisenhower as a president at all?’ ‘He did this,’ the presidential candidate said. ‘He did this in the 1950s with over a million people, and a lot of people don’t know that…and it worked.’” [Washington Post, 11/11/15]

  • HEADLINE: “Donald Trump’s ‘Humane’ 1950s Model For Deportation, ‘Operation Wetback’, Was Anything But.”[Washington Post, 11/11/15]Trump Argued That There Was A Precedent For Mass Deportation Because Eisenhower Did So In The 1950s.TRUMP: “Well, we’re on the same side of it. You know if you back to the early 1950s, Dwight Eisenhower, and I made that point during the debate, he took out in terms of illegal immigration, he felt you had to do it. He was a nice man, a high quality man, but he moved out 1.5 million people and brought them back to where they came from. They were here illegally. I think — it really does have big precedent. We either have a country or we don’t, Sean. We have a country, we have to have borders, we have borders, and we have to have laws. We either have a country or we don’t. It’s that simple.” [Hannity, Fox News, 11/10/15]

Trump On Moving Undocumented Immigrants Out Of The U.S.: “Dwight Eisenhower Had The Exact Same Situation And He Moved Out One And A Half Million People And Very Few People Talked About It And It Was A Tough Situation, But What He Did Is He Did It.” TRUMP: “We’re going to work a plan. You know that in 19 — in an early 1950s, Dwight Eisenhower had the exact same situation and he moved out one and a half million people and very few people talked about it and it was a tough situation, but what he did is he did it. And, you know, I like Ike. The expression is I like Ike. That was his whole campaign. He was the nice guy supposedly. He moved out a million and a half people. And actually, he moved them right up to the border and move them over. They came back. Moved them again, they came back, then he brought them all the way south and they never came back. I mean, you know, it’s a very famous thing. People don’t talk about it.” [Mornings With Maria, 11/6/15]

Trump: “Dwight Eisenhower Moved Over A Million, It’s Actually A Million And A Half People Back In To The South Through The Border Because It Was A Huge Problem. Nobody Ever Mentions It. It Was A Major Operation.” TRUMP: “Very detailed. It’s very detail, then we explain– do you know that Dwight Eisenhower who is a nice general, in the 1950s, do you know that he moved over a million people out and what he did, he brought them to the border and they came right back. Brought them to the boarder, and they came right back. Then what they did is they took them and moved them all the way down south and they never came back. But Dwight Eisenhower moved over a million, it’s actually a million and a half people back in to the south through the border because it was a huge problem. Nobody ever mentions it. It was a major operation, a million and a half people which is maybe the equivalent in those days, and he moved them out because we had a huge problem in the 1950s. Nobody ever talks about it.” [The Today Show, NBC, 10/26/15]

More From Trump:

HuffPo: Donald Trump: Babies Born To Undocumented Immigrants Aren’t U.S. CitizensNot only does Donald Trump support ending birthright citizenship, the real estate mogul now says children born to undocumented immigrants on U.S. soil aren’t American citizens at all. “I don’t think they have American citizenship and if you speak to some very, very good lawyers — and I know some will disagree — but many of them agree with me and you’re going to find they do not have American citizenship. We have to start a process where we take back our country. Our country is going to hell,” Trump said in an interview with CNN on Tuesday night. The current front runner for the Republican presidential nomination added that he wants to “test out” his views in court and that he would ultimately allow “good ones” to apply to return to the U.S. once all undocumented immigrants were deported…There were an estimated 4.5 million U.S.-born children younger than the age of 18 living with at least one undocumented parent in 2012, according to a 2014 Pew Hispanic Center report.

Slate: Trump: Children of Undocumented Immigrants Must be Deported: Deport them all. That seems to be Donald Trump’s nuanced message. All undocumented immigrants must be deported and any children they had while in the country should be kicked out as well. “We’re going to keep the families together, but they have to go,” Trump said on NBC’s Meet the Press. What about the kids who have lived their whole lives in the United States and have nowhere to go? “They have to go,” he said. “We will work with them. They have to go. Chuck, we either have a country, or we don’t have a country.”

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News Source: The Wall Street Journal

HFA Statements on Trump Campaign Chair Pro-Kremlin Ties

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Hillary for America released two statements following reports that the campaign chair for Donald Trump, Paul Manafort, has ties to pro-Putin elements in Ukraine. Manafort was named in an investigation by Ukrainian authorities. The report sites off the books records of payments to Manafort. The investigation is on-going. HFA Senior Policy Advisor Robby Mook released a statement calling Manafort’s actions into question. A copy of the statement is below.

“On the eve of what the Trump campaign has billed as a major foreign policy speech, we have learned of more troubling connections between Donald Trump’s team and pro-Kremlin elements in Ukraine.  Given the pro-Putin policy stances adopted by Donald Trump and the recent Russian government hacking and disclosure of Democratic Party records, Donald Trump has a responsibility to disclose campaign chair Paul Manafort’s and all other campaign employees’ and advisers’ ties to Russian or pro-Kremlin entities, including whether any of Trump’s employees or advisers are currently representing and or being paid by them.”

As more details were released, the campaign released a second, extended statement from Mook. The statement includes a number of questions for Trump’s campaign as well as a list of members of Trump’s team with Russian Connections. The full statement is below.

“Facing another news story detailing Trump’s team’s ties to Russia and on the day of his foreign policy address, Trump’s campaign manager’s statement raised more questions than it addressed. This is a serious matter and there are real concerns about the pro-Kremlin interests engaged with the Trump team. As someone running to lead American policy and national security, Donald Trump owes the American public answers.”

  1. Between Trump’s campaign chair Paul Manafort and many other allies and surrogates, Trump should disclose the details of any ties to Russian or pro-Kremlin entities. Which of Trump’s employees or advisers are currently representing and/or being paid by these pro-Russia entities?  How did these employees or advisers influence the numerous pro-Putin policy stances already adopted by the campaign?
  1. Multiple sources have disputed Manafort’s claims on the RNC platform, confirming that the pro-Russia changes were made at the behest of the Trump campaign. Will Trump investigate how the change was made and which of his advisers advocated for it?
  1. Given Paul Manafort’s history of potentially skirting the Foreign Agent Registration Act and the allegations in the story, will Trump investigate whether his own campaign chair violated FARA and/or whether the reported payments violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act?
  1. According to the Washington Post, Trump’s Foreign Policy Adviser Carter Page’s “background in Russia has raised questions about potential conflicts of interest.” Page, who has investments in Russian energy giant Gazprom, has been highly critical of U.S. and European economic sanctions placed on Russia and recently broke precedent by giving a speech critical of U.S. policy while in Moscow. What pro-Kremlin policies has Page advocated with Trump?
  1. After recent Russian government hacking and disclosure of Democratic Party records, it was revealed that long-time Trump confidante Roger Stone was in communication with Julian Assange, leader of Wikileaks and source of key leaked information. In light of WikiLeaks reported ties to Russia, will Donald Trump disclose details of information shared between him and Roger Stone on Assange and the hack of US citizens?

Trump Campaign Aides’ Ties To Russia

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News Source: CNN

Clinton, Kaine Interviewed by “60 Minutes”

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On Sunday evening, Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine sat down with CBS’s “60 Minutes” for their first joint interview. Sitting down with Scott Pelley, Clinton discussed her selection of Kaine, the recent Republican National Convention, and what she plans to call Donald Trump in response to his insults. Clinton respond, “I don’t call him anything. And I’m not going to engage in that kind of insult fest that he seems to thrive on. So whatever he says about me, he’s perfectly free to use up his own air time and his own space to do. I’m going to talk about what he’s done, how he has hurt people in business time after time after time.” The interview is split into two parts and both can be watched HERE.

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News Source: Time, ABC News

Democratic National Convention Begins Tomorrow

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Tomorrow, Democrats will gather in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and office nominate Hillary Clinton and running mate Senator Tim Kaine as the Democratic ticket for president. The Convention is important because there are a series of caucus meetings and finalization of the Democratic Party platform. In a speech on Friday, Clinton promised that the convention would feature an optimistic view of America and our future as a stark contrast to the message delivered during the RNC last week.

You can follow the convention live on most television news stations or watch it live online. Be sure to follow along on Facebook, Twitter (follow #DemsInPhilly), Instagram, and check out the full schedule of events on the Convention’s website. Each day, we will post a schedule of the day and the speakers scheduled for that night.

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News Source: Democratic National Convention

Hillary Clinton Attacks Trump’s Self-Centered Campaign

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Hillary Clinton rallied a large crowd in Tampa, Florida late Friday afternoon. During the event, Clinton focused her attacks on the Republican National Convention and the acceptance speech given by nominee Donald Trump. Clinton slammed Trump for his “I alone can fix this” mentality saying that no president works alone. In fact, the Constitution ensures that a president does not act alone. She accused him of being overly negative saying, “Last night’s speech took it to a whole new level. He offered a lot of fear and anger. And resentment but no solutions about anything that he even talked about.” Clinton offered a counter message saying that during next weeks Democratic National Convention Americans will see an optimistic, inclusive vision for America. A video from the event is below.

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News Source: NBC News, USA Today

Hillary for America Chair John Podesta Statement on Trump’s RNC Speech

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Following Donald Trump’s acceptance speech as the Republican party’s nominee for president, Hillary for America Chair John Podesta released a statement criticizing Trump’s portrayal of America. Even more so, Podesta attacked Trump’s divisive rhetoric which will do nothing but divide the country further. He argued that Democrats are focused on issues and ensuring that everyone in America as equal opportunity. A copy of Podesta’s statement is below:

“Tonight, Donald Trump painted a dark picture of an America in decline. And his answer – more fear, more division, more anger, more hate — was yet another reminder that he is temperamentally unfit and totally unqualified to be President of the United States.  He offered no real solutions to help working families get ahead or to keep our country safe, just more prejudice and paranoia. America is better than this.  America is better than Donald Trump.  Next week in Philadelphia, Democrats will focus on issues, not anger. We’ll offer a positive vision for the future based on lifting America up, not tearing Americans down.”

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News Source: The New York Times

Clinton Campaign Statement on Trump’s NATO Comments

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On Wednesday during the RNC, Governor Mike Pence, running mate of Donald Trump, commented that as president Trump would stand with our allies. Trump than contradicted Pence saying that the United States may not defend NATO members in the Batlics, even against a Russian attack. Trump’s comments about NATO have come under fire in recent weeks. He has been criticized for waffling on the pledge to defend our allies. In a statement, Hillary for America Senior Policy Advisor Jake Sullivan criticized Trump’s views on NATA and accused him of being too close to Russian president Vladimir Putin. A copy of the statement is below.

“Tonight, Mike Pence said Donald Trump would stand with our allies. Tonight, Donald Trump flatly contradicted him.

For decades, the United States has given an ironclad guarantee to our NATO allies: we will come to their defense if they are attacked, just as they came to our defense after 9/11. Donald Trump was asked if he would honor that guarantee. He said… maybe, maybe not.

Ronald Reagan would be ashamed. Harry Truman would be ashamed. Republicans, Democrats and Independents who help build NATO into the most successful military alliance in history would all come to the same conclusion: Donald Trump is temperamentally unfit and fundamentally ill-prepared to be our Commander in Chief.

The President is supposed to be the leader of the free world. Donald Trump apparently doesn’t even believe in the free world.

Over the course of this campaign, Trump has displayed a bizarre and occasionally obsequious fascination with Russia’s strongman, Vladimir Putin. And he has the policy positions – and advisors – to match. Just this week, we learned that the Trump campaign went to great lengths to remove a plank from the GOP platform about aid to Ukraine that would have offended Putin, bucking a strongly held position within his own party. Previously, he celebrated the Brexit vote, and in turn, casually predicted the disintegration of Europe. And now, he won’t even commit to protecting our NATO allies against a Russian invasion. It is fair to assume that Vladimir Putin is rooting for a Trump presidency.

More broadly, Trump has apparently decided that America lacks the moral authority to advance our interests and values around the world.  He has adopted the logic and positions of China, Russia, and Iran. And there will be plenty of time in the days ahead to address his strategy to strengthen our coalition against ISIS, which apparently can be summed up in one word, ‘meetings.’

The choice in this election is clear. Hillary Clinton will defend our allies. She will protect our people. And she will uphold a bipartisan tradition of American foreign policy that has made us the greatest force for peace, progress, and prosperity the world has ever known.”

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News Source: The New York Times

Clinton Campaign Releases Series of Videos During RNC

As the Republicans gathered this week to nominate Donald Trump as their presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton and her team hammered Trump in a series of web videos. In the series, Clinton and her allies go after Trump’s running mate Governor Mike Pence, his business practices, and released several videos using his own words to contradict him. The most powerful of the series is a video that includes a series of quotes from Trump praising Clinton over the years. See all the videos from the campaign on the official Hillary Clinton YouTube and The Briefing YouTube channels. Several of the videos are embedded below.

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