How Does This End Well?

Rick Klein: “Intelligence officials are coming forward to suggest that the Russians sought to interfere with the election. The president-elect’s response? ‘Ridiculous,’ Donald Trump said on Fox News Sunday. ‘I don’t believe it.’ Setting aside motives, it appears Russian entities succeeded in hacking DNC accounts, and tried to do the same on the Republican side. The president-elect? He appears close to naming a secretary of state who has a closer relationship with Vladimir Putin than perhaps any other private American citizen.”

“The storyline of attempted Russian interference has troubling implications for American democracy, and governance in the Trump era. So far, Trump isn’t engaging in that conversation – viewing it instead as politics as usual, and an attempt to threaten his legitimacy as president-elect. If the Russians have more to leak, they have potential leverage over the new administration. Even if they don’t, they’ve already won a round: They have American politicians at odds over a relationship that figures to tip in Russia’s favor.”