U.S. investigating potential covert Russian plan to disrupt November elections - Polidicks

[QUOTE]U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies are probing what they see as a broad covert Russian operation in the United States to sow public distrust in the upcoming presidential election and in U.S. political institutions, intelligence and congressional officials said. The aim is to understand the scope and intent of the Russian campaign, which incorporates cyber-tools to hack systems used in the political process, enhancing Russia’s ability to spread disinformation. The effort to better understand Russia’s covert influence operations is being coordinated by James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence. “This is something of concern for the DNI,” said Charles Allen, a former longtime CIA officer who has been briefed on some of these issues. “It is being addressed.” A Russian influence operation in the United States “is something we’re looking very closely at,” said one senior intelligence official who, as others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter. Officials are also examining potential disruptions to the election process, and the FBI has alerted state and local officials to potential cyberthreats. The official cautioned that the intelligence community is not saying it has “definitive proof” of such tampering, or any Russian plans to do so. “But even the hint of something impacting the security of our election system would be of significant concern,” the official said. “It’s the key to our democracy, that people have confidence in the election system.”[/QUOTE] [url]https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/intelligence-community-investigating-covert-russian-influence-operations-in-the-united-states/2016/09/04/aec27fa0-7156-11e6-8533-6b0b0ded0253_story.html[/url] [url]http://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-u-s-officials-investigating-russias-attempts-to-influence-2016-election/[/url] [url]https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/05/russia-influence-us-presidential-election-investigation[/url]

Russia doesn't need to do anything, guys. [b]We already don't trust you idiots any farther than we can throw the White House.[/b]

[QUOTE=TestECull;51005730]Russia doesn't need to do anything, guys. [b]We already don't trust you idiots any farther than we can throw the White House.[/b][/QUOTE] Imagine Trump wins because Russia tampers with voting machines. That could be the biggest clusterfuck of any election in US history.

Putin wins 140% of the vote in the US.

[QUOTE=Helix Snake;51005732]Imagine Trump wins because Russia tampers with voting machines. That could be the biggest clusterfuck of any election in US history.[/QUOTE] literally be the icing on this shit filled cake

[QUOTE=Helix Snake;51005732]Imagine Trump wins because Russia tampers with voting machines. That could be the biggest clusterfuck of any election in US history.[/QUOTE] If there was proof that actually happened would there legally be grounds for a recount or revote? How would we even go about that? Would Trump even leave office? My god with all the complaining Trump has done over the election being possibly rigged I wonder what his trumpets would say if it turns out Russia rigs it for him. My head would explode from the irony.

is there any precedent for a country rigging the elections in another country?

[QUOTE=LtKyle2;51005751]If there was proof that actually happened would there legally be grounds for a recount or revote? How would we even go about that? Would Trump even leave office? My god with all the complaining Trump has done over the election being possibly rigged I wonder what his trumpets would say if it turns out Russia rigs it for him. My head would explode from the irony.[/QUOTE] All diplomatic relations with Russia would be destroyed, and we all get to experience the Cold War 2.0 I'm more concerned about that.

[QUOTE=Intoxicated Spy;51005741]Putin wins 140% of the vote in the US.[/QUOTE] 1 % of the US is Russian-American seems like it's time to protect them minorities

[QUOTE=LtKyle2;51005751]If there was proof that actually happened would there legally be grounds for a recount or revote? How would we even go about that? Would Trump even leave office? My god with all the complaining Trump has done over the election being possibly rigged I wonder what his trumpets would say if it turns out Russia rigs it for him. My head would explode from the irony.[/QUOTE] yes and it doesnt matter because he doesnt have the job until hes given it by the inaugeration

[QUOTE=Ninja Gnome;51005757]is there any precedent for a country rigging the elections in another country?[/QUOTE] Plenty, but for a specific example: [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_legislative_election,_1947]The 1947 Polish Election[/url] was sabotaged by the Soviet Union to put communists into power. Large countries (US, Russia) sabotaging elections in weak and unstable countries in order to instill favorable leaders is nothing new. But one powerful country trying to do it to another is unusual afaik. This is Putin wanting Trump to win because he knows Trump will let him get away with a lot more shit, will not defend his allies, and can be easily manipulated if all else fails. The Alt-Right in general seem to love Russia, in contrast to the Right. Rather than see Russia as an aggressive country with a corrupt leader and nationalist populace, they see Russia as a powerful country with a strong leader and a patriotic populace. It's their ideal nation, and they want the United States to become more like it.

I'm surprised this hasn't been an issue in the past. How often has it happened elsewhere?

It's not the Russians doing it. :v:

It's interesting to see even some Republicans are urging Obama to take this threat seriously when a lot of people on both sides of the aisle think it's a smokescreen. [editline]5th September 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Solomon;51006289]It's not the Russians doing it. :v:[/QUOTE] Seems like everyone who matters disagrees with you.

I guarentee it. [editline]5th September 2016[/editline] You'll also never find out whether my claims have any basis in reality or not. :smug:

If it's true, it's huge. On an international stage, one country interfering with the affairs of another country to such an extent is unilaterally considered an act of war. [editline]6th September 2016[/editline] Not that I mean to imply there [I]will[/I] be war, that's absurd. But relations between the US and Russia could get dangerously bad, and a second Cold War between the two powers, which has already started to a large extent (With both the US and Russia upgrading their nuclear arsenals) might come back in full force.

russia stop pls

[QUOTE=LtKyle2;51005751]My god with all the complaining Trump has done over the election being possibly rigged I wonder what his trumpets would say if it turns out Russia rigs it for him. My head would explode from the irony.[/QUOTE] Well he would have been right all along about rigging then! Another brilliant move of five-dimensional checkers!

[QUOTE=Helix Snake;51005732]Imagine Trump wins because Russia tampers with voting machines. That could be the biggest clusterfuck of any election in US history.[/QUOTE] And then he would go up in front of the whole country and be like "I did it! The people of the United States voted me and I won fair and square!"

It's too late to implement this kind of stuff I know, but wouldn't voter ID laws mitigate this sort of interference?

[QUOTE=Chonch;51008087]It's too late to implement this kind of stuff I know, but wouldn't voter ID laws mitigate this sort of interference?[/QUOTE] Ah yes, Voter ID is an excellent proven remedy to hacked electronic voting machines.

Electronic voting machines sounds like such a dumb idea tbh. Why not just use paper ballots?

Why on earth would you need to tamper with an election that will be catastrophic either way?

[QUOTE=carcarcargo;51008225]Why on earth would you need to tamper with an election that will be catastrophic either way?[/QUOTE] probably because regardless of them being shitty for the average citizen, certain communities still have special interests to be served by one or the other

[QUOTE=carcarcargo;51008225]Why on earth would you need to tamper with an election that will be catastrophic either way?[/QUOTE] Russia stands to gain more if Trump wins

[QUOTE=carcarcargo;51008225]Why on earth would you need to tamper with an election that will be catastrophic either way?[/QUOTE] You could also ask the same question to the voters in the same sense.

[QUOTE=carcarcargo;51008225]Why on earth would you need to tamper with an election that will be catastrophic either way?[/QUOTE] Trump is a huge fan of Putin and is willing to look the other way to his blatant imperialism in eastern Ukraine and Syria. Not to mention that he appreciate's Putin's heavy handedness in regards to IS and fighting Syrian Rebels, since he doesn't seem to care about the loss of civilian life. Not to mention that on multiple occasions Trump has openly said that he wouldn't care for NATO members getting in a bind, including Visegrad Group, the only ones actually willing to put out for NATO's requirements. Russia wants Trump because he'll make America a secondary power again

[QUOTE=archangel125;51007577]If it's true, it's huge. On an international stage, one country interfering with the affairs of another country to such an extent is unilaterally considered an act of war. [/QUOTE] Does that mean the USA also did acts of war against all those nations they funded revolutions in and toppled leaderships etc if they did not suit them?

[QUOTE=Blizzerd;51008843]Does that mean the USA also did acts of war against all those nations they funded revolutions in and toppled leaderships etc if they did not suit them?[/QUOTE] Yeah

[QUOTE=Blizzerd;51008843]Does that mean the USA also did acts of war against all those nations they funded revolutions in and toppled leaderships etc if they did not suit them?[/QUOTE] Absolutely. But what could they do against the world's most powerful military? On the world stage, America's a supervillain.