Why are Democrats so quick to dismiss claims of Ukrainian election interference in 2016? They’ve so passionately spoken out about foreign interference in our elections (with the exception of illegal aliens voting) that one would think they’d take such allegations seriously, instead of dismissing them as “debunked” conspiracy theories. I guess we’re supposed to trust their superior judgment on this? Why not, right? These are the same people who were convinced that Donald Trump was a Russian asset and he colluded with Russia to somehow alter the results of the election. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, for crying out loud, even claimed to have seen incontrovertible evidence of Trump’s guilt.
Oops. So much for that. Even after a 22-month investigation that cost taxpayers $32 million, there are still some who believe deep down in their hearts that Trump colluded with Russia. These are the same people who are desperately trying to get the public to ignore allegations that the Democratic National Committee colluded with Ukraine to get dirt on Donald Trump.
For example, CNN, which might have gone bankrupt save for Trump-Russia coverage, ran a piece last month claiming to debunk the “the Trump-backed conspiracy theory on Ukraine election meddling.” However, Politico reported the following back in January 2017, before Trump took office.
Ukrainian government officials tried to help Hillary Clinton and undermine Trump by publicly questioning his fitness for office. They also disseminated documents implicating a top Trump aide in corruption and suggested they were investigating the matter, only to back away after the election. And they helped Clinton’s allies research damaging information on Trump and his advisers, a Politico investigation found.
A Ukrainian-American operative who was consulting for the Democratic National Committee met with top officials in the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington in an effort to expose ties between Trump, top campaign aide Paul Manafort and Russia, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation.
The Ukrainian efforts had an impact in the race, helping to force Manafort’s resignation and advancing the narrative that Trump’s campaign was deeply connected to Ukraine’s foe to the east, Russia. But they were far less concerted or centrally directed than Russia’s alleged hacking and dissemination of Democratic emails.
While Ukrainian officials claimed to be neutral in the 2016 U.S. election, Politico’s own investigation “found evidence of Ukrainian government involvement in the race that appears to strain diplomatic protocol dictating that governments refrain from engaging in one another’s elections.”
Last I checked, Politico is not a right-wing rag.
Investigative reporter John Solomon has been digging into this story and confirmed “two documented episodes involving Ukrainian government officials’ efforts to influence the 2016 American presidential election.” I encourage you to read his reporting on this.
The bottom line here is that Democrats aren’t serious about protecting American elections from foreign influence. They actively promote non-citizens voting and are trying to cover up something that implicates the Democratic National Committee.
Republicans acknowledge that Russia attempted to influence our elections. It’s time for Democrats to stop dismissing reports of Ukrainian interference. If we can’t get on the same page, and attempt to combat all outside influence, then this problem of foreign influence will never be solved because each side will wind up covering up any interference that appears to benefit them. So far, that’s what Democrats are doing with regard to Ukraine.
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Matt Margolis is the author of Trumping Obama: How President Trump Saved Us From Barack Obama’s Legacy and the bestselling book The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis
