Horowitz: Trump & Team’s Grudging Concessions Are Not Enough on Russian Hacking

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Rob Horowitz, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

The one-two punch of being briefed by the nation’s three top intelligence officials on Russian efforts to meddle in the Presidential election and the public release of a detailed declassified version has apparently moved Donald Trump from outright denial that there was sufficient evidence to say the Russians were involved to grudging acceptance. This still falls far short of even a minimally acceptable presidential response.

The intelligence report released this past Friday states, “We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election. Russia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the Democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton and harm her elect ability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump. We have high confidence in these judgments.”

Since his briefing and the public release of the report, Trump and his spokespeople have moved from raising doubts that the Russians were involved to exclaiming that Russian efforts to meddle had no impact on the outcome of the election. While the constant release by WikiLeaks of hacked emails from John Podesta and the DNC and Russian generated fake news clearly played a role in the campaign, my guess is that it was not decisive. But in a race as close as this one that is only a guess. No one, including Donald Trump or Kellyanne Conway, can know for sure

Whether or not Russian efforts had a major impact on the race, they were a blatant effort to undermine our democratic institutions and interfere with our electoral process. As Senator Lindsey Graham(R-SC) said on Meet the Press this past weekend, “Even though it didn't affect the outcome, they tried to interfere. And they need to pay a price." Graham asserted that Trump’s resistance to acknowledging Russian involvement was damaging ‘faith in our democracy.”

Senator John McCain sounded a similar note several weeks ago, “You can’t make this issue partisan, it’s too important A fundamental of democracy is a free and fair election.”

This should be the first point that Donald Trump and his spokespeople make when commenting on this issue. Yet, over the weekend, they continued to downplay it, appearing far more concerned about defending an election victory that very few people are questioning.

To be an effective President, it is critical to understand that the national interest goes beyond the bridge of your nose. There is nothing more essential to the national interest than protecting our elections from foreign interference. It is long-past time for the President-elect to publicly embrace this fundamental reality.

Rob Horowitz is a strategic and communications consultant who provides general consulting, public relations, direct mail services and polling for national and state issue organizations, various non-profits and elected officials and candidates. He is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island