Congressman Ted Lieu Drops a Bombshell: Russian Hacking Favored Trump
Putin and the Russian government developed a clear preference for Trump. ~ Congressman Ted Lieu
By Rakesh Raman
Congressman Ted W. Lieu said Saturday that he will not attend President-elect Donald Trump’s Inauguration on January 20, 2017, as Trump is still misleading the people of the country.
Lieu said Trump has made statements denigrating the patriotic and professional men and women of U.S. intelligence services, many of whom risk their lives in service to the nation.
“Trump also continues to believe Vladimir Putin over our intelligence services and is actively misleading the American people when he denies Putin ordered a brazen, multifaceted cyberattack on America to benefit Trump,” Congressman Lieu said in his statement.
He said he has read the highly classified intelligence report on Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent U.S. Elections.
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“I analyzed the report from my perspective as a computer science major and as a Member of the National Security Subcommittee of the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee,” Lieu said. “There is clear and convincing evidence to support the conclusions of the intelligence community as set forth in the unclassified version of the report.”
He stated that Russian hacking of Americans and American political organizations during the 2016 U.S. presidential election was multifaceted and brazen, with the goals of undermining faith in the U.S. democratic process and harming Secretary Clinton’s electability.
“Putin and the Russian government developed a clear preference for Trump,” Lieu said.
“While I do not dispute that Trump won the Electoral College, I cannot normalize his behavior or the disparaging and un-American statements he has made,” he added.
Further, the Congressman said that Trump–who lost the popular vote–has made a series of racist, sexist, and bigoted statements, and he also has attacked Gold Star parents, veterans such as John McCain and now civil rights icon John Lewis.
“On January 20, Trump will be in violation of Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution because of the massive conflicts of interests he has with his global business holdings. That provision of the Constitution was designed to prevent foreign influence over American elected officials,” Lieu said.
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“Trump can cure this Constitutional defect by divesting his holdings or putting them into a blind trust, but so far has been unwilling to do so,” Lieu observed.
“I can only hope that Trump will govern differently than he has campaigned. For me, the personal decision not to attend Inauguration is quite simple: Do I stand with Donald Trump, or do I stand with John Lewis? I am standing with John Lewis,” Lieu stated.
The Inauguration Day ceremony will take place on January 20, 2017 when Trump is scheduled to begin his four-year term as President.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a government award-winning journalist and runs free school for deserving children under his NGO – RMN Foundation.
Photo courtesy: Ted Lieu
