GOP congressman: Russia did ‘what the media should have done’ by leaking emails

Posted by $ nickursis 7 years, 3 months ago to Government
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I agree. Whether it was Wiki Leaks, Vlad the Impaler, disgruntled Republicans, doesn't matter. His statement of "it's what the media should have found out" is true, except the vast bulk of the media is clearly skewing everything the Democratic/Progressive way. I have seen probably 100 stories this year of our rights violated, clear cases of DOJ bias and manipulation, the IRS basically flipping off Congress, the EPA conducting it's own brand of eco warfare on citizens, and yet never do you see any investigation, or responsibility taken by them. The media ignores it all and focuses on people trying to get through all the lies, obfuscation and outright coverups, as " on a witch hunt" or "partisan politics". If it takes Vlads boys to do what our media won't, too bad, get over it.
SOURCE URL: https://www.yahoo.com/news/gop-congressman-russia-did-what-the-media-should-have-done-by-leaking-emails-214115748.html


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  • Posted by freedomforall 7 years, 3 months ago
    The federal government has been out of control of the people at least since 1860 and we, the people, have been losing our rights gradually. Where is our Thomas Paine? Our Ben Franklin? Our Thomas Jefferson?They won't be found in either major political party because they all had at least one thing in common that can't be found in political "leaders" today: ethics.
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    • Posted by $ 7 years, 3 months ago
      Indeed, true. The real concern is now it is blantant, open, and basically "we can outlie you". The Russian claim is a mystery "CIA and FBI say" thing, no facts, no evidence. They then bring up Benghazi and how the republicans hounded The Beast, or the IRS thing, or the Justice Dept, and in each case you find: Deleted emails, "bad hardrives", "server crashes" etc until someone actually goes digging and finds out there are backups etc they didn't know about. Yet no one ever gets any further than a hearing festival with them lying and someone like Trey Gowdy politely calling them liars. Yet the peasants keep voting for them, or else they just rig them, or something. I can't believe we have a majority of complete idiots in the country (well, except for Kalifornia).
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  • Posted by scojohnson 7 years, 3 months ago
    I read the report, assuming there is any validity to it at all, it didn't require a state-sponsored hacking team to carry out.

    It was a simple spear-phishing campaign. Send a web link to 1000 people, "Did you see your pic in this article?" 500 of them fall for it, some percentage of those think "updating their Adobe Flash to better view it" sounds fine and allows the installation - and then they have you. That program dials home to the hacker's web server and dumps everything. They don't need to "hack" anything. Firewalls wouldn't matter at all.

    The report said that installing antivirus, or keeping the OS updated (or using a Mac or Linux) would have prevented it.

    Draw your own conclusions there, but the take-away is a group of brain-dead buffalos with the technical skill of a bunny rabbit, the common sense of a bag of hammers, and being extremely gullible.

    An interesting factoid, I knew (a particularly dumb) federal contracting officer that fell for one of those on her home computer (would never work on a government one), and then she used her home computer to access the web Exchange access for her office email and the hackers gained access to her federal email account. They were in there for several months, and she was given the choice to retire or be fired for violating computer policy.

    So what the people at the campaign did would have excluded them from federal employment and security clearances anyway.
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    • Posted by $ 7 years, 3 months ago
      Please, sir, post a link to the report, I have yet to see one. However, the campaign you describe is a standard web fishing expedition any one of a thousand hackers, ransomware distributors etc use, in addition to about 50 variations. Given your statements, I would say that the IT people running security sabotaged them, or were incredibly incompetent, because their VPN lacked sufficient security controls to prevent that. I use a business VPN for a large company and , while I do not hold their overall security position to be one to hold high, their VPN vendor (Cisco) has not had one intrusion reported, yet we get constant intrusions via the exact same method. Email is the easiest human engineering method as people never seem to learn. They even send us fake emails, if you open them, you get a free 10 minute class on cyber security. I would lean towards an amateur person using that tool to get in and they got lucky, or really knew the situation from the inside and wanted to toast them for some other thing done to them. "Scorned Lover" breeches are just as common. Maybe the Dems need to look inside before outside, although outside is such a better blame game. Thank you.
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      • Posted by $ blarman 7 years, 3 months ago
        I work in IT, and the only firewall that is perfect is the one that doesn't let anything through! I've also read a report (in an IT journal) that said the same things scojohnson mentioned: that the successful spear-phishing attack that exploited the DNC was a result of someone opening an email and installing a virus on their computer.

        I would also point out that if one looks at the modus operandi of the Hillary Clinton email server and the DNC itself (including Podesta), their IT teams were constantly being told to find ways to allow things that were operationally dangerous. I seriously doubt that these IT people didn't say "what you're doing isn't good practice" but it was also their paychecks! This was a problem caused primarily because the people involved view themselves as above the laws of others. That their own practices came back to bite them is enormously satisfying to me, personally! :)
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        • Posted by $ 7 years, 3 months ago
          Oh yes, I agree that there is no perfect firewall. I also agree Clinton precipitated the issue in the way she handles anything, in an arrogant imperial command, and did bring it on herself. If the report is true, then the CIA and FBI as so full f Dumbocrap sh#t it isn't funny and they have been corrupted by the Obamanation as well. There are only a few hundred thousand hackers out there who are plying their trade to get money. The Chinese and North Koreans practice it was a form of warfare and industrial espionage, which is why China has mysteriously made huge leaps in the last 20 years on the backs of others basic engineering and plans.And, yes, the fact this was probably inflicted because Her Worship made it so is doubly satisfying.
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  • Posted by ProfChuck 7 years, 3 months ago
    The Dems are trying to use the "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree" argument to discredit the hacked or leaked emails. That may work in a court of law but in the court of public opinion it doesn't count for much. Facts are facts and it doesn't matter where they come from.
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    • Posted by $ 7 years, 3 months ago
      Exactly. One reason Wikileaks came into being wwas to fight the widespread use of lies and innuendo, and character assassination that governments have adopted to skew the argument their weay. As we saw, what they leaked seem so fitting that it was hard not to believe they were real, and that just pissed them off more. The "Vlad did it" excuse was a feeble one, given that had they really done it, no one would have said anything, and a good team might have reversed engineered it back at them.
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  • Posted by $ allosaur 7 years, 3 months ago
    IF the Russians revealed the leaked/hacked truth, only the truth and nothin' but the truth about the evil hag and her flying monkeys, they did USA voters a service even if Bloody Vladimir thought it was in his own best interests.
    Nevertheless, Julian Assange says the Russians did not do it. So who y'all wanna trust? Wikileaks or top government officials all beneath the Liar-In-Chief's thumb?
    Hello, we're sssss from the government sssss and we are here sssss to help you.
    http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2...
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    • Posted by $ 7 years, 3 months ago
      Dino, exactly right. Given their history, the Obamanation had a heavy burden of proof, and scojohnson says there is a report out (above), which would indicate it was more likely an amateur attack, or a fishing expedition by anyone of a dozen or hundred hacker groups out for money who got lucky.
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      • Posted by $ allosaur 7 years, 3 months ago
        Methinks spiteful Little Barry The Him operates under the delusion that making things as tough as possible for Trump before January 20 will somehow preserve the Marxist mess that is his legacy.
        And that's just Defy Trump Phase One.
        Phase Two is about how his toady lib media will all come a-hopping with mics extended to his still stickin' around Washington DC door every time The Donald so much as sneezes.
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  • Posted by DrZarkov99 7 years, 3 months ago
    One measure of the effectiveness of a national leader is their popularity among the people they serve. By that measure, Putin is very effective, since he's one of the most popular national figures in the world. Russians admire strong leadership, and Putin has definitely projected a strong image that has helped the Russian people feel pride again.

    I think the mistake that Senators McCain and Graham (and many others) are making is to equate today's Russia with the the old USSR. I feel that Putin would like the respect as a world power the USSR had, but without the internal misery. To me, it looks more like he's trying to recreate the old imperial Russia, including encouraging Orthodox Christianity. Of course, when I think that I have to remember Putin joked (?) about wanting Alaska back.

    As for the DNC email disclosures, I'm convinced that they originated from a DNC staffer, most likely the young man who was assassinated on the streets of DC. Anyone could have hacked that idiot Podesta, who fell for a phishing scam. No matter, justice was served.
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    • Posted by $ 7 years, 3 months ago
      Exactly. While I do not have a large faith that Vlad is a lilly pure statesman, he does seem to have and equal measure of self interest and national interest, and is wanting of both. I would also suggest that another country was in a similar situation in the 1930's and ran the same framework: National pride and enlightened self interest. It did not work out well..
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  • Posted by term2 7 years, 3 months ago
    I like whistleblowers and "leakers" who tell me what the BAD people want to keep hidden from us. There should be an annual rating of the best whistleblowing of the year. Snowden, Manning, Assange, and whoever else leaked stuff (including the russians) would be nominated. Of course, this is politically incorrect and wont happen currently. Maybe I should set it up myself....
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    • Posted by $ 7 years, 3 months ago
      I agree, anyone who rats out those who would assume to be our rulers, is doing us a service.
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      • Posted by term2 7 years, 3 months ago
        It does bother me that Trump isnt talking about pandoning Snowden and Assange. He should.
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        • Posted by scojohnson 7 years, 3 months ago
          Difficult question. While I generally agree, in Snowden's case, he broke the law, and did himself expect to go to prison.

          Assange I don't think is guilty of anything, he's not subject to our laws. He may have broken others where he has lived, but I don't particularly have an opinion.

          Assange has posted things that could bring great harm, embarrassment, or deaths, but he does seem diligent to redact the names, etc., though you wonder where the originals are. Those are people doing their job for their country, not screwing someone over.
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          • Posted by term2 7 years, 3 months ago
            Snowden did expose some really nasty things the NSA is doing and getting away with. One can tell by the vicious reaction of arrogant Obama, who didnt seem upset by what the NSA was up to, but just that HE was embarrassed by Snowden letting it out. I vote for a pardon for Snowden. He did us all a favor
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          • Posted by $ 7 years, 3 months ago
            Assange does the world a service I believe, in the way he handles it and protects his sources, his ability to prong the establishment elites in several countries is illustrated in the number of charges and the ferocity with which they pursue him.The all flag themselves as guilty, just as Obama has done by trying to blame Russia. The fact he used the CIA and FBI shows they are also corrupt and in need of draining.
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  • Posted by Seer 7 years, 3 months ago
    I do have one, I guess, important question: what, exactly, was it that the media found out?
    But as far as I'm concerned, it is similar to the fall of Nixon; it wasn't the fact that he tried to infiltrate the Democrats to get knowledge of their strategies, it was that he lied, and tried to "cover it up" that led to his fall and ultimate resignation. Americans still believed, at that time, whole-heartedly in the fact that "no man is above the law". Nixon later said, in an interview with David Frost, that he believed nothing the president does is illegal. The beginning of the end for American democracy.
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  • Posted by GaryL 7 years, 3 months ago
    The other possible offender could be one of the hackers in the NSA or some other intelligence agency who did not like Killery. These techno wizards know all the finger prints and the ins and outs to simply plant the evidence to look Russian.
    With this administration we really can't believe much of what they leak out to us any way. I am still trying to figure out just exactly when Transparency became Translucent!
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  • Posted by Esceptico 7 years, 3 months ago
    I live in his (Trent Franks) district. At least he did not start the stupid establishment blame game McCain is starting with his hearings to substantiate McCain's unfounded conclusion.
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  • Posted by Seer 7 years, 3 months ago
    Vlad the Impaler? I take exception to that.
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    • Posted by $ 7 years, 3 months ago
      Hey, it's the name...and the CIA and FBI will "create" a cast of characters, and lining him up with that name is one of the things they are trying, amogst hundreds of others. I am in the camp that CIA and FBI have both been compromised to the point they need a massive cleaning. Both of them should be political neutral, with the country as their only master. Since all the heads of departments have oaths of fidelity, and were so obviously compromised, nothing they say is believable. Vlad the Impaler is one of their veiled insults used....goes back to Dracula...
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    • Posted by $ 7 years, 3 months ago
      Also Vladimir Putin is obviously and old school Russian spy, who is not a stellar example of honest governence, if you look back at some of the things Russia has done in the last few years (like eat every company and make them into government companies essentially returning to Communist Russia), but they should be working at that set of facts and not just using him as a convenient excuse, then publicly trying to piss him off.
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      • Posted by Seer 7 years, 3 months ago
        Your remark: "[Putin} is not a stellar example of honest governance..." is based on what information?
        In fact, every statement in your comment lacks substantiation.
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        • Posted by $ 7 years, 3 months ago
          Gazprom was built over the last 10-15 years as Vlad has switched between Prime Minister and President, and a whole series of "corruption" cases of the previous heirarchy of companies resulted in the Oliagarchs (as the Russian called them) who evolved from the collapse of the Soviets, wer slowly taken out one by one and all their companies confiscated and folded into Gazprom.:

          https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...

          Putin is incredibly rich but does not flaunt it:
          https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com...

          http://www.cfr.org/world/putin-oligar...
          (remember the CFR is considered by some to be a haven for the left, and is also reputed to be part of the NWO).

          http://nationalvanguard.org/2012/05/t...

          Now that was just a quick search, and, as the last great head of the KGB, Vlad oversaw the collapse of the Soviet Union and it's drift into the oligarch empire, and then implemented the destruction of most of them (who would not comply or pledge allegiance to his new control) and their wealth always was "confiscated" for their "crimes".

          So, yea, I would still say "Vlad is not a stellar example of honest governance", but Obama was worse.....
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          • Posted by Seer 7 years, 3 months ago
            You have a superficial outlook of the events that occurred in the Soviet Union and the later Russian Federation. I get so tired of posting this:

            Have you ever heard of the economist Jeffrey Sachs? His belief that the privatization and capitalization of property in the former USSR needed to happen as quickly as possible, was the main reason for the emergence of the oligarchs. Have you ever heard of "loans for shares"? Perhaps you should educate yourself.
            The newly formed Russian Federation did not have the proper legal framework in place for the protection of property that would inhibit what I call the "excesses of errant capitalism"---the market doesn't always prevent that, you know. (But then you probably don't know).
            I could explain further, and maybe I will at a later date, but if it had not been for Vladimir Putin and others like him the Russian Federation would have sank back into Communism.
            The involvement of the Russian government as shareholders in (especially) the energy industries is a check on possible infringement of the rights of other property holders. The US has, and had, a different approach. The Russians are learning.

            You might be interested in this (The Rape of Russia):
            http://thebirdman.org/Index/Others/Ot...

            Because of Vladimir Putin, there has been tax reform that has resulted in Russia having one of the lowest rates on corporate profits of any country in the world. And Russia's economy came out of a steep decline---the IMF failed to make loans to Yeltsin's government, which I told him was a good thing all-in-all. Russia is nearly debt free, unlike the Ukraine.
            Do you want to see the Russian Federation become Communist again? Believe me, there is a thriving Communist party in Russia, headed by Comrade Zyuganov, former Minister of Propaganda in the Soviet Union.
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            • Posted by $ 7 years, 3 months ago
              I believe you see Vladimir a wee bit differently than I do. As head of the KGB during the fall, he had access to all their secrets both inside and out, and a cadre of loyal followers. Do not believe that he is a really nice guy. He is a manipulator and a power broker. But he is an honest power broker, and just bears watching. He also will back down if he thinks you will not tolerate his actions, hence the situation in Ukraine. However, I will look at your link when I have some time, I am open to new information, as most media is always slanted by someone for some reason.
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          • Posted by Seer 7 years, 3 months ago
            You seem to think the move from state-owned property to private property can be done with the wave of a magic wand.
            Your statement:
            '...implemented the destruction of most of them (who would not comply or pledge allegiance to his new control) and their wealth always was "confiscated" for their "crimes" '
            in the very able words of Wikipedia, "needs citations."
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            • Posted by $ 7 years, 3 months ago
              Look above, it is in the articles.
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              • Posted by Seer 7 years, 3 months ago
                Just not interested in the articles, nick.

                Mainly because you CHOSE to say that "Vlad is not a stellar example...and so on." If you want me to carry on a discussion with you, then drop the bias. End of story.
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                • Posted by $ 7 years, 3 months ago
                  Oh, my bad oh great one. Now please carry on, these are not the droids you are looking for, thanks for participating though...
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                  • Posted by Seer 7 years, 3 months ago
                    Who are you speaking for, nick?

                    Aside from that, I do not get my information from "articles". Whether Bloomberg, CFR or the other two, that I have never heard of. Sounds pretty biased to me.

                    "Great One" will do just fine.
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