Hillary Clinton’s campaign has heightened attacks on Donald Trump as a Kremlin tool since the FBI disclosed to Congress that it found additional emails possibly relevant to its probe of her private server.
Hillary for America senior policy adviser Jake Sullivan, for example, released a press statement Monday evening almost immediately after Slate published a report questioning whether one of Trump’s server was “communicating with Russia.”
“This could be the most direct link yet between Donald Trump and Moscow. Computer scientists have apparently uncovered a covert server linking the Trump Organization to a Russian-based bank,” Sullivan wrote.
“This secret hotline may be the key to unlocking the mystery of Trump’s ties to Russia. It certainly seems the Trump Organization felt it had something to hide, given that it apparently took steps to conceal the link when it was discovered by journalists,” he added.
Sullivan continued, theorizing that the supposed “direct line of communication” between Trump and Moscow may account for the GOP nominee’s “bizarre” admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“It raises even more troubling questions in light of Russia’s masterminding of hacking efforts that are clearly intended to hurt Hillary Clinton’s campaign. We can only assume that federal authorities will now explore this direct connection between Trump and Russia as part of their existing probe into Russia’s meddling in our elections,” Sullivan wrote.
Shortly after Sullivan sent his statement to media, the New York Times published a report, titled “U.S. Officials Doubt Donald Trump Has Direct Link to Russia,” seemingly dismissing the questions raised by the Slate report.
“Law enforcement officials say that none of the investigations so far have found any link between Mr. Trump and the Russian government. And even the hacking into Democratic emails, F.B.I. and intelligence officials now believe, was aimed at disrupting the presidential election rather than electing Mr. Trump,” the Times reported.
But even if the Slate article doesn’t work as a line of attack for the Clinton team, there are other Russo-themed news stories that her campaign will likely amplify in the remaining days of the election.
Clinton’s renewed interest Trump’s alleged ties to the Kremlin comes shortly after FBI Director James B. Comey informed Democratic and Republican lawmakers that an investigation of disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner turned up additional emails possibly related to the private server Clinton maintained when she worked at the State Department.
The additional emails were found on a laptop shared by Weiner and his estranged wife and longtime Clinton aide, Huma Abedin.
Clinton and her team have pressed Trump before on his reported ties to Russia, but the attacks and inferences have increased in tone and tenor following Comey’s letter to Congress.
“I would argue [that what’s] most important for voters to consider – is the relationship between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin,” the Democratic nominee told supporters Monday in Kent, Ohio. “Putin is a trained intelligence officer from the old KGB. He knows he can use flattery to get into Donald’s head – to make Donald the Kremlin’s puppet. And it seems to be working.
It’s a first in the “history of our country,” Clinton continued. “A foreign adversary trying to influence our presidential election. That should scare everyone: Democrat, Republican and independent.”
“And with the election just eight days away, this can’t wait any longer. Donald Trump should immediately disclose all of his ties and connections to the Kremlin and its associates,” she added to cheers.
Clinton’s running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., also said Monday at a campaign rally in Jacksonville, N.C., that Trump has a “bizarre fascination with dictators,” including Putin.
“Why is Donald Trump so interested in standing on stage and being Vladimir Putin’s defense lawyer when he won’t even defend the democratic traditions of free elections in this country?” the senator asked. “There’s something very, very strange about that. Very, very strange about that.”
He added with a heavy dose of innuendo, “We’re entitled to a president that will put America first, not one that we wonder whether or not he’s got another loyalty. And Donald Trump’s unwillingness to condemn behavior that should be condemned and put it squarely at the feet of Russia is very, very unusual.”
Vice President Joe Biden went to work on the GOP nominee this weekend, suggesting that the election of Trump could be disastrous for U.S. allies in Eastern Europe.
“Ladies and gentlemen, as I said, you don’t have to make anything up when it comes to Donald Trump. You know it’s – he is the least qualified nominee of either political party in the history of the United States of America,” Biden told a crowd Sunday in Reno, Nevada. “This guy, he praises Putin all throughout Europe and the world talking about him being a strong leader, as he, Putin, uses his intelligence community to hack into cyberspace here in the United States.”
“This is a man who said for the whole world to hear, and playing to Putin’s role, that America’s weak and doesn’t know what they’re doing,” he said.
At a separate rally in Las Vegas, Biden also said, “This is a guy who talks about Putin as being a strong leader, undermining our allies.”
As Clinton and her team of surrogates toured battleground states Monday, their campaign was also pushing news reports furthering the narrative that Trump has disturbing ties with Russia, including stories from Politico, Esquire and the Dallas Morning News.
The Clinton campaign also circulated a checklist to media Monday morning listing Trump’s many controversial comments and positions on Russia, the United Nations and American foreign policy.
“[Trump has] encouraged a foreign government to hack Americans, and since then has refused to acknowledge the U.S. Intelligence community’s conclusion that the Russian government has done just that,” the Clinton campaign alleged.
“While Clinton has stood up to Russia, Trump panders to Putin. He has voiced support for policies and positions that align exactly with the Kremlin’s interests,” they added.
Computer scientists have apparently uncovered a covert server linking the Trump Organization to a Russian-based bank. pic.twitter.com/8f8n9xMzUU
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 1, 2016
With just 8 days until Election Day, Hillary is speaking in Ohio. Join her live: https://t.co/oa4NZ1hEHU
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 31, 2016
Why would Putin want Trump to win?
The nice things he’s said about him?
His promise to adopt pro-Kremlin policies?
Or his business dealings?— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 31, 2016
The Democratic nominee’s social media team has been all over the Trump-is-Putin-pawn line of attack as well:
The Clinton campaign’s renewed efforts to make Trump’s reported ties to Russia the focus of the 2016 election is not their only response to the appearance of additional emails.
The Democratic nominee, her campaign team and its allies have also declared war on Comey, with some suggesting the FBI director is a partisan agent while others have demanded that he come forward publicly with additional information on the newly uncovered trove of emails.
