Russia's October Surprise -- Its Failed Attempt to Hack the Election

[DonViejo]

October 20, 2016

By Mitchell A. Orenstein

The month of October is never a quiet one in a U.S. presidential election year. But this time, the run-up to the vote has been marked by a series of high-stakes cyber-skirmishes between Washington and Moscow. Over the summer, intent on derailing the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Russia released damning emails from the Democratic National Committee (DNC), leading to the resignation of chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Hoping to create yet another stir, Russia then handed over a batch of Clinton’s e-mails to WikiLeaks on October 7. But much to Moscow’s chagrin, Washington was able to rob Moscow of the element of surprise, and Russia’s “October surprise” fizzled.

Just before the WikiLeaks dump, the White House released a statement in which it directly accused Russia for the first time of hacking the e-mails of DNC and Democratic Party members. The unexpected and unprecedented announcement dominated the headlines, leaving Russia’s and WikiLeaks’ attempts to show Clinton as shifty and close to Wall Street as a sideshow.

On the same day, the now infamous “locker room” tape, in which Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump brags about sexually assaulting women, surfaced. This scandal blew the much-anticipated WikiLeaks revelations out of the water, and it became the focus of the second presidential debate, which further diverted attention away from the leaks. In the second presidential debate, discussion of the “locker room” tape took up 23 minutes and the WikiLeaks revelations only a few. Clinton dismissed them with an erudite story about Abraham Lincoln. One October surprise trumped another, so to speak.

The failure of Russia’s long-planned October surprise to tip the election appears to have angered Moscow, which had planned this operation well in advance in hopes of destroying Clinton’s chance of winning the presidency. While news of the DNC hacks first surfaced in June, it was widely reported that they had taken place months earlier, and the e-mails were purposely released in July just before the Democratic

-snip-

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russian-federation/2016-10-20/russias-october-surprise

[meadowlark5]

1. Was there any retaliation?

I thought the white house made a threat to Russia to stop or else. But I don't think there was an "or else".

Looks like Russia will just get away with it and that gives them the go ahead to do it again.

[Raster]

3. I believe any overt retaliatory action(s) are slated for...

...after the election that Putin has tried to influence. First, his chosen candidate goes down hard, followed by more evidence that Russia attempted to interfere with American sovereignty.

[Hortensis]

5. Yes. Note that the article itself suggests any retaliation

should take place after the election, and why. And notes Putin's clear intent of pushing Americans to vote for Trump,

Russia is trying to create a sense of chaos in world affairs, and if, for instance, Russia were to shoot down a U.S. plane in Syria or undertake some other extremely provocative action akin to an October surprise, Washington should avoid stoking a hysteria that could impact the election results. U.S. officials must respond in a measured fashion and with measured rhetoric in order to protect the integrity of the political process. And respond after the election.

Btw, the article doesn't mention it, but it seems probable that Putin sabotaged the Aleppo ceasefire and stepped up bombing civilians in order to deny American voters a success and provide more of that feeling of chaos. Mass murder as a tool for disrupting our elections.

[meadowlark5]

6. I'm actually surprised there has been no staged terrorist act here in the US

to influence the election. I honestly wouldn't put it past Russia to orchestrate something terrorist like to help Trump. We know human life to that scum Putin is simply collateral damage for a desired outcome.

[Raster]

2. Once a KGB thug, always a KGB thug...

...and a barely competent one at that.

The real story is evidence that Pootie-poot and his Russian hacker comrades are behind efforts to influence US Presidential elections and that tRump and the GOP are seemingly OK with efforts by a foreign power to interfere with American sovereignty. While no fan of Raygun, I can't help but think he would be appalled and aghast by the current GOP's seditious behavior.

[Hortensis]

4. Imagine it's YOUR job to play this huge-stakes game with

the Kremlin? And watch for how it plays out. Definitely not for the weak.

Foreign Affairs clearly is suggesting we either knew or anticipated their strategy and tactics and outmaneuvered them. And poor Putin's angry, huh? He and Trump both have that little problem with the Democratic team, and Hillary in particular.