James Comey and Our Own Tin-Pot Despot, Donald Trump

Trump’s behavior is reminiscent of what tin-pot despots do. I know, for I’ve covered the overthrow of more than I can count.

.. What comes through is a persistent effort by Trump to interfere with the legal system. There’s a consistent pattern: Trump’s contempt for the system of laws that, incredibly, he now presides over.

.. The latest revelation is that Russian military intelligence executed a cyberattack on at least one supplier of American voting software and tried to compromise the computers of more than 100 local voting officials.

.. “Watergate pales really, in my view, compared to what we’re confronting now,” said Clapper, a former lieutenant general with a long career in intelligence under Republican and Democratic presidents alike. He added: “I am very concerned about the assault on our institutions coming from both an external source — read Russia — and an internal source — the president himself.”

.. Trump has systematically attacked the institutions of American life that he sees as impediments. He denounced judges and the courts. He has attacked journalists as “the enemy of the people,” .. He has publicly savaged Democrats and Republicans who stand up to him.

.. Skimming money meant for kids with cancer? This is cartoonlike. (The family hasn’t responded in detail, although Eric did say that, to him, the critics are “not even people.” He lamented that “morality’s just gone.”)

.. the fundamental question is not just whether the president broke a particular law regarding obstruction of justice, but also whether he is systematically assaulting the rule of law that makes us free.

U.S. Charges Contractor With Leaking NSA Document on Russian Hacking

the Intercept, which on Monday afternoon posted online a document that it said was produced by the National Security Agency and which concluded Russian spies hacked computers of a U.S. company “to obtain information on elections-related software and hardware solutions.”

.. In an article published Monday, the Intercept said it had received the NSA report anonymously and had authenticated its contents. It said the NSA report details Russian efforts to hack the computers of a U.S. company and steal information about election-related software and hardware, data that was then likely used to launch cyberattacks against local U.S. governments.  U.S. intelligence agencies and law enforcement officials have said that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a campaign to influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. election to help the prospects of Donald Trump, then the Republican nominee.

Megyn Kelly saw an aggressive, peeved Vladimir Putin. That behavior could hurt him.

Russians probably liked Putin’s combative performance: That’s part of his brand, and he’s indisputably popular at home. But the day’s events also showed how allegations of Russian meddling abroad, though they’re seen here as evidence of Russia’s revived power, also cloud Putin’s efforts to lure more foreign investment and expand Russia’s global role.

 .. Kelly questioned Putin bluntly and repeatedly about hacking and other controversial topics. This drew various pained responses, including an exasperated jab at “hysterical” critics: “Maybe someone has a pill that will stop this.” At another point, he said that the U.S. media should “stop this idle prattle” about Russia, which was harming diplomacy.
.. “Institutions are not well developed,” said Andranik Migranyan, a politics professor and former government official. “It’s a highly personalized system,” which Putin feels he must steer “manually.” And Russia is still too dependent on energy exports, even though Putin said in his speech Friday that the export share of other industries is rising.
.. Corruption also remains a big problem, despite talk here of more independent and dependable legal institutions. Sergey Karaganov, the director of Russia’s Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, addressed this issue head-on in a conversation earlier this week in Moscow: “I would agree that institutions are weak” and that contracts often go to “those who play the game.” The problem, he said, was that in 1991, “we introduced capitalism without the rule of law.”
.. That’s Putin’s problem, in essence. His tough-guy, strongman style has certainly helped him to govern Russia. But it may also obstruct his desire to move the country to a more advanced and prosperous state at home and in global markets.
Video: Putin says that accusing Russia of hacking was like Anti-Semitism and that the hack was invented.
In another video, he conceded that a hack could have happened, but was done by Russian freelancing patriots.
This is similar to the argument that the Russian troops fighting in Ukraine were patriotic freelancers.