Editor,

According to “real news” sources, it has been established that during the 2016 presidential campaign, Putin’s government hacked into Democratic Party official’s email accounts. It’s said that Putin despised Hillary Clinton and feared her election would result in the continuation of crippling economic sanctions. By selectively using what they found and expecting merely to narrow her margin of victory, the Russian’s objective was to interfere with Clinton’s election by releasing adverse WikiLeaks. Putin calculated the strategy would narrow her margin of victory, promoting partisan gridlock and making it more difficult for her to govern as president.

Putin realized they were outperforming their original objective when, shortly before election day, Trump’s campaign began closing. That’s when intelligence sources world-wide began intercepting communications between Russia and individuals connected with the Trump campaign. To garner credit which would be especially valuable in the event of a Trump presidency, it was in their self-interest for Russian intelligence to let Trump’s campaign know what they were doing. But by doing so they ran a calculated risk.

Had Trump’s people disclosed they knew what Putin was doing, it would have a result exactly opposite to the one the Russian’s were seeking. Perceived as a victim of their subversion of our election, Hillary would probably have gained support. But, because the strategy was working, and disclosure of Russian meddling was unlikely to benefit Trump’s campaign, his people kept their mouths shut. Although Trump may not have initiated contact with the Russians, because he didn’t blow the whistle when he learned about it, Trump owns the sin of omission. And Putin knows it.

STEVE BURR

Clinton