The Patriot Post® · Sandbagging Trump With 'Dirt'

The story of Russian hacking of Democrat email systems has now added yet another chapter with the latest claims of Moscow having obtained dirt on Donald Trump as well. Last week, both Barack Obama and Trump were briefed by the intelligence community with a classified report that included unsubstantiated allegations that Russian intelligence had obtained compromising material on both Hillary Clinton and Trump. The narrative now being developed by the Leftmedia is that this “kompromat” — a Russian espionage term for blackmail material — could be used to coerce whoever occupies the White House, namely Trump.

Perpetuating the story, CNN reported that Trump’s campaign had apparently colluded with Russia based upon a fake dossier. This was followed by BuzzFeed releasing the dubious 35-page dossier, which it claimed contained the damning information on the Russian-Trump relationship. Russia denied the allegations, stating that the report was an “absolute fabrication” designed to damage U.S.-Russian relations. And Trump tweeted last night, “FAKE NEWS — A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!”

So what’s going on here? Well, it’s clear that the Democrats would like nothing more than to delegitimize Trump for their own political gain. It also aids Democrats in their quest to sink Rex Tillerson’s secretary of state confirmation due to his business ties with Russia. And like Pavlovian dogs, the mainstream media has responded to the call from the Left to attack Trump, hence the unsubstantiated allegations now being passed off as legitimate journalism.

In the end, what may be most troubling is the manner in which U.S. intelligence agencies have handled these highly political allegations. Leaked information about unsubstantiated allegations to the media from unnamed sources within the intelligence community smells like a dangerous politicization of government agencies. Those agencies, for the sake of the public’s trust and the nation’s security, need to maintain an uncompromising standard of commitment to abstaining from any form of political pandering.