Russian hacking story, Tuesday

Consortium News continues to analyze the facts and the politics of the Russian hacking story, most recently including:

Graham Fuller, Behind the Russia-Hack Allegations 12/20/2016. Fuller also reproduces the text of Robert Hunter's Rex Tillerson and the Russian Problem LobeLog Foreign Policy 12/16/2016. Hunter was US Ambassador to NATO during the Clinton Administration 1993-98.

Joe Lauria, Russia-Hack Story, Another Media Failure 12/19/2016: "The working journalist today is living off the reputation for skepticism and determination to get beyond government pronouncements that was established by their papers decades ago. Rather than add to that reputation, the credibility of the biggest newspapers continues to erode."

Robert Parry, A Spy Coup in America? (It's the headline and a section subhead that use the overblown word "coup," not the article itself) 12/18/2016:

However, over the past few weeks, the U.S. intelligence community, led by CIA Director Brennan and seconded by FBI Director Comey, has tried to delegitimize Trump by using leaks to the mainstream U.S. news media to pin the release of the DNC and Podesta emails on Russia and claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin was personally trying to put Trump into the White House.

Norman Solomon, The Left’s Risk in Blaming Russia 12/20/2016:

Of all the good reasons to "delegitimate" Trump, alleged Kremlin intervention in the election should rank quite low. ... While echoing the anti-Russia themes belted out by Democratic Party officials and loyalists, the chorus on the left may think it’s merely grabbing the low-hanging political fruit of this historical moment. But the fruit is already turning rancid, and apt to become poisonous.

John Whitbeck, The Pre-emptive Anti-Trump Coup 12/17/2016

And Marcy Wheeler continues her careful reading and evaluation of the evidence at Emptywheel:

16 Words: "The British Government Has Learned That Vladimir Puting Recently Sought Significant Quantities of of Votes for Trump" 12/19/2016, which references her New York Times op-ed, I Despise Donald Trump, but He’s Right to Be Skeptical of C.I.A. Leaks 12/19/2016, in which she writes, "Much as we might wish it, we average citizens aren’t going to get to read this intelligence ourselves. We rely on our elected representatives — the current president, Congress and, in a month, Donald Trump — to do that."

Lefties Learn to Love Leaks Again 12/19/2016, on the Rex Tillerson Russian-oil-company director story.

Now the Spooks Are Leaking Criticism of Obama's Sole Use of the "Red Phone" 12/20/2016: "Good things these spooks are so successfully combatting [sic] the inappropriate leak of information by leaking more information."