With the U.S. trapped in a deadly pandemic, racial conflict continuing around the country, and the U.S. in general economic decline, Russia is hardly the top concern to most Americans. That is what makes Vladimir Putin's ongoing attack on democracy in the United States such a sinister national security threat.
Putin and the Russians interfered in the 2016 U.S. national election and are at it again in 2020. Ongoing Russian operations to influence the coming elections constitute a direct assault on American democracy and could influence the outcome of the nation's most fundamental democratic process--voting for our leaders and representatives in public office.
Russian interference in the 2016 and 2020 American elections is not in dispute.
The bipartisan Senate investigation into Russia's 2016 election interference that was released in August, Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, and the position of the U.S. intelligence community present detailed evidence of Russian interference. The intelligence community in a July intelligence bulletin concluded with high confidence that Russian interference continues in 2020 in support of President Trump. The Trump administration withheld release of the bulletin.
Russia has learned that freedom of speech in democracies can be a vulnerability. Using Internet platforms to spread fake information to influence the American election is cheap and easy compared with other ways to confront American strength.
Putin's goals are straightforward. He sees a weakened United States--domestic and internationally--as in Russia's strategic national interest. For Putin, Trump is just a means to create divisiveness within the U.S., to fracture NATO, to undermine the U.S. relationship with other democratic allies, and to reduce America's international influence.
Unfortunately, President Trump and his Republican supporters largely ignore Putin's attacks.
Trump constantly rages that the Russian link to his campaign is a "hoax." He also likes to brag that he has done more to sanction Russia than any other president. If that claim were true, Moscow would not be charging headlong into disrupting American elections in 2020. No U.S. sanctions so far can offset the vast strategic advantages the Putin regime gains by Trump's divisive national and international policies.
Instead of countering the Russian attack, Trump, his attorney general, and others do just the opposite. Trump never criticizes Putin or Russia. He did not even bother to raise with Putin the credible information that Russia had placed a bounty on killing American soldiers in Afghanistan.
Of late, the president and his key supporters have acted to limit investigations and exposure of the Russian attacks.
The director of national intelligence recently refused to conduct in-person briefings on the ongoing Russian attacks to Congressional intelligence committees.
Trump commuted the sentence of Roger Stone, the political trickster convicted of charges related to Russia, and Attorney General William Barr has moved to have charges related to Russia against former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn dropped from prosecution.
At the Justice Department, Barr has upended the counterintelligence organization responsible for defending the U.S. from Russian attacks. Most recently, Barr placed limits on the ability of the FBI to investigate candidates for office.
Barr has it completely backward. The most valued intelligence targets of any hostile power are senior government leaders, especially those in the White House. Candidates for the highest offices in government and those who work with them should not be exempt from counterintelligence investigation but should undergo a complete background investigation, including the full exposure of their financial relationships, as a condition for seeking office.
Putin and company are emboldened as they see weakness in Trump and Barr's failure to confront Moscow's assault on democracy.
The next U.S. president must forcefully confront Putin's attacks on democracy, and in conjunction with democratic allies, impose severe penalties on Putin and his cronies. Putin's regime--and any other foreign government--must pay a painful price for covert attacks on American democracy.
If the Russians succeed in helping Trump become re-elected, he will likely pull the U.S. out of NATO, continue the hostility toward traditional democratic allies, and further increase the international isolation of the nation to the detriment of our national security.
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James Pardew is a former U.S. ambassador in the Clinton and Bush administrations, a former career U.S. Army officer, and a native of Jonesboro.