It's been a while since the Russians and Americans were allies. Oh sure, the two countries issued some press releases together during the First Gulf War. But the two powers have been circling each other since Herr Hitler was defeated. The Cold War often turned hot, but only through proxies. The Russians and Americans were smart enough to avoid shooting at each other directly. To paraphrase Frank Pentangeli, we do business with Russia, we respect Russia, but we've never trusted Russia.
Even the current occupant of the Oval Office can admit these days that Russia at least tried to meddle in the 2016 elections, and continues to do so even to this day. What, a little publicity scare off Vladimir Vladimirovich? That old KGB man isn't scared of much.
He certainly isn't afraid of Robert Mueller's latest court filings, which have even the staunchest opponents of the special counsel and his investigation admitting that those Rooskies were up to something fishy prior to, and during, the 2016 presidential election.
Democrats have been clamoring for a chance to sink the Trump presidency ever since their champion was defeated and Mr. Mueller was appointed. But so far, there hasn't been much to slap the president with, and even the top Democratic brass has hushed any calls for impeachment. (For now.)
But a lack of evidence against Mr. Trump doesn't mean a lack of evidence overall. This week a Russian by the name of Maria Butina pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as a clandestine foreign agent. That's fancy legal talk for trying to build back-channel ties between the Russian government and officials in the Republican Party and the National Rifle Association, according to The New York Times.
The paper also said she wanted to help broker a secret meeting between Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump during the 2016 election. Although she's hardly a Bond villain, her guilty plea does show evidence of an attempt at unhealthy Russian influence in American politics. And that's not something Americans should be willing to tolerate.
Maria Butina's arrest actually didn't come about as a result of the Mueller investigation. The Times reports she was arrested in July as part of a separate counterintelligence investigation by the Justice Department and FBI that predated the 2016 election. Of course, when you put her guilty plea together with Mr. Mueller's indictment of 12 Russian military officers accused of conspiring to interfere with the 2016 presidential election, you begin to see a pattern.
Our 2016 election wasn't a "one and done" for Russia. Its agents made similar efforts to interfere with our midterms this year as well. Politico reports a Russia-based accountant was charged in October "for taking part in a scheme to spend in excess of $10 million since the beginning of the year on targeted social media ads and Web postings intended 'to sow division and discord in the U.S. political system.'"
Looking ahead to 2020, it's time for any Americans still in denial of Russia's malevolent intent to wake up and smell the sbiten. Russia is not our friend. It's not exactly an enemy just now. But it is a nation with its own interests, engaging in cyber-warfare and disinformation campaigns designed to weaken this nation.
As for Maria Butina, the papers say she'll likely be deported after she's done serving whatever sentence she's given following this guilty plea. One shudders at the thought of what awaits her back in Russia for her helping federal investigators. If Mr. Putin is willing to send assassins to Britain to poison a former spy (and his daughter), who knows what Comrade Putin will do when a failed agent is hand-delivered back into his grasp after helping the Americans?
Russia doesn't appear to be done with us by a long shot. But the most important thing right now is for those who aren't aware of Russia's influence attempts to quickly become aware. It's not nothin', folks.
Editorial on 12/15/2018