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As Evidence That Russian Hackers Helped Trump Win Election Builds, the Senate Looks to Fight Back
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The CIA recently confirmed evidence that Russian hackers swayed the US election in Donald Trump’s favor, and even Republicans are speaking out.
Published on December 12, 2016

It’s been a long and debilitating election year for the United States, and with the recent actions of President-Elect Donald Trump, it doesn’t look like it will be getting much better any time soon. Not only has Trump’s victory given rise to a divisive nationalistic movement, he’s also made cabinet appointments that represent the same corruption and corporate muck that he vehemently campaigned against. If you thought it couldn’t get any worse, well, you should already know better by now. 

Last week, CIA officials announced they had “high confidence” that Russian hackers had attempted to sway the US election in Donald Trump’s favor. The President-Elect snapped back instantly by calling the reports “ridiculous” and that it was “impossible to know” who was behind it. His team went on to pour skepticism over the CIA’s bold claim, stating that “these are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction."      

While it makes sense that the defeated Democrats are determined to look into the matter, a number of Republicans have also joined in to make the battle a bipartisan one. In fact, on Sunday, Republicans Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham joined up with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Jack Reed to call for a formal investigation on the CIA's accusations. 

Even Senate Majority Leader and infamous right-winger Mitch McConnell came out to praise the CIA, claiming that he had “the highest confidence in them”. Unsurprisingly, President Obama has ordered a complete review of the hacks, all of which ended up being quite detrimental to the Democratic National Committee's image at a critical point of the presidential race.

Now, if Russia truly is responsible for hacking and altering the outcome of the election (and with similar accusations coming out of Germany, the possibility is more likely than ever), why would they want Trump to win so badly anyways? If you’re looking for an answer to that question, look no further than his expected choice for the Secretary of State role, the CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp., Rex Tillerson. 

Since the powerful oil tycoon’s name has been thrown around as a possible cabinet appointment, his close business ties to Russia and Vladimir Putin have also been revealed by the media. Back in 2012, Tillerson and Putin signed an agreement that led to Exxon and the Russian oil company Rosneft to join forces and conquer the oil reserves in western Siberia. Tillerson was even awarded the Order of Friendship by Putin himself that very year. 

As a highly likely pick for Secretary of State, one of the most powerful in the Presidential Cabinet, Tillerson’s link to Russia is extremely worrying. Some believe that the President-Elect's corporate-flooded cabinet will look to cut deals with Russia and further wreck the world for the sake of oil. While the picture of what Trump’s reign would look like was once murky and uncertain, it’s increasingly clear that the reality of it all may be worse than we could have imagined.       

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Tyler Koslow
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Tyler Koslow is a Brooklyn-based freelance writer with an intensive focus on technology, music, pop culture, and of course, cannabis and its impending legalization.
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