# Is Donald Trump a Putin patsy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 25, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875 "2016-07-25T19:00:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875/161 "2016-07-27T02:40:09Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > It’s interesting when Trump actually says something completely idiotic like he won’t support NATO allies if they’re attacked, all the Trump apologists can say is some shit about Hilary. > > Are you in agreement with Trump, **WillFarnaby**? Just tell our NATO allies Latvia and Estonia to go pound sand unless they pay us some more cash? Tough luck if they’re attacked, we’ll just spit on the NATO alliance? See if Putin makes us a better business offer? The funny thing is they don’t pay us cash. The obligation/expectation/goal is for each country to spend at least 2% of their GDP on their own defense. [Better explanation at The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/03/30/trumps-claim-that-the-u-s-pays-the-lions-share-for-nato/) ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875/162 "2016-07-27T02:56:53Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > It’s interesting how the Clinton campaign has gotten a pass for pulling a Trump on the email leak. As soon as it happened they raised the Russian bogeyman in true Trump fashion. For example if the roles were reversed, Trump would immediately blame the Chinese or another of his villains. This would be portrayed as just another example of Trump speaking recklessly and damaging relations between nations. Clinton recklessly blames her villain, and NPR bites so hard on this, they chip a tooth. Yesterday the reporter giving the commentary was asked hesitantly what the evidence of Russian involvement was. She simply said “forensic evidence” and that was the substance of the claim. Wow. They are in full blown panic mode. The evidence of Russian involvement is based on the assessment of multiple computer security firms. That’s why this story has legs. Not because of the Clinton teams discussion of the security firms’ evidence. That’s why comparing this news to an uninformed attempt by Trump to shift the blame is specious. Russia’s involvement is confirmed by numerous, neutral, computer security experts. Here’s an article by Ars Technica, discussing the hacking attempts and the ties to Russia - > **[Hackers invade Dems’ servers, steal entire Trump opposition file](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/06/hackers-invade-dems-servers-steal-entire-trump-opposition-file/)** > > Intrusion was so thorough it exposed almost a year's worth of e-mail and chats. Here’s an article from Defense One about Russia’s use of Wikilinks to disseminate info that they hope will disrupt the US ecelction - > **[How Putin Weaponized Wikileaks to Influence the Election of an American...](https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2016/07/how-putin-weaponized-wikileaks-influence-election-american-president/130163/)** > > Evidence suggests that a Russian intelligence group was the source of the most recent Wikileaks intel dump, which was aimed to influence the U.S. election. Here’s a more recent article from Ars Tech - it reports that one of the DNC’s staff members who was doing opposition research on Paul Manafort was alerted by Yahoo (she was using a Yahoo email for the research) that her account was under attack by state-sponsered hackers. > **[New evidence suggests DNC hackers penetrated deeper than previously thought](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/07/new-evidence-suggests-dnc-hackers-penetrated-deeper-than-previously-thought/)** > > Consultant's Yahoo Mail suspected of being targeted by state-sponsored hackers. And here’s the previous link to the article at TPM that explains Paul Manafort’s connection to pro-Russian Ukrainian leader, Viktor Y [http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump-putin-yes-it-s-really-a-thing](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump-putin-yes-it-s-really-a-thing) > [@the TPM article](#): > > 1. Then there’s Paul Manafort, Trump’s nominal ‘campaign chair’ who now functions as campaign manager and top advisor. Manafort spent most of the last decade as top campaign and communications advisor for Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian Ukrainian Prime Minister and then President whose ouster in 2014 led to the on-going crisis and proxy war in Ukraine. Yanukovych was and remains a close Putin ally. Manafort is running Trump’s campaign. I know you hope that Putin will succeed in taking over the election and installing his “buddy” Donald Trump as a Russian-friendly president, but I assure you, **Will Farnaby** , that most voting Americans would be horrified at the suggest. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875/163 "2016-07-27T02:59:51Z")
Donald Trump just tweeted, [For the record, I have ZERO investments in Russia.](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/758071952498159616) Of course, the actual question is, **Does Russia have an investment in Donald Trump?** ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875/164 "2016-07-27T03:05:36Z")
Oh, **WillFarnaby** , sorry for getting your name wrong, earlier. There’s an article at the Daily Beast that outlines some of the current thinking about Donald Trump. It has a headline that might interest you: - [FBI Suspects Russia Hacked DNC; U.S. Officials Say It Was to Elect Donald Trump](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/07/25/fbi-suspects-russia-hacked-dnc-u-s-officials-say-it-was-to-elect-donald-trump.html) **FBI Suspects Russia Hacked DNC; U.S. Officials Say It Was to Elect Donald Trump Did the Russian government hack the DNC to bring down Hillary Clinton?** > [@Shane Harris and Nancy Yousef](#): > > **FBI Suspects Russia Hacked DNC; U.S. Officials Say It Was to Elect Donald Trump > Did the Russian government hack the DNC to bring down Hillary Clinton?** > > _That’s the view that’s quickly emerging inside American intelligence and law enforcement agencies._ > > The FBI suspects that Russian government hackers breached the networks of the Democratic National Committee and stole emails that were posted to the anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks on Friday. It’s an operation that several U.S. officials now suspect was a deliberate attempt to influence the presidential election in favor of Donald Trump, according to five individuals familiar with the investigation of the breach. > > The theory that Moscow orchestrated the leaks to help Trump—who has repeatedly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and practically called for the end of NATO—is fast gaining currency within the Obama administration because of the timing of the leaks and Trump’s own connections to the Russian government, the sources said on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing and developing quickly. This is nothing like Trump’s casual attempts at ass-covering. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875/165 "2016-07-27T03:07:35Z")
Daily Beast also has a followup article today about the group behind the hacking: > **[‘DNC Hacker’ Unmasked: He Really Works for Russia, Researchers Say](https://www.thedailybeast.com/dnc-hacker-unmasked-he-really-works-for-russia-researchers-say)** > > The hacker who claimed to compromise the DNC swore he was Romanian. But new research shows he worked directly for the Vladimir Putin government in Moscow. > [@Harris and Yousef](#): > > **DNC Hacker’ Unmasked: He Really Works for Russia, Researchers Say** > > _The hacker who claimed to compromise the DNC swore he was Romanian. But new research shows he worked directly for the Vladimir Putin government in Moscow._ > > The hacker who claims to have stolen emails from the Democratic National Committee and provided them to WikiLeaks is actually an agent of the Russian government and part of an orchestrated attempt to influence U.S. media coverage surrounding the presidential election, a security research group concluded on Tuesday. > > The researchers, at Arlington, Va.-based ThreatConnect, traced the self-described Romanian hacker Guccifer 2.0 back to an Internet server in Russia and to a digital address that has been linked in the past to Russian online scams. Far from being a singly, sophisticated hacker, Guccifer 2.0 is more likely a collection of people from the propaganda arm of the Russian government meant to deflect attention away from Moscow as the force behind the DNC hacks and leaks of emails, the researchers found. > > ThreatConnect is the first known group of experts to link the self-proclaimed hacker to a Russian operation, amidst an ongoing FBI investigation and a presidential campaign rocked by the release of DNC emails that have embarrassed senior party leaders and inflamed intraparty tensions turning the Democratic National Convention. The emails revealed that party insiders plotted ways to undermine Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential bid. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875/166 "2016-07-27T03:23:50Z")
Horrorshow. Real horrorshow, droogies. Remember when it all collapsed over there? And we sent a bunch of bright young M.B.A.'s to help move state controlled assets into private hands? Get a lazy fair free market thing going on? Well, baby is all grown up now. So, I guess that worked out pretty good, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875/167 "2016-07-27T03:33:08Z")
Pretty good for someone, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875/168 "2016-07-27T05:22:53Z")
A hawkish Hillary vs. an isolationist Trump who doesn’t even really know how NATO’s treaty works - it should be pretty obvious whom Russia would prefer. This doesn’t meant that Trump endorses Russia, but it does suggest that Russia wants Trump. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875/169 "2016-07-27T05:49:13Z")
These frightening allegations should disqualify Trump, but Trump’s voters don’t have any news source except FauxNews and other moronic echo chambers. In a saner world, GOP leaders and FauxNews pundits would be spreading the truth about Trump but, instead, the right-wing is happy to elect a cockroach or banana slug as long as the name isn’t Hillary. The Putin-Trump connection would be a major fear, _even if the specific allegations were unfounded_! Trump’s ego will lead him to build a personal relationship with Putin, which Putin will happily exploit. It’s no good hoping Trump will overact the other way and oppose Putin — ignorant of geopolitics and the delicate security balance, but with an inflated ego, Trump will mishandle every crisis. If Trump is elected, the nation’s best hope is for quick incapacitation. Pence will be the foullest right-wing President ever, by a long mile, but still less of a danger than Trump. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875/170 "2016-07-27T10:45:19Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > It’s interesting when Trump actually says something completely idiotic like he won’t support NATO allies if they’re attacked, all the Trump apologists can say is some shit about Hilary. > > Are you in agreement with Trump, **WillFarnaby**? Just tell our NATO allies Latvia and Estonia to go pound sand unless they pay us some more cash? Tough luck if they’re attacked, we’ll just spit on the NATO alliance? See if Putin makes us a better business offer? I don’t think Putin would make a move on Latvia and Estonia. Anyway, U.S. escalation may not be the best course of action if he did. Was it a good idea when Russia backed Serbia and Germany backed Austria-Hungary? > [@Merneith](#): > > The evidence of Russian involvement is based on the assessment of multiple computer security firms. That’s why this story has legs. Not because of the Clinton teams discussion of the security firms’ evidence. > > That’s why comparing this news to an uninformed attempt by Trump to shift the blame is specious. Russia’s involvement is confirmed by numerous, neutral, computer security experts. > > Here’s an article by Ars Technica, discussing the hacking attempts and the ties to Russia - > [http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/06/hackers-invade-dems-servers-steal-entire-trump-opposition-file/](http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/06/hackers-invade-dems-servers-steal-entire-trump-opposition-file/) > Here’s an article from Defense One about Russia’s use of Wikilinks to disseminate info that they hope will disrupt the US ecelction - > [How Putin Weaponized Wikileaks to Influence the Election of an American President - Defense One](http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2016/07/how-putin-weaponized-wikileaks-influence-election-american-president/130163/) > Here’s a more recent article from Ars Tech - it reports that one of the DNC’s staff members who was doing opposition research on Paul Manafort was alerted by Yahoo (she was using a Yahoo email for the research) that her account was under attack by state-sponsered hackers. > [New evidence suggests DNC hackers penetrated deeper than previously thought | Ars Technica](http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/07/new-evidence-suggests-dnc-hackers-penetrated-deeper-than-previously-thought/) > And here’s the previous link to the article at TPM that explains Paul Manafort’s connection to pro-Russian Ukrainian leader, Viktor Y > [Trump & Putin. Yes, It’s Really a Thing - TPM – Talking Points Memo](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump-putin-yes-it-s-really-a-thing) > > I know you hope that Putin will succeed in taking over the election and installing his “buddy” Donald Trump as a Russian-friendly president, but I assure you, **Will Farnaby** , that most voting Americans would be horrified at the suggest. I’ve said repeatedly that I favor a Clinton victory over the three choices and support Johnson’s campaign. > [@Merneith](#): > > Oh, **WillFarnaby** , sorry for getting your name wrong, earlier. > > There’s an article at the Daily Beast that outlines some of the current thinking about Donald Trump. It has a headline that might interest you: > > - [FBI Suspects Russia Hacked DNC; U.S. Officials Say It Was to Elect Donald Trump](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/07/25/fbi-suspects-russia-hacked-dnc-u-s-officials-say-it-was-to-elect-donald-trump.html) > > **FBI Suspects Russia Hacked DNC; U.S. Officials Say It Was to Elect Donald Trump > Did the Russian government hack the DNC to bring down Hillary Clinton?** > > This is nothing like Trump’s casual attempts at ass-covering. Ok I haven’t been following the story too closely, mostly because the emails shouldn’t have been as damaging as they are being made to appear. Very mild stuff in my opinion. I was basing my opinion on the origin of the hack on Julian Assange’s recent comments. > **[Assange: ‘A lot more material’ coming | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/26/politics/julian-assange-dnc-email-leak-hack/)** > > Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said Tuesday his whistleblowing website might release “a lot more material” relevant to the US electoral campaign. > [@](#): > > “Perhaps one day the source or sources will step forward and that might be an interesting moment some people may have egg on their faces. But to exclude certain actors is to make it easier to find out who our sources are,” Assange told CNN. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875/171 "2016-07-27T11:02:35Z")
Let me state first that I have no first hand knowledge of the forensics and evidence gathered in this security breach of the DNC. I work in the cybersecurity industry, but my company is not one of the three that have been involved and/or commented on this specific case. At least two of the firms hat have been mentioned are competitors of ours. What I can add to the discussion is a little perspective. Everything I have read, from multiple sources, shows the methods they used to track down and identify the threat actors seems to be 100% valid. While not easy, the fingerprints and trail left by hackers can be followed with a fairly high degree of accuracy. If Cloudstrike and Fireeye, and it seems now the feds as well, are saying that this attack came from Russia, then it almost certainly came from Russia. Now, the next step of proving that it came directly from Russian government is a little more challenging, but not impossible. You look for patterns, styles, methodology, and also consider Cui Bono (who benefits). This whole thing is disturbing. It has the potential to blow up into a huge deal over the next few weeks. This actually IS BIGGER than Watergate, if true. WG was party versus party. This is a foreign nation interfering with our election process. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875/172 "2016-07-27T11:24:43Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Our ally Georgia? Our ally Ukraine? > > You want to remind me of when the United States signed a treaty of alliance with Georgia or Ukraine? These are independent countries who want self-determination. Even if they aren’t technically allies, we have an interest in seeing these countries decide through free and fair elections whether they want to remain part of the Russian sphere or if they want more open relationships with Western economic partners. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875/173 "2016-07-27T11:25:51Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > This whole thing is disturbing. It has the potential to blow up into a huge deal over the next few weeks. This actually IS BIGGER than Watergate, if true. WG was party versus party. This is a foreign nation interfering with our election process. Well, in all fairness, it’s not like the United States hasn’t tried to meddle in the election process of other nations. What we reap… ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875/174 "2016-07-27T11:30:16Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > It’s interesting when Trump actually says something completely idiotic like he won’t support NATO allies if they’re attacked, all the Trump apologists can say is some shit about Hilary. > > Are you in agreement with Trump, **WillFarnaby**? Just tell our NATO allies Latvia and Estonia to go pound sand unless they pay us some more cash? Tough luck if they’re attacked, we’ll just spit on the NATO alliance? See if Putin makes us a better business offer? There’s an argument made by some that NATO should be disbanded and that it has exacerbated tensions with Russia. I don’t know what to believe: the argument seems credible on one hand, but are Russian police actions in South Ossetia and Ukraine intended to be ‘defense’ in the face of increased Western encroachment in the Russian sphere, or is it proof that Russia has imperial ambitions and that it can’t be trusted by NATO to act responsibly on its own? I suppose this is the same question we’ve been asking since Potsdam. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875/175 "2016-07-27T11:39:38Z")
> [@](#): > > …This is a foreign nation interfering with our election process. “Interfering”? Well, perhaps “enhancing”, “participating”? Perhaps they didn’t forget the happy patter of footsteps when the American right danced on the grave of _perestroika_? This is just their way of giving back! Turns out there wasn’t all that much going on? A couple of suggestions about some good ol’ Rovian ratfuck that weren’t actually acted upon? Shows the Dems lack of commitment, doesn’t it? If they truly believe they are acting in the best interests of the country, they should have followed through! Not even the arch-fiend Wasserman-Schultz had the gumption to do what had to be done in the fast-paced, exciting world of American politics! No guts, no gory! ---
**Author:** ![ultimate11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/49beb7/32.png) [@ultimate11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultimate11)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875/176 "2016-07-27T13:39:35Z")
Nm. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875/177 "2016-07-27T14:57:23Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > I don’t think Putin would make a move on Latvia and Estonia. Anyway, U.S. escalation may not be the best course of action if he did. Was it a good idea when Russia backed Serbia and Germany backed Austria-Hungary? Well, that’s a relief then - We don’t need mutual defense treaties at all, since Russia has shown themselves to be not interested at all in regaining territory from the former USSR. And after all, it will be fine to let Russia annex the Sudetenland errr, I mean the Crimea. I’m sure that they’ll stop there. Don’t escalate. Just give them what they want. Actually, I’d rather listen to experts on the issue, rather than some dude’s opinion. Thanks anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875/178 "2016-07-27T15:30:15Z")
Well, Trump is giving a news conference and openly asking Russia for help in obtaining Clinton’s 30k emails. So there’s that. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875/179 "2016-07-27T15:44:19Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Well, Trump is giving a news conference and openly asking Russia for help in obtaining Clinton’s 30k emails. > > So there’s that. Trump: “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.” Good God. He is openly conspiring with another country to influence the election. He’s asking for the help of Russian hackers who committed illegal acts. This is akin to Richard Nixon taking out an ad in the Washington post, asking for burglers to break into the Democratic headquarters. At long last, Republicans, is there no shame at all left in your party? Are you now the party of the Russian takeover of the election? ---
**Author:** ![Crybaby\_Boobie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crybaby_boobie/32/545_2.png) [@Crybaby\_Boobie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crybaby_Boobie)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875/180 "2016-07-27T15:57:36Z")
Am I wrong in thinking this is an actual “Holy shit” moment? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/760875.md?page=10)