# Now that the dust has settled on the Trump's Russia Hoax **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 21, 2021, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-the-dust-has-settled-on-the-trumps-russia-hoax/952952 "2021-10-21T22:50:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7bcc69/32.png) [@Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-the-dust-has-settled-on-the-trumps-russia-hoax/952952/1 "2021-10-21T22:50:12Z")
What does it look like actually happened? Who does it look like the major players and what does it appear they did? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-the-dust-has-settled-on-the-trumps-russia-hoax/952952/2 "2021-10-21T22:51:21Z")
Could you please explain what you mean by “Trump’s Russian Hoax”? It would be helpful to understand that. ---
**Author:** ![Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7bcc69/32.png) [@Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-the-dust-has-settled-on-the-trumps-russia-hoax/952952/3 "2021-10-21T22:52:47Z")
Turns out the whole thing was made up so who did what to convince the voters that it was all real? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-the-dust-has-settled-on-the-trumps-russia-hoax/952952/4 "2021-10-21T22:54:52Z")
Have you read the Mueller report? Are you relying on Bill Barr’s “summary”? Read the report. I’m out of this one. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-the-dust-has-settled-on-the-trumps-russia-hoax/952952/5 "2021-10-21T22:58:22Z")
Please elaborate. This is gonna be fun. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-the-dust-has-settled-on-the-trumps-russia-hoax/952952/6 "2021-10-21T22:59:26Z")
We seem to have different understandings of what happened. Why do you think it was all made up? ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-the-dust-has-settled-on-the-trumps-russia-hoax/952952/7 "2021-10-21T23:29:00Z")
> [@Dodgy\_Dude](#): > > Turns out the whole thing was made up so who did what to convince the voters that it was all real? What was made up? Let’s start with a basic one: Were DNC emails hacked? ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-the-dust-has-settled-on-the-trumps-russia-hoax/952952/10 "2021-10-22T01:13:59Z")
> [@Dodgy\_Dude](#): > > Turns out the whole thing was made up so who did what to convince the voters that it was all real? Well, trump gave a lot of speeches telling people the election was stolen when it wasn’t so I’d guess trump made it up and did a bunch to convince the voters it was real so I’m going with trump. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-the-dust-has-settled-on-the-trumps-russia-hoax/952952/11 "2021-10-22T01:17:38Z")
> [@Dodgy\_Dude](#): > > Turns out the whole thing was made up so who did what to convince the voters that it was all real? Does it matter, now that Trump has admitted he lost, and that Biden is the real President? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-the-dust-has-settled-on-the-trumps-russia-hoax/952952/12 "2021-10-22T07:36:29Z")
Aye. Trump finally admitted he lost; now we can all move on. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-the-dust-has-settled-on-the-trumps-russia-hoax/952952/13 "2021-10-22T09:00:50Z")
If you ignore all the evidence for it, there’s no evidence for it! ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-the-dust-has-settled-on-the-trumps-russia-hoax/952952/14 "2021-10-22T14:22:18Z")
Is this the conspiracy theory that Trump, while President, was receiving orders from Putin? If so, that was always nonsense but some people on the left with Trump Derangement Syndrome had fun making up stories about how Trump was being blackmailed. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-the-dust-has-settled-on-the-trumps-russia-hoax/952952/15 "2021-10-22T14:33:00Z")
No, this is the reality in which there was extensive close coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign, and in which Russia acted in multiple material ways (legal and illegal) to aid Trump and various other Republicans to get elected, and in which the Trump campaign and administration went to great lengths (legal and illegal) to conceal this. The hyperbolic strawman you mention was never directly investigated and is usually trotted out these days by those with an interest in distracting from the now-well-evidenced efforts of a foreign power to weaken American democracy by supporting the more malign efforts of the right-wing. Russia may or may not have had _kompromat_ on Trump and other key Republicans but there’s no sign they ever needed to use it - Trump and the Republicans appeared perfectly fine to act against America’s interests all on their own. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-the-dust-has-settled-on-the-trumps-russia-hoax/952952/16 "2021-10-22T14:39:27Z")
> [@Delay in prosecution of Trump](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delay-in-prosecution-of-trump/950708/93): > > Hillary Clinton allegedly mishandled classified emails: “Lock her up!” > > Donald Trump personally handed over classified info to Russians: “Hey, look over there!”   ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-the-dust-has-settled-on-the-trumps-russia-hoax/952952/17 "2021-10-22T14:56:32Z")
Does it really matter, now that Trump has conceded that the election was not rigged and that Biden won? ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-the-dust-has-settled-on-the-trumps-russia-hoax/952952/18 "2021-10-22T15:00:05Z")
Since nobody has actually established which Russia[n] hoax, the OP is referring to, it’s a quite presumptive of you to throw out a baseless accusation of strawmanning. But then, that seems to be the favourite SDMB insult, and one usually made without back-up, and often without the accuser even understanding what a strawman is. I guess mud-slinging is low effort. If you think the OP is discussing the 2016 Presidential election, the best assessment is that Russia was trying to cause chaos in the US electoral process, they preferred Trump over Clinton, and some members of the Trump campaign were willing to accept Russian help. It’s been a while, but I don’t remember any serious activities I would accept as “extensive close coordination”. The biggest accusation I recall being made against Russia was that they attempted to exploit social media to reinforce the preferences of Trump supporters. I don’t remember any verified accusations of the Trump campaign directing that exploitation. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-the-dust-has-settled-on-the-trumps-russia-hoax/952952/19 "2021-10-22T15:01:48Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > Since nobody has actually established which Russia[n] hoax, the OP is referring to Didn’t stop you from filling in the blanks, did it? ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-the-dust-has-settled-on-the-trumps-russia-hoax/952952/20 "2021-10-22T15:05:50Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Does it really matter, now that Trump has conceded that the election was not rigged and that Biden won? I don’t know. It was quite obvious that Hilary Clinton lost the 2016 election, and she conceded, but accusations that the election was stolen still continued for years. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-the-dust-has-settled-on-the-trumps-russia-hoax/952952/21 "2021-10-22T15:11:37Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Didn’t stop you from filling in the blanks, did it? Indeed. That’s why I framed my initial response to the OP as a question. > [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > Is this the conspiracy theory that Trump, while President, was receiving orders from Putin? If Dodgy\_Dude wants to narrow the topic to a specific Russia Hoax, I’m happy to discuss that limited topic. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-the-dust-has-settled-on-the-trumps-russia-hoax/952952/22 "2021-10-22T15:16:22Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > I don’t know. It was quite obvious that Hilary Clinton lost the 2016 election, and she conceded Meanwhile, Trump lost in 2020, and still hasn’t conceded. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-the-dust-has-settled-on-the-trumps-russia-hoax/952952.md?page=2)