# The Sen Intel Comm knows something about Russia and the election that Democrats want declassified. **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 1, 2016, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sen-intel-comm-knows-something-about-russia-and-the-election-that-democrats-want-declassified/773516 "2016-12-01T04:02:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sen-intel-comm-knows-something-about-russia-and-the-election-that-democrats-want-declassified/773516/1 "2016-12-01T04:02:57Z")
> **[Ron Wyden thinks we all deserve the truth about Russian election interference](https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/11/ron-wyden-thinks-we-all-deserve-truth-about-russian-election-interference/)** > > This is a helluva tease: That’s all the Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee except Dianne Feinstein, who joined all the Republicans in apparently not wanting this to be made public. That’s quite a partisan divide in a mostly nonpartisan... Yes, _Mother Jones_ is a lefty publication, but here’s Ron Wyden’s Press release. > **[Wyden Leads 7 Senate Intelligence Committee Members Calling on the President...](https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-leads-7-senate-intelligence-committee-members-calling-on-the-president-to-declassify-information-re-russia-and-the-us-election)** > > The Official U.S. Senate website of Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon And here’s the actual letter to the President. > **[U.S. Senate: Request not Accepted - Security Risk Detected](https://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/general/one_item_and_teasers/waf.htm)** > > Request not Accepted - Security Risk Detected So what is it, why does Wyden feel the need to let the public know that they’ve requested that Obama declassify it, and why have only Democrats signed the request? And why isn’t Dianne Feinstein a signatory? She’s a Democrat and on the committee. This could turn out to be something very interesting, or nothing at all. Why are Republicans seemingly uninterested in declassifying it? ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sen-intel-comm-knows-something-about-russia-and-the-election-that-democrats-want-declassified/773516/2 "2016-12-01T05:21:20Z")
The usual rationale about not declassifying something is that it lets “the other side” know that we know it. And that lets them make some pretty educated guesses about _how_ we know it. True or not, it’s hard to argue with it. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Quatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sen-intel-comm-knows-something-about-russia-and-the-election-that-democrats-want-declassified/773516/3 "2016-12-01T07:52:32Z")
Why would president Obama say that there is no evidence of Russian involvement? Come to think of it that poor man has a lot to read everyday … poor Trump he reads, but I don’t think he understands. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sen-intel-comm-knows-something-about-russia-and-the-election-that-democrats-want-declassified/773516/4 "2016-12-01T11:08:39Z")
> [@Mr\_Quatro](#): > > Why would president Obama say that there is no evidence of Russian involvement? > > Come to think of it that poor man has a lot to read everyday … poor Trump he reads, but I don’t think he understands. He apparently didn’t have this particular piece of information before. The letter states that they are sending it to him by a secure channel, whIch seems to imply that he doesn’t already have it. I find it interesting that they felt the need to also send him an unclassified letter stating that this was something that the public should know. It seems redundant. Why not just include that in the secure message? The most obvious answer is that the letter is aimed at the public as much as it’s aimed at the President. The fact that Wyden issued a press release about it supports that conclusion. So why create public pressure on the President to declassify the Info? Could it be something so damning that they fear he may want to suppress it out of fear of destabilizing the Republic? Or could the letter simply be an attempt to deligitimze Trump in the minds of the public and the electors? The latter reason seems unlikely as it could be too easily exposed as such. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sen-intel-comm-knows-something-about-russia-and-the-election-that-democrats-want-declassified/773516/5 "2016-12-01T11:38:46Z")
The letter carefully doesn’t say there _is_ information, merely that they _believe_ there is information, and that Obama should reveal such information Full Text: _“We believe there is additional information concerning the Russian Government and the U.S. election that should be declassified and released to the public. We are conveying specifics through classified channels,”_ It is the same as all the UFO/Aliens people who demand the US Government reveal anything they know and stop suppressing the truth. Doesn’t mean there is a truth. [And only very few politicians _want_ action to investigate aliens from outer space, such as Reagan or Hillary Clinton.] ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sen-intel-comm-knows-something-about-russia-and-the-election-that-democrats-want-declassified/773516/6 "2016-12-01T13:38:43Z")
^ Reagan and Hillary Clinton are aliens from outer space? Man, what a birth certificate battle _that_ could have led to! ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sen-intel-comm-knows-something-about-russia-and-the-election-that-democrats-want-declassified/773516/7 "2016-12-01T14:15:12Z")
Ron Wyden is a very serious, credible Senator, so there’s probably at least something interesting in there that he thinks the public should know. And as a very serious, credible Senator, he’s not doing it because he expects something sensational to happen. Not everything has to be earthshattering or “just the break the Clinton campaign was waiting for” to justify letting the public know about it. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sen-intel-comm-knows-something-about-russia-and-the-election-that-democrats-want-declassified/773516/8 "2016-12-01T15:12:09Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Ron Wyden is a very serious, credible Senator, so there’s probably at least something interesting in there that he thinks the public should know. And as a very serious, credible Senator, he’s not doing it because he expects something sensational to happen. Not everything has to be earthshattering or “just the break the Clinton campaign was waiting for” to justify letting the public know about it. Of course. But it is intriguing. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sen-intel-comm-knows-something-about-russia-and-the-election-that-democrats-want-declassified/773516/9 "2016-12-01T15:19:54Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Or could the letter simply be an attempt to deligitimze Trump in the minds of the public and the electors? I very much doubt that it’s simply a bluff to make Trump look bad. It was Senator Wyden who asked James Clapper “Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?”, when of course he knew (and Snowden later revealed) that the true answer was “yes”, despite Clapper’s denials at the time. So when he again says there’s classified information which the public ought to be informed of, I give him the benefit of the doubt. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sen-intel-comm-knows-something-about-russia-and-the-election-that-democrats-want-declassified/773516/10 "2016-12-01T15:23:35Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > It is the same as all the UFO/Aliens people who demand the US Government reveal anything they know and stop suppressing the truth. Doesn’t mean there is a truth. It’s not at all like that. These are members of the Senate Intelligence Committee. They have _seen_ the classified information. They just aren’t legally allowed to tell the public, unless the information is declassified. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sen-intel-comm-knows-something-about-russia-and-the-election-that-democrats-want-declassified/773516/11 "2016-12-01T16:11:28Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > It’s not at all like that. These are members of the Senate Intelligence Committee. They have _seen_ the classified information. They just aren’t legally allowed to tell the public, unless the information is declassified. Actually, they apparently could tell the public without facing legal prosecution, but there could be other consequences. > **[Congressional Release of Classified Information and the Speech or Debate...](https://www.pointoforder.com/2013/08/06/congressional-release-of-classified-information-and-the-speech-or-debate-clause/)** > > At Foreign Policy, Professor Bruce Ackerman asks "should members of Congress use their special constitutional powers of free speech to force the facts about the \[NSA surveillance program\] out into the open?" Ackerman notes that under the Speech or... > [@](#): > > Ackerman is certainly correct that the Speech or Debate Clause immunizes members of Congress from prosecution for disclosing classified information on the floor or in committee hearings. See [Gravel v. U.S.](http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/408/606.html) , 408 U.S. 606 (1972). As he also recognizes, however, members are not protected against congressional discipline, up to and including expulsion, for revealing classified information without permission. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2016, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sen-intel-comm-knows-something-about-russia-and-the-election-that-democrats-want-declassified/773516/12 "2016-12-03T11:25:18Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > [Wyden Leads 7 Senate Intelligence Committee Members Calling on the President to Declassify Information re: Russia and the U.S. Election | U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon](https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-leads-7-senate-intelligence-committee-members-calling-on-the-president-to-declassify-information-re-russia-and-the-us-election) > > [U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon](https://www.wyden.senate.gov/download/?id=D12DD589-5800-4BEF-9F93-A0A122F38D29&download=1) [Off-topic] When I click those links here in The Land of Smiles I get > [@](#): > > Access Denied > > You don’t have permission to access “[http://serve-403-cfpremium.www.senate.gov/download/?](http://serve-403-cfpremium.www.senate.gov/download/?)” on this server. > Reference #18.be0ba46e.1480762382.28af2293 From a TOR browser, I get in via Iceland (IIUC). Didn’t see what was so special that Thailand had to be barred. What Wunder-kind thought blocking Thailand was a path to security? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sen-intel-comm-knows-something-about-russia-and-the-election-that-democrats-want-declassified/773516/13 "2016-12-03T14:00:44Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > [Off-topic] When I click those links here in The Land of Smiles I get > From a TOR browser, I get in via Iceland (IIUC). Didn’t see what was so special that Thailand had to be barred. What Wunder-kind thought blocking Thailand was a path to security? There’s nothing sensitive at either of those links, and I can’t see any reason why the US would want to block the [senate.gov](http://senate.gov) domain from anyone in Thailand. Maybe the government on your end blocks it for some reason. Can you get to other .gov domains, like [whitehouse.gov](http://whitehouse.gov)? ---
**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:** [December 3, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sen-intel-comm-knows-something-about-russia-and-the-election-that-democrats-want-declassified/773516/14 "2016-12-03T16:09:32Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > There’s nothing sensitive at either of those links, and I can’t see any reason why the US would want to block the [senate.gov](http://senate.gov) domain from anyone in Thailand. Maybe the government on your end blocks it for some reason. Can you get to other .gov domains, like [whitehouse.gov](http://whitehouse.gov)? I’ve done some experimentation, with results too complicated to discuss in this thread. I’ll just say that [whitehouse.gov](http://whitehouse.gov) works fine; the symptoms from [senate.gov](http://senate.gov) are NOT what I usually see from Thailand’s censorship; and the choice http/https makes a difference though neither always works nor always fails. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sen-intel-comm-knows-something-about-russia-and-the-election-that-democrats-want-declassified/773516/15 "2016-12-03T16:19:44Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > It’s not at all like that. These are members of the Senate Intelligence Committee. They have _seen_ the classified information. They just aren’t legally allowed to tell the public, unless the information is declassified. It still comes down to their own **belief** that such documents reveal anything they allege, as distinct from the administration’s belief to the opposite. And if some documents are entered by a concerned amateur intelligence person that state LBJ personally shot JFK from The Grassy Knoll, that doesn’t mean the administration is bound to make these allegations public. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sen-intel-comm-knows-something-about-russia-and-the-election-that-democrats-want-declassified/773516/16 "2016-12-03T16:23:21Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I’ve done some experimentation, with results too complicated to discuss in this thread. I’ll just say that [whitehouse.gov](http://whitehouse.gov) works fine; the symptoms from [senate.gov](http://senate.gov) are NOT what I usually see from Thailand’s censorship; and the choice http/https makes a difference though neither always works nor always fails. :smack: It sounds like some kind of glitch rather than something deliberate. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2016, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sen-intel-comm-knows-something-about-russia-and-the-election-that-democrats-want-declassified/773516/17 "2016-12-04T02:26:31Z")
It’s probably nothing, but it still feels unsettling.