2016 Election

This morning Politico published a longread interview with Jill Stein. An excerpt: Had a few thousand votes in key Midwestern states gone to Hillary Clinton instead of Jill Stein, many on the left believe, America might be having a very different conversation today. Instead, Democrats are still fuming about the role the Green Party nominee may have played in electing …

Business Insider reports: Hillary Clinton told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour during a women’s event on Tuesday that she believes she was “on the way to winning” the 2016 presidential election until the FBI announced 11 days before the election that it was revisiting the investigation into her emails. The former Secretary of State said that while she takes “absolute personal responsibility” …

Politico reports: The House Intelligence Committee is asking former Obama administration officials to testify in its first open hearing this month as part of the panel’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. Those being asked to testify March 20 include former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former acting Attorney General …

Gosh, hearing about this when it started totally could have affected the election. McClatchy reports: The FBI and five other law enforcement and intelligence agencies have collaborated for months in an investigation into Russian attempts to influence the November election, including whether money from the Kremlin covertly aided President-elect Donald Trump, two people familiar with the matter said. The agencies …

All they need was ONE Senator to force a debate, but it was a lost cause from the start. Politico reports: A challenge by several House Democrats to Donald Trump’s election on Friday collapsed when they failed to convince a single Democratic senator to join their protest. The short-lived, doomed-from-the-start effort — spearheaded by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas …

Politico reports: Several House Democrats are weighing a formal challenge to Donald Trump’s election on Friday, when Congress meets in joint session to certify Trump’s Electoral College victory. Reps. Ed Perlmutter of Colorado, Bobby Scott of Virginia [photo] and Jamie Raskin of Maryland are among a group of Democrats eyeing challenges. Members have the right to lodge those protests when …

This morning activist Matt Baume reminds us that there actually was some good news this year. From his clip description: “Do we have to do a year in review for 2016? This was a rough one, but what if I told you there were some really great milestones for LGBTs this year? It’s true! Amidst all the bad news, 2016 …

The Hill reports: A lawsuit has been filed against the CIA, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence seeking records pertaining to Russia’s interference in the presidential election. Journalist Jason Leopold and Ryan Shapiro, a Ph.D. candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District …

Snap. Politico reports: Hillary Clinton thanked her supporters Monday in an end-of-year email. “Before this year ends, I want to thank you again for your support of our campaign,” Clinton wrote. “While we didn’t achieve the outcome we sought, I’m proud of the vision and values we fought for and the nearly 66 million people who voted for them.” Clinton, …

The Hill reports: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he deserves no blame for Hillary Clinton’s election loss. In an interview with Italian newspaper la Repubblica, Assange denied that he was seeking to damage Clinton’s campaign by publishing hacked emails that reflected poorly on her. The documents were what Clinton’s inner circle was “saying about their own campaign, which the American …

The Hill reports: Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by just under 3 million votes, final state vote totals aggregated by the Cook Report revealed on Tuesday. The political news outlet, which has been tracking the votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, found Clinton with 65.8 million votes and 48.2 percent, compared to 62.9 million and …

From the editorial board of the New York Times: The Electoral College, which is written into the Constitution, is more than just a vestige of the founding era; it is a living symbol of America’s original sin. When slavery was the law of the land, a direct popular vote would have disadvantaged the Southern states, with their large disenfranchised populations. …

The Hill reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said no select committee is needed to look into the Russian meddling in the US. presidential election. McConnell said during an interview that aired Monday with Kentucky Educational Television that the issue of Russian hacking is a “serious issue,” according to The Washington Examiner. But it “doesn’t require” a special committee, …

Politico reports: Donald Trump swept aside a last-ditch bid to block his ascension to the White House on Monday, officially claiming the title of president-elect with his Electoral College victory. Trump’s defeat of Hillary Clinton follows a desperate and unprecedented attempt by Democratic electors to foment a revolt by convincing Republican electors to vote against him, an effort that collapsed …

The Washington Post reports: Amid the speculation on whether the electoral college will refuse to make Donald Trump president, many Trump opponents are pinning their hopes on one glaring fact: Hillary Clinton’s sizable win in the popular vote. Clinton’s lead now exceeds 2.8 million votes (more than 2.1 percent of the total vote) and continues to grow. Many Democrats hope …

The Washington Post reports: FBI Director James B. Comey and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. have backed a CIA assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election in part to help Donald Trump win the presidency, according to U.S. officials. Comey’s support for the CIA’s conclusion suggests that the leaders of the three agencies are in agreement …

The New York Times reports: Hillary Clinton said Thursday the hacking attacks carried out by Russia against her campaign and the Democratic National Committee were intended “to undermine our democracy” and were ordered by Vladimir V. Putin “because he has a personal beef against me.” Speaking to a group of donors in Manhattan, Mrs. Clinton said that Mr. Putin, the …

NBC News reports: U.S. intelligence officials now believe with “a high level of confidence” that Russian President Vladimir Putin became personally involved in the covert Russian campaign to interfere in the U.S. presidential election, senior U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News. Two senior officials with direct access to the information say new intelligence shows that Putin personally directed how hacked …

Politico reports: Hillary Clinton’s top political adviser John Podesta said the campaign is supporting an effort by members of the Electoral College to request an intelligence briefing on foreign intervention in the presidential election. “The bipartisan electors’ letter raises very grave issues involving our national security,” Podesta said in a statement Monday. “Electors have a solemn responsibility under the Constitution …

The Hill reports: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Monday blamed FBI Director James Comey for Hillary Clinton’s loss in the presidential election. “Comey helped [President-elect Donald] Trump significantly,” Reid said in an interview with CNN. “A week before the election, he came out with this, ‘Oh, we found some more emails,’ and, as a result of that, we …