Normally, Bob Martin’s columns are so predictable and inane I tend to ignore them. But in the May 18 issue of the A-M, he put forth so much misleading information and so many outright falsehoods that someone must refute them.

No fewer than 17 U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia hacked the DNC and selectively fed this information to Wikileaks, who released emails (some of which were tampered with) at a time designed to inflict maximum damage on the Clinton campaign.

Trump operatives — Roger Stone, Mike Flynn, Rudy Giuliani, et al. knew and predicted when leaks would be forthcoming, suggesting prior knowledge and collusion. And of course, Trump himself implored Russia to “release the 30,000 Clinton emails” that had supposedly been deleted. Trump treats the Russians as his best allies, not as America’s most formidable enemy. Now that Robert Mueller has been named special counsel to investigate the Trump-Russia connection, evidence of collusion will soon be forthcoming.

Putin hated Hillary Clinton. He blamed her for the demonstrations against his authoritarian rule in 2011.  “Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had sent ‘a signal’ that spurred protesters to action” — New York Times, Dec. 8, 2011. As secretary of state, Putin found her to be a hard-nosed, tough-minded negotiator. Trump, on the other hand, is Putin’s lap dog.

Either Trump owes Russian oligarchs billions of dollars or, as House Republican Majority leader Kevin McCarthy suggested, “Putin is paying Trump.” In any event, Trump sucks up to Putin and Russian officials every chance he gets, even inviting them into the oval office and sharing vital intelligence with them. Why wouldn’t Putin love Trump? He owns him.  

The term “unmasking,” which Martin throws around like something big, is no such thing. It’s simply the necessary obtaining of the identity of the domestic party in an international phone conversation by an intelligence agency. His 1,400 number is a wild exaggeration and is in no way “an existential threat to our republic,” unlike, say, the revelation of vital intelligence secrets to our worst enemy.

The uranium sale to Russia is a discredited canard. Politifact and Snopes.com have given it “False” and “Pants on Fire” ratings.

Trump lost the popular election by 3 million votes! He only won the Electoral College because 107,000 people in Michigan/Wisconsin/Pennsylvania voted for him. Absent the Russian interference and the Comey letters, HRC would have won.

Jim Porter

Danville