I think this is a BFD (big fucking deal)! No way around it. If it's to be believed, then, well, yes, not only did Trump lose the Popular Vote to Hillary Clinton by nearly 3 million votes, and sneaked in via the Electoral College - but Putin helped him do it.
Does it "delegitimize" his win?! Yep. For sure. Is it bad for America? Yep. For sure.
Should we be surprised that Trump will madly spin this info? Nope.
You can read the declassified Intelligence Report here. This "annotated" version with notes and clarifications is a really helpful and informative read. Also Zach Beauchamp, who has emerged as a tremendous resource for me over at Vox, has a nice recap of the report.
So yes, if all this is true, it's a bombshell. Alternatively, if it's just an elaborate hit-job by U.S. Intelligence on the incoming President, well, then, maybe, that's an even bigger bombshell.
Is it really possible that "no drama" Obama would endorse and release this if he thought it was a lie? Not on your fucking life!
I think our incoming President is finding out that soon he will not be controlling the narrative. Maybe tweeting in the middle of the night has worked wonders during the election and pre-inaguration period, but soon, he will learn the lesson that all other Presidents had to learn - yes, being President is a position of power, but reality is bigger and deeper and more complicated than one man's little story.
Reality bites deep and hard. Never fails.
BTW - I do think this is the way the New York Times screams that something really important went down, Saturday's front page...
