McConnell supressed CIA reports that Russian hacks were aimed at electing Trump

the CIA concluded that Russia actively interfered in the election not just to destabilize our political system, but to actively elect Donald Trump. This conclusion was not something they just pulled out of thin air. Intelligence agencies had arrived at their conclusion in September, and briefed a bipartisan group in the Senate and House about it then, along with President Obama. The President wanted to go forward with a full disclosure of the report, but Mitch McConnell quashed it, threatening to taint any disclosure with the claim that it was being made merely for political gain. McConnell was willing to let the Russians meddle in the election because his guy was getting the benefit of their work. This is outrageous. "It is the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia's goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected," said a senior U.S. official briefed on an intelligence presentation made to U.S. senators. "That's the consensus view." In other words, there was active interference on the part of Russia not simply to destabilize our politics, but to actively elect one candidate over another. Concerned that a unilateral White House statement would appear as though the administration was tilting the election in favor of the Russians, the White House decided to convene a bipartisan panel of elected officials to review the material in the hopes of issuing a unified statement and warning states about possible compromises to their voting systems. Instead, officials devised a plan to seek bipartisan support from top lawmakers and set up a secret meeting with the Gang of 12 - a group that includes House and Senate leaders, as well as the chairmen and ranking members of both chambers' committees on intelligence and homeland security. Look who they sent to that meeting: Obama dispatched [Lisa] Monaco, FBI Director James B. Comey and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to make the pitch for a "show of solidarity and bipartisan unity" against Russian interference in the election, according to a senior administration official. Specifically, the White House wanted congressional leaders to sign off on a bipartisan statement urging state and local officials to take federal help in protecting their voting-registration and balloting machines from Russian cyber-intrusions. Yes, that's right. James Comey knew in September about the CIA's conclusions and was part of the team asked to make the pitch to elevate this issue to the American people on a bipartisan basis. In September. So, by the way, did Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who had a very specific response to the administration's appeal for bipartisanship. The Democratic leaders in the room unanimously agreed on the need to take the threat seriously. Republicans, however, were divided, with at least two GOP lawmakers reluctant to accede to the White House requests. According to several officials, McConnell raised doubts about the underlying intelligence and made clear to the administration that he would consider any effort by the White House to challenge the Russians publicly an act of partisan politics. Shall we take a moment to allow that to sink in? Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader, sworn to uphold and defend the United States Constitution, chose to threaten the White House with a smear if they disclosed this information to the American people. What happened to defending against enemies, domestic and foreign, Senator McConnell? Is this treason?