Trump and Putin could not be destroying America without Mitch McConnell's help

Trump and Putin could not be destroying America without Mitch McConnell's help
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/25/1829454/-Trump-and-Putin-could-not-be-destroying-America-without-Mitch-McConnell-s-help?detail=emaildkre

Roger Stone. Paul Manafort. Donald Trump. As indictments and arrests narrow in on Individual 1, never forget that U.S. intelligence knew before the election that the Trump campaign had the support and the interference of the Russian regime. Don't forget also that congressional leadership knew that too, because intelligence officials told them.

Also don't forget that one congressional leader in particular—Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell—kept all of us from knowing that.

We have receipts. We know that in September of 2016, McConnell was informed, along with then-Democratic leader Harry Reid, that the Russians were trying to help Trump, and McConnell raised holy hell to keep it quiet. McConnell's reaction, in the words of Washington Post reporter Greg Miller, who broke this story, was "basically telling [the CIA], 'you're telling us that Russia is trying to help elect Trump. If you try to come forward with this, I'm not going to sign onto any sort of public statement that would condemn Russian interference. But I will condemn you and the Obama administration for trying to mess up this election.'"

McConnell knew full well that the CIA was deeply concerned about the election. He also knew that Russia has an ongoing interest in our elections, and specifically in getting Republicans elected, because his own leadership PAC received $2.5 million filtered through Len Blavatnik, a dual U.S.-U.K. citizen, from a web of Putin's oligarchs, possibly including Oleg Deripaska, Paul Manafort's boss both in Ukraine and while he was working on the Trump campaign.

When fellow Republicans tell McConnell that "this is all your fault," they're not just talking about the shutdown.