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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhile most eyes on AL, Trump added signing statement to defense bill undercutting Russia provisions
From the Daily Beast:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-objects-to-defense-laws-anti-russia-provisions
In signing the massive annual military spending bill, known formally as the National Defense Authorization Act, Trump objected to several measures Congress passed to toughen U.S. policy toward Russia, which U.S. intelligence has assessed interfered in the 2016 election to benefit him.
Several provisions of the bill, Trump wrote in his signing statement effectively a presidential caveat to new laws could potentially dictate the position of the United States in external military and foreign affairs and, in certain instances, direct the conduct of international diplomacy.
Its the latest installment in a pattern in which Trump carves out an exception to his typical bellicosity for Russia, even as he describes a federal investigation aimed at uncovering his campaigns ties to the Kremlin as a politicized fraud.
Among those provisions Trump cited as potentially violative of his authority is section 1239, which directs Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the military to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to counter threats by the Russian Federation.
Subsection A of the requirement, to which Trump also specifically objected, directs the strategy to attribute and defend against hybrid warfare operations short of traditional armed conflict against the United States and its allies and partners. In particular, such a strategy should identify and defend against Russias use of misinformation, disinformation and propaganda in social and traditional media something The Daily Beast, as well as the congressional Russia inquiries, have extensively documented.
-snip-
Those werent the only Russia-related measures in the NDAA Trump called out as faulty.
Section 1231 extends a recent restriction, first enacted after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, against military-to-military cooperation with Russian forces. That was a measure the U.S. military, in January, feared then-national security adviser Mike Flynn wanted the generals to violate in Syria, as The Daily Beast reported in June.
Section 1232 prevents the Pentagon from spending money to do anything that recognizes the sovereignty of the Russian Federation over Crimea, absent an explicit justification bearing Mattis personal imprimatur.
Section 1069 requires the security agencies to strengthen vetting processes for foreign investments that could potentially impair the national security of the United States. Specifically, Congress wants to bolster processes assessing, among other things, the counterintelligence risks posed by purchases or leases of Federal land.
-snip-
I'd missed this article yesterday. Found it this morning thanks to a retweet by John Schindler
https://twitter.com/20committee
who wanted his followers to read this tweet from someone who brought up a very important point not addressed in the article:
Link to tweet
cc:@20committee
dalton99a
(81,516 posts)SCantiGOP
(13,871 posts)Screamed the ignorant playground bully.
wishstar
(5,270 posts)Trump is oblivious to details, but Kushner has remained quietly active behind scenes in international scheme as evidenced by his secretive recent Saudi Arabian trip.
lapfog_1
(29,205 posts)If Trump didn't know about the details of the signing statement then he is criminally negligent, if he did know about the details, he is just criminal.
MGKrebs
(8,138 posts)Whoever is in the White House counsels office this week probably picked these things out after Trump said something like "Is there anything about Russia in there?"
wishstar
(5,270 posts)crazylikafox
(2,758 posts)Nuf said
PatrickforO
(14,577 posts)traitor.
Baitball Blogger
(46,736 posts)SHRED
(28,136 posts)highplainsdem
(49,004 posts)mountain grammy
(26,624 posts)Hes a puppet. Who is pulling the strings?
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)Botany
(70,516 posts)"19 meetings among 31 interactions ..."
"The constant revelations create such a blur that context sometimes is overlooked. Trump and his
operatives have lied repeatedly, denying that they had any contacts with Russians. Now we now
know of at least 19 meetings among 31 interactions."
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-12-10/the-trump-russia-probe-is-about-to-get-uglier
docgee
(870 posts)highplainsdem
(49,004 posts)58Sunliner
(4,386 posts)And does it have any weight as a signing statement? Other than the orange traitor trying to pressure policy.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)Where is the check on his powers? Where is it?
barbtries
(28,799 posts)is a traitor to this country.
i hate republicans. by now i figure a large number of them are as indebted to russia as trump is.
alfredo
(60,074 posts)ecstatic
(32,712 posts)many of us have about COLLUSION AND PAYBACK! Why is this being slipped under the rug????
ecstatic
(32,712 posts)with the help of a Russian friend. Jared is the mastermind behind this shit. Trump knows all about it too, but Jared is the mastermind (needed funding for his properties, Ivanka's businesses, and his father in law's business).