“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero
By Glen Reaux
The Grim Reaper is a “personification of death in the form of a cloaked skeleton wielding a large scythe.” Mitch McConnell has personally taken pride in referring to himself as the Grimm Reaper {1} when it comes to defeating legislation presented by or originating from Democrats. He is so obsessed with his hatred for Democrats, possessed by protecting Trump and fulfilling his commitment to Putin that he has crossed an unforgivable line. That line is called treason. Mitch McConnell who has claimed the title of Grimm Reaper through his treasonous actions is exhibiting his desire to destroy this country. Regardless of whether or not he is ever tried for treason alongside Trump, his actions are the very commonsense definition of treason. Treasonous according to Webster is; “involving or guilty of the crime of betraying one’s country.” And, McConnell is not the only Republican in the Senate that is “betraying one’s country.” When an examination is made of the voting records and actions of other Republican Senators, there is proof that under the leadership of Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump, “Republicans Commit Treason and Promote Russian Election Interference.” Inviting foreign election interference either by action or inaction is treasonous and the perpetrators should suffer the full penalty allowed by law.
Most recently, the impeachment hearings have proven that treason in the Republican Party is not just limited to Trump and his minions of Lindsey Graham Mitch McConnell. The usual suspects have expanded from a handful of the leadership to include its smallest voice, Representative Heard of Texas, the only African-American congressman in the Republican Party. Despite being so disgusted with the party that he announced his retirement from Congress, for some incomprehensible reason, he has decided to ignore his crimes. Since the testimony of Fiona Hill, the nation’s top Russia expert that scolded our lawmakers for spewing Putin’s venom by promoting the debunked theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 elections, more Republicans have committed the crime of treason by drinking the treason flavored Kool-Aid . In particular, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Senators Ron Johnson, Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs and Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the Finance Committee. Is this even possible that the Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee would side with Putin against America.” The answer is yes and the proof is in the fact that he and Chuck have launched investigations into Joe Biden and Ukraine.
United States Law states:
“Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.”{2}
The Grimm Reaper and Senate Republicans by taking their oaths of office, swear to “defend the constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic” owe allegiance to the United States which places them in jeopardy of committing treason by taking actions that aid the Russians. Through its interference in the 2016 elections, Russia started a cyber war against the United States, thus becoming an enemy of the United States as confirmed by every intelligence agency in the U.S and by our foreign allies. While it is obvious by the idiotic but true statements made by so-called-president Trump that he has committed treason and will happily do it again, the news media has neglected to explain treason to the American people and the treasonous acts committed by Senate Republicans. Senate Republicans openly “adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere.” But, perhaps they don’t consider Russia to be their enemy since there is evidence that proves Republican Senators are on Putin’s payroll.
In a May 2017 article, The New York Times reported that in August of 2016, then-Director of the CIA John Brennon briefed both Republican and Democrat members of the Gang of 8 on the fact that Russians had developed a plan in 2014 to place Trump in the White House. The article states that Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was in opposition to presenting the evidence to the general public. According to the report:
“The C.I.A. told senior lawmakers in classified briefings last summer that it had information indicating that Russia was working to help elect Donald J. Trump president, a finding that did not emerge publicly until after Mr. Trump’s victory months later, former government officials say.”
“The briefings indicate that intelligence officials had evidence of Russia’s intentions to help Mr. Trump much earlier in the presidential campaign than previously thought…. The former officials said that in late August — 10 weeks before the election — John O. Brennan, then the C.I.A. director, was so concerned about increasing evidence of Russia’s election meddling that he began a series of urgent, individual briefings for eight top members of Congress, some of them on secure phone lines while they were on their summer break.”
The Times report continues:
“In the briefings, the C.I.A. said there was intelligence indicating not only that the Russians were trying to get Mr. Trump elected but that they had gained computer access to multiple state and local election boards in the United States since 2014, officials said.”
“Although the breached systems were not involved in actual vote-tallying operations, Obama administration officials proposed that the eight senior lawmakers write a letter to state election officials warning them of the possible threat posed by Russian hacking, officials said.”
In contradiction, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican majority leader, resisted and questioned the underpinnings of the intelligence, according to officials with knowledge of the discussions. “Mr. McConnell ultimately agreed to a softer version of the letter, which did not mention the Russians but warned of unnamed “malefactors” who might seek to disrupt the elections through online intrusion. The letter, dated Sept. 28, was signed by Senators McConnell, Reid, Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Representative Nancy Pelosi, the ranking Democrat in the House.”
This evidence is proof that McConnell and the Republican leadership in both the House of Representatives and the Senate knew that Russia had implemented a plan that began in 2014 to make Trump president. They were also provided proof that the Russians had penetrated the election systems of several states. Proof of a national security threat, the name of that threat, the type of threat and the possibility of treason being committed by a presidential candidate was presented to both the Republican and Democratic leadership by the CIA Director. Grim Reaper McConnell prevented actions that would have helped to secure our nation and our elections against a foreign threat. Although a case for treason against McConnell and other Republicans has not been made, there is ample evidence that supports a possible motive for their treason. That motive is the millions of dollars paid to McConnell and other Republicans and their PACs via Russian oligarchs that are Putin’s cutouts.
For Trump to be an effective Russian agent after taking office, Putin knew that he would need assistance. Putin through his oligarchs began to buy Republican government official in both the House and Senate. This wholesale purchase of Republican politicians has proven to be an infrastructure of support to aid and protect Trump. In a February 2019 two-part report published by Xplicit News titled “The Republican Senate, Putin’s Payola” {4}{5}, evidence of Putin’s use of money to buy political allegiance from the Republican Party is Provided.
Putin's Payola Part 2 Diagram
As evidenced by the illustration, through Russian Oligarch Leonard Blavatnik, Putin has contributed $2.5 million to McConnell’s Senate Leadership PAC. A detailed investigative report {6} published by the Dallas Morning News in August of 2017 states:
“Donald Trump and the political action committees for Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Lindsey Graham, John Kasich and John McCain accepted $7.35 million in contributions from a Ukrainian-born oligarch who is the business partner of two of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s favorite oligarchs and a Russian government bank.”
In a May 2018 follow-up report {7} by the Dallas Morning News, more detailed evidence is provided which includes a more expansive list of Putin’s oligarchs and the organizations and systems used by them to fund the Republican Party is provided. But these are not the only acts of treason taken by Senate Republicans in support of Putin’s and Trumps efforts to subvert our elections. Point-of-law, actions taken to subvert our elections when taken in concert with or at the behest of a foreign power or enemy are in-fact treason.
On August 1, 2018, during consideration of an Appropriations bill to fund securing future elections against Russian hacking and other forms of attacks, Senate Republicans blocked an amendment backed by Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) to provide $250 million for states to harden their voting systems against cyber interference.
The amendment was supported by 49 Democrats, Independent Senators and one Republican Senator, Bob Corker of Tennessee. The bill would have passed but Republican leaders changed the rules and insisted on a 60 vote threshold, so the amendment was not agreed to. This intentional act on the part of the Republican-controlled Senate to leave our election system open to Russian hacking is dereliction-of-duty by American officials that have been paid by Putin. Except for this payment, there is no other reason for this blatant on the part of Republicans. In 2017, the U.S. intelligence community’s unanimously concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. Both Houses of Congress then united and appropriated $380 million dollars for State Election Security Grants in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018.{8} The failure to use these funds is inexcusable and you should demand answers.
So, despite the fact that funds had already been approved in the national budget, under the leadership of self-proclaimed Grim Reaper McConnell, Republican Senators intentionally and unanimously with only Bob Corker dissenting, invited foreign election interference by voting against securing our election system. This is unprecedented in American history. To put this in common sense terms this is the same as a bank getting robbed of billions of dollars and afterward leaving the doors to the vault wide open and firing all of its security personnel. Do you think the bank will not be robbed again? Duh!
According to then-Senator Harry Reid of Nevada:
“Fair, honest elections are the bedrock of our democracy. Despite the fact that a majority of Senators supported this additional election security funding, and despite warnings from U.S. intelligence that hostile foreign powers are stepping up cyber attacks on our voting systems, the Trump Administration refuses to take this threat as seriously as it should. Congress needs to step up and help states do more to safeguard our elections. Today, the Senate came up short, but I will continue to press this issue,”
On May 16, 2019, in a Mother Jones Article {9}, a top Senate Republican stated that Mitch McConnell will not even let any election security bill come to the floor for a vote:
“The Senate will not vote on any legislation to protect US elections from foreign interference, a Republican committee chair said, despite the consensus of the intelligence community that Russia will once again seek to hack election systems and manipulate American voters in 2020.”
“The reason, said Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) on Wednesday, is that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has decided not to bring any election security bills to the floor for a vote. Blunt’s remark occurred during a hearing of the Rules and Administration Committee, which has oversight of election administration. When Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) asked Blunt, the chairman, whether he was planning mark-ups of any of the several election security bills pending before the committee, Blunt responded that it would be fruitless to advance legislation that McConnell would not allow to come up for a vote.”
On May 29th, Special Counsel Robert Mueller addressed the nation during a press conference. He explained to the nation the role of Russian social media interference and hacking of our election computer systems. According to Mueller these attacks are escalating and will continue into the 2020 election and beyond. In response, the House Appropriations Committee on June 4th approved a bill to fund $660 million for states to bolster election security by buying voting systems with “voter-verified paper ballots.” But, when the bill arrives in the Senate, based upon the Grim Reapers allegiance to Trump and Putin, the bill will never make it to the Senate floor for a vote. Obviously, this is not an act to “protect the constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic” as dictated by McConnell’s oath of office. Moreover, this is aiding Putin with his election interference and hacking of our election systems and an act of treason by Grimm Reaper McConnell. Any Republicans that support his actions by not immediately removing him from his powerful position of Senate Majority Leader are by default supporting Putin’s war against our democracy and should be voted out office for dereliction of duty.
Treason is the most egregious crime that an elected official can commit against the government and people of the United States. Mitch McConnell who so proudly hails himself as the Grimm Reaper has openly taken a stand against our government and the American people. There is proof on the record that he has taken millions of dollars from Russian oligarchs close to Putin during and leading up to the 2016 election. He has refused to do his constitutional duty to implement or support oversight over this so-called president. He has been successful in his ongoing attempts to block legislation designed to prevent further election interference and provide security for our elections.
In April, formerly sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, a Putin bagman funded $200 million dollars for a startup company in McConnell’s home state of Kentucky. This is further proof of his ties to Putin and Russian interfered in our elections. And most recently, after Trump openly stated that in violation of U.S. election law, he would accept election interference help from foreign nationals and McConnell has defended Trump for this admission of treason. McConnell continues to block legislation requiring politicians to notify the FBI if they are contacted by foreign nationals. These are not the actions of a patriot or a trustworthy elected official. These actions are overwhelming evidence that McConnell “adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.” McConnell is committing acts of treason and should be tried for these crimes alongside Trump. Unless this is done immediately, in 2020, with McConnell’s help our democracy will fall.
“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero
https://www.gofundme.com/xplicit-news
Linked Sources and Documentation
- Grim Reaper McConnell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji3QijGMtcw
- Treason, 18 US Code : http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title18/part1/chapter115&edition=prelim
- New York Times report: http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/cia-warned-lawmakers-about-russias-pro-trump-efforts-last-summer
- Putin’s Payola Part 1: http://www.xplicitnews.org/2019/02/12/the-republican-senate-putins-payola-part-1/
- Putin’s Payola Part 2: http://www.xplicitnews.org/2019/02/16/the-republican-senate-putins-payola-part-2/
- Dallas Morning News 2017 Article: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/08/03/tangled-web-connects-russian-oligarch-money-gop-campaigns
- Dallas Morning News 2018 article: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2018/05/08/putins-proxies-helped-funnel-millions-gop-campaigns
- 2018 Consolidated Appropriations Act: https://www.congress.gov/115/bills/hr1625/BILLS-115hr1625enr.pdf
- Mother Jones Article: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/05/the-senate-will-not-vote-on-any-election-security-bills-gop-senator-says/
Copyright © 2019, Glen Reaux, all rights reserved
