{"id":92036,"date":"2017-12-29T08:53:16","date_gmt":"2017-12-29T12:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=92036"},"modified":"2017-12-29T08:53:16","modified_gmt":"2017-12-29T12:53:16","slug":"bombshell-leaked-email-shows-senate-probe-can-extend-to-anyone-of-russian-descent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=92036","title":{"rendered":"Bombshell Leaked Email Shows Senate Probe Can Extend To Anyone “Of Russian Descent”"},"content":{"rendered":"

ZeroHedge.com<\/p>\n

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The Young Turks Network (TYT), a popular progressive YouTube channel and news site,\u00a0has obtained a bombshell internal email\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>related to the Senate committee probing alleged Russian interference in the American political system, and though currently being covered in Russian media, mainstream US media is passing it over without comment.<\/p>\n

The email reveals that\u00a0the Senate committee has deemed anyone “of Russian nationality or Russian descent” relevant to its investigation<\/strong>, which means the\u00a0Russiagate conspiracy theory\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>and accompanying congressional investigation has officially jumped straight from neo-McCarthyism – smearing anyone that may have had contact with Russian government officials, diplomats or intelligence, and into xenophobia –\u00a0eyeing any and all Russians or friends of Russians as a potential threat plain and simple<\/strong>, which is far down the slippery slope that many commentators have long predicted.<\/p>\n

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\n“I must break you.” –Rocky IV<\/em><\/p>\n

The email, which is dated very recently, is\u00a0summarized by TYT as follows<\/a>:<\/p>\n

In an email dated December 19, 2017, April Doss – who\u00a0serves\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>as senior minority counsel on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) – defined the scope of the committee\u2019s inquiry as anyone a subject \u201cknows or has reason to believe [is] of Russian nationality or descent.<\/strong>\u201d The senior majority counsel for the SSCI, Vanessa Le, was cc\u2019d on the emails.<\/p>\n

Doss, the former head of intelligence law at the National Security Agency<\/strong>,\u00a0was reportedly brought onto the committee by Sen. M<\/a>ark Warner (D-Va.), who serves as its vice chairman and one of its most prominent public faces. Warner has repeatedly said that the committee\u2019s work\u00a0represents\u00a0<\/a>the \u201cmost important thing [he\u2019s] ever done.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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\nSource: The Young Turks\/TYT Investigates<\/em><\/p>\n

So a former chief counsel at the NSA is tasked with interpreting the legal and constitutional legitimacy of broadly probing “Russian persons” or even merely persons “believed” to be “of Russian nationality or descent”? Not too comforting.<\/p>\n

According to figures published by the\u00a0Institute of Modern Russia\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>in 2011, based on Census Bureau figures, the Russian American population is estimated to be 3.13 million, or just over one percent of the total US population. And who knows how widely the net can be cast on Russian “descent” or ethnicity? Or perhaps anyone who happens to be studying the Russian language or has a Slavic sounding accent? (…”knows or has reason to believe are of Russian nationality or descent” according to the email.)<\/p>\n

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Madness. That\u2019s only about three million people, or one out of every hundred Americans. https:\/\/t.co\/wDbxRNMBbR<\/a><\/p>\n

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 27, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n