Five Weeks Later, Clinton Camp Won’t Accept Defeat

Defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign announced Monday that it would support the request of several Electoral College members to receive an intelligence briefing concerning alleged foreign intervention in the presidential election — before casting their states’ votes.

Although the Democratic nominee expressed her support for the outcome of the election during her concession speech, the Clinton camp first appeared to reverse course when it backed Green Party nominee Jill Stein’s effort to force a recount in Wisconsin. That recount ultimately happened, and as of Sunday night had netted Clinton just 25 votes in a state President-Elect Donald Trump won by roughly 22,000.

“We now know that the CIA has determined Russia’s interference in our elections was for the purpose of electing Donald Trump. This should distress every American.”

Undeterred, the Clinton campaign is continuing to search for Hail Mary opportunities to undermine Trump’s electoral college victory.

Following the Friday revelation that a secret CIA assessment from 17 unnamed sources believed Russian hackers were responsible for the Democratic National Committee data hacks and revealing information from Clinton’s campaign chairman to WikiLeaks, Clinton’s campaign jumped to blame the Russians for her loss.

“The bipartisan electors’ letter raises very grave issues involving our national security,” Clinton campaign Chairman John Podesta said in a statement Monday. “Electors have a solemn responsibility under the Constitution and we support their efforts to have their questions addressed.”

Podesta noted that Clinton’s campaign vehemently “decried the interference of Russia in our campaign and its evident goal of hurting our campaign to aid Donald Trump.”

“Despite our protestations, this matter did not receive the attention it deserved by the media in the campaign,” Podesta continued. “We now know that the CIA has determined Russia’s interference in our elections was for the purpose of electing Donald Trump. This should distress every American.”

Prior to Podesta’s statement, Trump said in a tweet that the mass outrage over the CIA’s secret report would be nonexistent if sources had claimed that hackers had acted to sway the election in Clinton’s favor.

“Can you imagine if the election results were the opposite and WE tried to play the Russia/CIA card,” Trump tweeted Monday. “It would be called conspiracy theory!”

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Podesta’s statement referred to an open letter penned by 10 presidential electors — one of whom is House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s daughter — in which they demanded to receive an intelligence briefing prior to their Dec. 19 Electoral College vote.

The Clinton campaign’s willingness to jump on the election outrage bandwagon is symptomatic of a rampant desire to delegitimize the voices of millions of Americans.

“It became clear to me last night that this man is not only unqualified to be president, he’s a danger to the republic,” Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) told Politico Monday. “I do think the Electoral College should choose someone other than Donald Trump to be president. That will lead to a fascinating legal issue … but I would rather have a legal problem — a constitutional legal problem — than to find out the White House was now the Kremlin’s chief ally.”

A  recent Change.org petition also arose petitioning President Obama, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, the Federal Election Commission, and the Supreme Court to allow for a redo of the presidential election.

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“In light of recent evidence reported by the CIA, that the United States 2016 Presidential Election has been infiltrated and tampered with by the Russian government to elect Donald J. Trump, in collusion with the FBI, and abetted by widespread voting malfeasance and suppression, We The People of the United States demand a new vote on the 2016 Presidential election, to take place in Federal buildings, and overseen by the Federal Government,” the petition demands.

Trump and his advisers have hammered these liberal narratives that seek to discredit the voices of so many American voters.

“But, look, the Russians didn’t tell Hillary Clinton to ignore Wisconsin and Michigan, OK? I mean, I know it’s — this is an insane analysis. She lost the election because her ideas were bad,” incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week.” “She didn’t fit the electorate. She ignored states that she shouldn’t have and Donald Trump was the change agent, OK? So this is all very interesting, but Donald Trump won in an electoral landslide that had nothing to do with the Russians. Or whoever else.”

Trump agreed, calling the CIA’s report from its unnamed sources “ridiculous.”

“I think it’s ridiculous. I think it’s just another excuse. I don’t believe it,” Trump said Sunday on “Fox News Sunday.” “Every week it’s another excuse.”