The Trump campaign, and to a lesser extent, Republicans, has and have been willing to use the information provided by WikiLeaks. To be clear, when WikiLeaks first started it was embarrassing to the Republicans and I didn't speak out against it. That was in part because it looked like it was some disaffected member of the US military spilling certain embarrassing details, but details which weren't really state secrets.
However, it has now become clear that WikiLeaks is being fed by a foreign government and by a government which is not friendly to the US, our strategic interests or even to democratic rule (namely, Russia and it's dictator Vladimr Putin).
This isn't a party issue, this isn't a Dem/Republican issue, this is a national security issue. What if the Russians find a way to tap into polling machines? (something which is actively being investigated and hopefully defended against) What if the Russians find out actual secrets, plans of the US? Would that be sufficiently a problem? For Republicans not to repudiate Russia and to as a result, not walk away from the intelligence being provided by Russian intelligence services, is appalling. Just like a charitable contribution from a pedophile, you dismiss the gift when given under unethical circumstances. I would feel this way if this were stuff about Trump (or Cruz or Bush) if I was told it came from some foreign entity (like say, Israel). I would, like a good juror, ignore the information.
I think the press really OUGHT to walk away from it but they may not and as the fifth estate, I believe they ultimately have a duty to report the news of the leak if not the details, but members of government?? Whether it's current or prospective, they have a duty to disavow the act and the benefits of the act. Not doing so puts party before country, it abrogates the DUTY they swore to uphold, namely defending our constitution against foreign enemies and allowing a foreign government to intrude on our political process is failing to defend our democratic process. The government of Russia broke our laws, broke international laws, and engaged in espionage against our very likely future President, if not now, then when do you object?
As far as Russia goes, this country MUST push back on Russia. It needs to assault their operational systems and put some scare into Putin. If that constitutes clandestinely aiding the Ukrainians through direct transfers of money and/or military hardware, so be it. If that means disrupting their pipelines, so be it. If that means providing Europe with natural gas supplies and building pipelines to do so, so be it. You cannot let a foreign actor attack your IT infrastructure without consequence and I find it APPALLING that Republicans, not all, but many, not only don't agree, but are agreeing to be the willing fool for Putin.
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