CIA Veteran Calls for Fresh Elections in the U.S.

Amid reports by the American intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the presidential election to ensure Donald Trump’s victory, a veteran Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operative, Robert Baer, has called for a new round of voting.
Baer, who spoke on CNN, on Sunday, said: “If we had been caught interfering in European elections or Asian elections or anywhere in the world, those countries would call for new elections. And any democracy would.”
According to a report by the New York Times, Baer also urged the CIA to release evidence of the Russia’s influence before members of the electoral college cast their ballots on December 19.
Baer, a 21-year veteran of the CIA, who received a Career Intelligence Medal after retiring in 1997, said he was “deeply disturbed” by Moscow’s meddling.
While he conceded that “we’ll never be able to decide whether they changed the outcome”, he said evidence should be released before the electoral college votes.
“The electoral college before the 19th has got to know, whether the Russians had an effect, if they went to Wikileaks, whether they hacked email, and whether they affected American opinion.”
“And they had a good reason to go after Hillary Clinton. Putin hates her for the Ukraine,” he added, in a reference to Clinton’s stance on the Crimean crisis.

When Baer was pressed about the feasibility of holding another presidential election, he emphasised that the legitimacy of the government was in doubt while conceding that he wasn’t sure how it would work constitutionally.
But he said: “I’m deeply disturbed by the fact that the Russians interfered, and I would like to see the evidence. If the evidence is there, I don’t see any other way than to vote again.”
President Barak Obama has ordered a review of the cyber attacks that targeted Democratic organizations and operatives during the 2016 elections, while members of the American Senate have also demanded a bipartisan inquiry into the matter.

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