Sure, it was fun watching the House GOP rip each other to shreds yesterday, but this will likely have serious consequences for Ukraine, because none of the candidates for House speaker will bring a funding bill to the floor. Morning Joe looked at the pieces:
"Yesterday, National Security Council official John Kirby reiterated U.S. support for Ukraine, despite the recent drop in funding by Congress in the latest spending bill," Mika Brzezinski said.
KIRBY: As Ukrainians wage a tough counteroffensive, as their children continue to get ripped from the bosom of their families, and as winter fast approaches, it is imperative that we help them take advantage of every single day. A lapse in support for even a short period of time could make all the difference on the battlefield. Just as critically, such a lapse in support will make Putin believe that he can wait us out. And that he can continue the conflict until we and our allies and our partners fold.
"Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that Russia's strategy to secure victory in Ukraine is to outlast Western support. According to the times, quote, 'U.S. officials said they are convinced Putin intends to try to end U.S. and European support for Ukraine by using his spy agencies to push propaganda supporting pro-Russian political parties, and by stoking conspiracy theories with the new technologies.
"Joining us now, the former director of the Department of Homeland Security cybersecurities infrastructure security agency, Chris Krebs, a partner in the cybersecurity firm, the Krebs Stamos group. Talk about if you could just how they can impact U.S. support for Ukraine and also European support and are they already doing that?" she asked.
"Absolutely. And I have to say, I'm actually a little taken aback because my view was that they were going to mainly target the 2024 election. They were going to try to get influence outcomes this time next year but they have been able to move their schedule up a little bit with the current chaos that's going on in the House of Representatives,' Krebs said.
"There are about three things happening right now. One is this uptick of activity across social media platforms, information operations to influence hearts and mind in Europe and elsewhere. And at the same time, we're seeing platforms including Twitter pull back on the mechanisms that had been put in place over the last several years, including some of the trust and safety election safety team they built up in the wake of the 2016 election as well as some of the tools that they have on the platform including self-reporting of political activity.
"This has really allowed a bit of a devil's playground on social media platforms, taking advantage of a moment of chaos and continuing to drive wedges across American and Western society."
