Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has never accepted the results of the 2016 presidential election — and she wants foreign help against President Donald Trump.
But she’s not getting it. And Hillary said she was “dumbfounded” that the U.K. government has failed to release a report on Russian influence in British politics as the country prepares to hold a national election next month.
The former U.S. presidential candidate told British media that the public needs to know what is in the report by Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee before British voters go to the polls on Dec. 12.
Hillary wants to show that the Russian interfered in the British election, like she claims they did in the 2016 presidential election.
Special counsel Robert Mueller spent two years and tens of millions of dollars investigating alleged Russian election interference. The special counsel’s office concluded the Russians did attempt to meddle on the behalf of outsider candidates like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-V.T., Green Party candidate Jill Stein, and — yes — Trump.
The mainstream media claimed Trump colluded with Russia. The special counsel investigation found there was no evidence of collusion.
Across the ocean, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has said it needs more time to review the security implications of the report before it is released.
“I’m dumbfounded that this government won’t release the report … because every person who votes in this country deserves to see that report before your election happens,” Hillary Clinton told the BBC on Tuesday. “There is no doubt … that Russia, in particular, is determined to try to shape the politics of Western democracies, not to our benefit but to theirs.”
Hillary also spoke about the British report with the Guardian newspaper at an event promoting “The Book of Gutsy Women,” a work she co-authored with her daughter, Chelsea. The former U.S. Secretary of State said Britain needed to start leading America during the Trump administration.
“I am, as a great admirer of Britain, concerned, because I can’t make sense of what is happening,” Clinton told The Guardian. “We have a president who admires dictators and takes their help and does all kinds of crazy stuff. So we need you to be the sane member of this partnership going forward.”
Lawmakers from a range of parties, including Johnson’s Conservatives, have urged the government to publish the report during a debate in the House of Commons. But Foreign Office minister Christopher Pincher argued it was “not unusual” for the review of such reports to “take some time.”
The Russian report comes amid increasing concerns about the security of an election being fought in an increasingly digital world. Britain’s election laws are woefully out of date, written more for a time when leaflets were pushed through mailboxes instead of Facebook and other social media publishing political ads.
Following an 18-month investigation into online privacy and the use of social media to spread disinformation, an influential parliamentary committee in February urged the British government to urgently approve new laws addressing internet campaign techniques, insisting that democracy itself was under threat.
But Johnson called an early election in response to the political turmoil caused by Britain’s pending departure from the EU, which is now scheduled for Jan. 31. Britain’s 46 million eligible voters will be choosing 650 lawmakers in the House of Commons in the Dec. 12 vote.
Collins had been appealing for a coordinated approach across all parts of the U.K. government to combat disinformation campaigns and protect the electoral system.
In other election news, Brexit Party chief Nigel Farage changed course Monday, announcing that his party would not challenge Conservative candidates in nearly half of the U.K.’s districts. The tactic may make it easier for pro-Brexit forces to prevail in the election and should boost the chances that Johnson’s Conservatives win a majority.
The Associated Press contributed to this article