Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Unraveling Trump and the Russians

Donald Trump and his campaign associates had direct contact with the Russians and were either dupes or naive or colluders, and maybe all of the above. In command is Donald Trump.

Trump had a history of trying to conduct business with the Russians, inside Russia, where he was unsuccessful. He and his businesses were successful in collaborating on projects together in other nations, according to his son. He and his companies benefited from Russian-sourced loans that were likely laundered through foreign banking entities. The Treasury and FBI can make those determinations with assistance from the NSA.

Republican investigators are doing everything possible to slow and impede the discovery process. Just listen to their line if inquiry and the emphasis they give to topics as evidence of this.

In business, Trump is a gambler and wins more than loses. However, when he lost big, who bailed him out? Who loaned him money and why? The line of inquiry goes straight to the Russians where either Trump is a happy business dealer securing their investments, or where Trump became compromised along the way. Questions remain about his business relationships and if there is any evidence of his being blackmailed?

Only a thorough investigation of his business relationships can answer those questions.

Now, Trump's having attempted to curtail investigations by multiple authorities by throwing his weight around makes him appear to be guilty of something. It surely makes him appear to be ignorant of the law or abusive. In either case, there is no excuse.

When Donald Trump comes home from his foreign policy tour, he must face many more questions.

"President Donald Trump may have nothing to hide when it comes to alleged links between his campaign and Russia -- but he is behaving in a way that makes it look like he does. 
The President is now facing questions about two potential incidents of obstruction of justice: applying pressure on and eventually firing FBI Director James Comey, and separately leaning on National Security Agency Director Adm. Mike Rogers and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats to publicly deny any collusion between his aides and a Russian operation to disrupt the election last year, according to sources cited by The Washington Post and CNN. 
Of all the rapid-fire revelations, these could be the most serious. They indicate not just a single decision, but a possible pattern of behavior -- the scope of which appears to be broadening. A key question moving forward will be whether the President or his advisers had the intent to influence the investigation into contacts between Russia and his campaign, or whether Trump's actions were solely an attempt to manage a bad public relations cycle." 
http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/23/politics/trump-russia-comey-coats-rogers/index.html


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