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I honestly believe with all that is going on the country with this new administration that we all need to refocus, hold any speculation, examine all the facts, and stay focused on the issue at hand and not raw rabid partisan politics which easily sidetracks everything and yes, that is the aim of many today. With that in mind, here is another excellent article from the Washington
Post – my highlights shifted for emphasis to fit the blog, but the facts have not been altered — enjoy, and keep in mind what got us to this point:
1. Russia hacked the DNC email server and Wikileaks put it out.
2. Russia hacked John Podesta’s personal email
(he was Hillary’s campaign manager).
3. Aggressive Russian propaganda (disinformation by its proper name) to discredit Clinton during race is what we now refer to as “Fake News” had a lot of false impact.
4. Paul Manafort’s $12.7 million payday for
helping pro-Russian/Putin Ukraine candidates (he was Trump’s campaign manager –
had to resign).
5. Michael Flynn, Trump’s National
Security Council (NSC) Chief Adviser, had to resign for lying about his
contacts with the Russians – less than a month in office.
6. Now we have Jeff Sessions (newly sworn in AG) who met with the Russian Ambassador (Sergey Ivanovich
Kislyak) and did not reveal that fact during his Senate confirmation
hearing.
7. The New York Times later noted that
Kislyak met with Michael T. Flynn and Jared Kushner in
December, 2016 to establish a line of communication with the Trump
administration. (Note:
Kislyak says U.S. Intelligence Agencies is a top recruiter for FSB sources and
operatives).
8. Other Trump officials – campaign or otherwise
involved in Russian deals dating back years that Trump has denied for a long
time now – all proving to be true.
9. Donald
Jr. was paid $50,000 for speech in support of Russian effort in Syria by
pro-Russian/Syrian group.
(Notes: (1) Trump
Jr. spoke at dinner on October 11, 2016 at the Ritz Hotel in Paris, hosted by
the Center of Political and Foreign Affairs. Its president, Fabien Baussart,
and his Syrian-born wife, Randa Kassis, have cooperated with Russia in its
drive to end the Syrian civil war, according to U.S., European and Arab
officials, and (2) in December last
year, Baussart formally nominated Russian President Vladimir Putin for the
Nobel Peace Prize).
(My Insert: How
pathetic and ironic is that?).
10. USA Today now is reporting that two other
Trump advisers, J. D. Gordon and Carter
Page, spoke to Ambassador Kislyak at a diplomatic conference in connection
with the RNC (July 2016).
(Note: This newly-revealed USA TODAY report further
contradicts months of denials by Trump officials that the Trump campaign had
contacts with officials representing the Russian government).
Now
with Sessions turmoil, Mr. Trump, for the second time is the position of vouching for another of his top appointees who has been caught not
telling the full truth about conversations with Moscow’s top man in Washington.
Key: Who
actually has spoken with Russian officials and about what and why? What about Trump’s
finances with Russia that he always denies (tax papers could help clear that up, but we won't budge yet).
Within
24 hours of story about Sessions’ undisclosed
meetings with Russian Ambassador Sergey
Kislyak, Sessions recused himself in a press conference trying to tamp down calls for him to resign. His problems are far from over.
He
will go back before the Senate Judiciary Committee to be grilled under oath
about his earlier testimony. They will want to know how Thursday morning he disclaimed
the meetings and in the afternoon described Kislyak’s mood as testy when Ukraine
was the discussion.
They
will want to take him line by line through his testimony, pushing him to
explain how he left the impression that he had no contacts with any Russians
during the campaign. Even if we take Sessions at his word, which many people
don’t, he still had ample opportunity to correct statements. Not only did he
not correct his statement, he misled the committee, and it’s hard to conclude
that was anything other than intentional. Several parts of Sessions’ story
simple do not add up. For example:
1. At his
Thursday news conference, he noted he had been at his job for three weeks and
did meet with ethics officers saying: “In fact, on Monday of this week, we
set a meeting with an eye to a final decision on this question. And on Monday,
we set that meeting today. So this was a day that we planned to have a final discussion
about handling this. I asked for their candid and honest opinion about what I
should do about investigations, certain investigations. And my staff
recommended recusal. They said that since I had involvement with the campaign,
I should not be involved in any campaign investigation. I have studied the
rules and considered their comments and evaluation. I believe those
recommendations are right and just.”
2. That
opens up even more questions like: When did Sessions first meet with ethics
officials. Why did he announce a decision only after this story broke?
3. It should not have taken this long for him to
recuse himself; the conflict was obvious as ethics officials observed: “The
rules are clear as day and it shouldn’t have taken more than five minutes to
conclude he needed to recuse himself.
What
he needs to answer now is whether he was briefed on the substance of the
underlying investigation, and, if so, did he discuss it at all with the White
House?”
(Note: If
he took any action on the investigation or conveyed any information to the
White House, the investigation is tainted.)
Taking
a step back from Sessions, the number of connections between the Trump team and
the Russians that we now know about increases daily. The report also seems to
cast doubt on the claim that Page wasn’t part of the Trump team.
The
connection again raises the question as to “how the RNC platform was changed to
delete support for supplying Ukraine with weapons,” something the Trump team
falsely denied.
This
only underscores how little we know about the Trumps’ personal and financial
ties to Russia.
1. We are in the dark because Trump refuses to
release his tax returns and/or end ownership of his businesses.
2. His sons continue to run his businesses,
including international opportunities. Trump keeps insisting that he has no
dealings or financial activity “in” Russia, but we know he sought out deals.
3. In 2008, Trump, Jr. was quoted as saying,
“Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our
assets. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”
4. As late as 2015 Trump lawyer Michael D. Cohen
was still looking for deals for his client. The potential for corruption,
influence-peddling and financial impropriety — even if nothing untoward has
already occurred — is real.
Congress should demand three things:
1. Full disclosure of Trump’s tax returns and
all financial dealings with Russian players (in or outside Russia);
2. A complete list of all contacts and financial
arrangements of Trump family members and campaign associates with Russian
officials (before and after the inauguration);
3. The appointment of a special prosecutor with
full subpoena powers.
Without
these three basic steps, the Trump presidency will operate under a cloud of
suspicion, and Republicans will be seen as enabling corruption and foreign
interference in our government.
Short simple rational question: “How do we know whether Trump or his advisers are
compromised without those three essential items to prove one way or the other?”
Short simple answer: “We do not.”
The
longer Trump and the Republicans hide the ball, the more Americans will
conclude and suppose that the Russians have “something” on the president or on someone
(or many) on his team.
We
have a compelling right to know the truth – the full and unvarnished truth, and
the sooner the better for all of us. We need to put party labels and partisan
views aside. At this juncture, politics is not the issue – national security is.
This story still has a long
way to go until the finish line – unfortunately.
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