Robinson writes: "We know that President Trump and his campaign either colluded with the Russian effort to undermine U.S. democracy or tried mightily to do so. We know that Trump has apparently obstructed justice to try to halt investigation into what happened. What we don't know is whether Congress, in the end, will do its sworn duty to protect the Constitution."
President Trump gives a thumbs up. (photo: Jabin Botsford/WP)
What Is Trump So Desperate to Cover Up?
05 December 17
e know that President Trump and his campaign either colluded with the Russian effort to undermine U.S. democracy or tried mightily to do so. We know that Trump has apparently obstructed justice to try to halt investigation into what happened. What we don’t know is whether Congress, in the end, will do its sworn duty to protect the Constitution.
We also don’t know what else special counsel Robert S. Mueller III might have discovered, especially about the Trump family’s international financial dealings. Or what Mueller might be learning from Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty Friday to lying to the FBI and is cooperating with investigators. Or how far Trump, who is increasingly frantic, might yet go to squash the Mueller probe.
It is true that there is no federal statute against “collusion.” But a specific law is not necessary for citizens and their representatives in Congress to make a judgment: Is it acceptable for a presidential candidate and officials of his campaign to encourage an adversarial foreign power’s efforts to meddle in the U.S. election process — and then seek to reward that foreign power by easing sanctions? Yes or no?
I’m no fan of conspiracy theories, which usually fall apart under scrutiny; and I’m not interested in carrying water for the Democratic Party, which should have been able to beat Trump, who was manifestly unqualified and unfit, no matter what the Russians did. But what we have learned thus far is truly shocking.
In July 2016, Trump issued a public plea: “I will tell you this, Russia: If you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.” He was referring to deleted material from the private email server Hillary Clinton used when she was secretary of state. Previously, according to U.S. intelligence officials, state-sponsored Russian hackers had obtained thousands of private emails from the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, and the material was being released in a manner clearly intended to damage the Clinton campaign.
We now know that in June 2016, three of the most important figures in the Trump campaign — Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr.; his son-in-law, Jared Kushner; and his campaign chairman, Paul Manafort — had eagerly met with a Kremlin-tied lawyer who promised to share damaging information the Russian government had on Clinton. We also know that in April, another go-between had promised Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos “thousands of emails” containing “dirt” on Clinton.
Did anyone report these shady approaches to the FBI? No.
We know that in the last days of the campaign, Russian cyberwarriors targeted the social media accounts of potential Trump voters in key states. We don’t yet know how they aimed their propaganda so accurately.
We have learned, however, that after the election, the Trump transition team actively undermined sanctions that President Barack Obama had imposed on Russia for its election interference. Flynn discussed relaxing the sanctions with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak — then lied about it to the FBI. Transition adviser K.T. McFarland wrote in an email that the sanctions would make it harder for Trump to improve relations with Russia, “which has just thrown the U.S.A. election to him.” The White House says McFarland meant only that Democrats would claim Russia had thrown the election to Trump.
And we know that members of the Trump campaign’s inner circle consistently failed to disclose their meetings with Russian officials and emissaries. There is a pattern of behavior here. It may or may not be illegal, but it is certainly shocking and unacceptable.
As for obstruction of justice, Trump tweeted Saturday that “I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI.” This indicates the president knew Flynn had committed a crime before meeting with FBI director James B. Comey and, according to Comey, instructing him to drop the Flynn investigation. Trump later fired Comey, telling NBC’s Lester Holt that the reason was the Russia probe. Trump has reportedly hectored other administration officials and members of Congress to stop investigating the Russia connection.
One of Trump’s lawyers, John Dowd, said that he, not Trump, authored that incriminating tweet. He later argued to Axios’s Mike Allen that the president “cannot obstruct justice because he is the chief law enforcement officer” under the Constitution.
With Flynn now cooperating, Mueller’s investigation enters a new phase. But let’s not lose sight of the big picture. Ask yourself a common-sense question: If nothing wrong happened with Russia during the campaign, why is Trump so desperate to cover it up?
|
THE NEW STREAMLINED RSN LOGIN PROCESS: Register once, then login and you are ready to comment. All you need is a Username and a Password of your choosing and you are free to comment whenever you like! Welcome to the Reader Supported News community. |
 24 April 2018
|
 25 April 2018
|
 24 April 2018
|
 23 April 2018
|
 24 April 2018
|
 23 April 2018
|
 26 April 2018
|
 24 April 2018
|
 25 April 2018
|
Comments
A note of caution regarding our comment sections:
For months a stream of media reports have warned of coordinated propaganda efforts targeting political websites based in the U.S., particularly in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.
We too were alarmed at the patterns we were, and still are, seeing. It is clear that the provocateurs are far more savvy, disciplined, and purposeful than anything we have ever experienced before.
It is also clear that we still have elements of the same activity in our article discussion forums at this time.
We have hosted and encouraged reader expression since the turn of the century. The comments of our readers are the most vibrant, best-used interactive feature at Reader Supported News. Accordingly, we are strongly resistant to interrupting those services.
It is, however, important to note that in all likelihood hardened operatives are attempting to shape the dialog our community seeks to engage in.
Adapt and overcome.
Marc Ash
Founder, Reader Supported News
- or, as robbee always says, dickhead is a cheap crook with tiny hands in other peoples' pockets - what if, for example, interest on the money deutchebank loans dickhead gets paid by putin?
it appears that today mueller wants us public to know what every member of dickhead's family knows, because a copy of each subpoena goes to the person whose account got subpoenad - that mueller has subpoenad accounts held by dickhead and his family! that's how the net of "quid pro quo deals with governments for financial favors" tightens!
is dickhead the siberian candidate? if dickhead has deep levels of ties to putin, then that would explain pretty much every conduct how dickhead acts and tweets
We don't know that. And neither do you, Eugene. This is just the mantra that zombie journalists repeat day after day. They mumble it in their sleep. It keeps the paychecks from the Wapo coming. If anyone, like Eugene, were to stop, he'd soon discover that his paycheck stopped coming.
This is all just boilerplate. It is embarrassing that a very good journalist would put his name on this pablum.
"Once a Washington groupthink takes hold, as it has in the fervent belief about Russia-gate, respect for facts and logic fly out the window since all these important people can’t be wrong."
"The Tangled Threads of Russia-gate"
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/12/05/the-tangled-threads-of-russia-gate/
Eugene Robinson's article is only more groupthink. Breaking free from groupthink seems to me the most important thing everyone needs to do. Critical thinking and reasoning is the foundation of democracy. America has lost its democracy because of groupthink. Only efforts by individuals can recover it. The purveyors of groupthink, such as the major media, are not the solution. They ARE the problem.
Maybe you could briefly and quickly enumerate the points of proof you have for Russian interference in the 2016 election. I don't see any. All the points that have been suggested seem to me to have been refuted.
We don't have a choice. Mueller will go on for a long time more. He'll do his work just like Ken Starr did. There seems to be no way to stop this process once it starts. All I'm saying is that I think he is wrong.
Have a look at the zionist that runs CrowdStrike, which cooked up the scandal a the DNC's behest.
Replying to your own posts, RR? Don't you trust your loyal fans to do it for you?
As for "groupthink," as you use it that term is Newspeak for "lots of people saying what I don't want them to."
Actually I am quite tolerant and accepting of different opinions and viewpoints. I think difference is the essence of a modern democratic society. We have mechanism for making decisions when they have to be made. Elections are one mechanism. Ours is broken right now.
Let's face it, none of us out here in the cheap seats knows the full truth of Russiagate. The best we can do is make an honest assessment of the information presented to us by the media -- all of it, mainstream and alternative. That's what I try to do. I think some others are just partisan: they love Hillary and want vengeance against Trump. They really don't care about a careful analysis. OK. I understand where they are coming from. I'm just not persuaded by their passion.
- robbee has been dying for someone to ask this! thanks!
I challenge all readers to research everything and never react quickly to what is read.
Maybe Mueller knows. He has not shown anything yet but he may show something someday. I remember very clearly that people said what you just said about Ken Starr -- "methodically laying siege to the [Clinton] White House." And after 6 years all he could come up with was a stain on a dress. but we will see about Mueller. My bet is Mueller ends up the same. You think he'll hit a home run. We will see in a few years, if Mueller is around that long.
The cases against Flynn, Papadopoulos, Manafort definitely do not establish a connection between the campaign and Russia. Flynn and Papadopoulos were charged with lying, not with conspiring with Russia to corrupt the election. Manafort's indictment never mentions Russia. It mentions Ukraine. Flynn's plea mentions Israel and Israel's request that Flynn talk to the Russian ambassador.
Yep! Mueller needs to investigate the Israelis, not the Russians. This isn't the first time Israel has attacked the U.S.
the Russians were not needed to steal the US election---Kris Kobach & the GOP were more than capable of doing that.
clearly they didn't need to intimidate hillary clinton, who opted to walk her dogs, sip chardonnay and write a snippy book rather than fight for the presidency.
but trump has multiple-bankrt ucies on his balance sheet and somebody has been funding him---in rubles.
What does this have to to with Russian hacking? Nothing.
What is more likely is that he is trying to hide money laundering and tax evasion and other similar corruption tied to the Russian mob, but not exclusive to Russia. He enterprises all over the world are suspect. He has been trying to intimidate Mueller into sticking with the original collusion r, but he doesn't appear that Mueller is inclined to be intimidated. The sooner he gets to the real criminal stuff the better.
RSS feed for comments to this post