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Sunday, July 22nd, 2018

Why I’m No Longer a Russiagate Skeptic

Author:     BLAKE HOUNSHELL
Source:     Politico
Publication Date:     July 20, 2018
 Link: Why I’m No Longer a Russiagate Skeptic
Stephan:   This excellent essay parallels my own thinking except I was never a skeptic. As regular readers know I have thought from the get-go of Trump becoming a politician that having been through multiple bankruptcies, and having to turn to the Russians for money, he was under some obligation to Putin and the oligarchs. His behavior, to me, made that perfectly clear.    I found it to be further confirmed by his absolute resistance to releasing his tax returns.    And of course there is more, so much more, and Blake Hounsell lays it out and makes the case. The November election can be our way of responding. It requires that everyone vote. To quote fivethirtyeight, "Registered voters who didn't vote on Election Day in November were more Democratic-leaning than the registered voters who turned out." We need something like 78% of Democratic voters to vote to overcome the negative effects of gerrymandering and voter suppression.

Trump and Putin
Credit: CNN

When I wrote, back in February, that I was skeptical that President Donald Trump would ever be proved to have secretly colluded with Russia to sway the 2016 election in his favor, I mistyped.

What I meant to write was that I wasn’t skeptical.

Last week’s events have nullified my previous skepticism. To recap: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein revealed indictments against 12 Russians for the hacks of the Democratic National Committee, and we learned that Russian hackers went after Hillary Clinton’s private office for the first time on the very day Trump said, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.” At the NATO summit in Brussels, Trump attacked a close European ally—Germany—and generally questioned the value of the alliance. Next, he visited the United Kingdom and trashed Prime Minister Theresa May. Then, in Helsinki, he met with Vladimir Putin privately for two hours, with no U.S. officials present other than a translator. After this suspicious meeting, he sang the Russian strongman’s praises at a […]

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