I’ve previously written about how the President is likely compromised by Russian “President” Vladamir Putin. We now know at least part of the quid pro quo. Trump wanted to build a Trump tower in Moscow, likely to do money laundering out of as he does in his hotels worldwide. Several media outlets are reporting he enticed Putin by including as part of the project, 50 million to create a several story Penthouse for the Russian “President.” This wasn’t enough, however, to allow an American mobster to build on prime Russian real estate.
For years, Russia has been fighting strategically against the West for power and land grabs in the middle east and surrounding Russia’s border, mainly in Crimea and Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly ignored international peace agreements, aggressively deploying tanks and even attempting to annex the entire region of Crimea. They’ve sold weapons to the terrorists fighting against our own interests in the Middle East. For this reason, they’ve been heavily sanctioned by all recent U.S. Presidents. Until now.
Russia operates as a de-facto Oligarch state with Putin as dictator. There are a handful of rich Russians who control everything that goes on in their country. And in order to be rich in Russia, you have to get along with Putin. He uses his oligarchs to money launder and finance illegal operations all over the world. For these reasons as well as others, their Oligarchs have been under heavy sanctions for decades.
Putin desperately wants to get rid of these sanctions, as they’ve been extremely effective at curtailing his regimes influence. It’s also had the effect of crippling the Russian economy. It turns out it’s hard to run an economy on just oil and crime in 2018. If you’re Putin though, you can stay in power as long as you jail your political opponents (like Trump calls for.. Lock her up! Right? We want this to be Russia, right? Make America Russia Amen? No? Having second thoughts?). I’m not exaggerating. Every Putin challenger politically either gets locked up conveniently during election time or goes missing. Putin is responsible for attacks on British agents in their own country as recently as this year.
Putin said ok Donnie, you want your Pent House on Russian loans? Get rid of the sanctions. I’ll help get you the Presidency. Then you get rid of those sanctions.
Unfortunately for Putin, that hasn’t been as easy as he thought. Sure, releasing the dirt on Hillary wasn’t that hard to do. Do it through a 3rd party Wikileaks, so it doesn’t seem intentional. At the time, Trump was literally beginning for Russia to do exactly what it did. Russia hacked the Democratic National Committee and released dirt on Hillary Clinton just prior to the 2016 election – just as Donald publicly asked for them to.
After Trump was elected, Congress passed new sanctions on Russia for their aggression in Ukraine and their interference in our 2016 election. When those sanctions hit Trump’s desk, he refused to sign them. No, no, we can’t hurt Russian businessmen, that would compromise Trump Tower Moscow!
This is exactly why the emoluments clause exists in the constitution. Article I, Section 9, Paragraph 8, which prohibits federal officeholders from receiving any gift or payment from foreign entities. The reason? Our national interests could quickly be compromised in favor of wealth for the individual (President). Unfortunately, Trump still refuses to release his tax returns, and Republicans in congress have been completely unwilling to investigate him in any manner. That will change in January.
Michael Flynn, Trump’s national security adviser, has been cooperating with the Mueller investigation from the beginning. He, too was compromised before he was appointed, and Mike Pence and Trump both knew it. Russia knew he was compromised because he had already lied to the FBI about his contacts with them. They had leverage on him, being able to expose him to his own government at any time. Somebody that’s capable of being blackmailed by a hostile foreign power is not exactly who you want in a position of “national security.” Unless you’re Putin and you’re actively working against American interests. In that case, that sounds great! “How many different compromised officials can I get Trump to appoint before America wakes up?” Putin asks self.
Thankfully Flynn was quickly outed and has been working to take down other members of Trump’s treasonous transition team. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying, just as George Papadopolous (Trump transition team) and Rick Gates (Deputy campaign director) did. Gates and Flynn have been selling out this administration for months now and the guilty pleas are adding up. The truth is coming out. The fact that Flynn was recommended the lightest sentence possible, 0-6 months, that speaks volumes to the degree to which he sold out Trump and his aides.
If you’ve been watching Trump in the last week or so, you may have noticed some body language changes. He knows he’s toast. In January, he won’t be able to hide behind a partisan congress to protect him from accountability. Aside from that, the Mueller investigation already appears to have encircled the President with veteran-like precision. Trump’s old tax lawyer was raided by the FBI just last week, the same day that German officials raided Deutschebank, one of the only banks remaining that was willing to do business with Donald Trump. Fact: Donald cannot get a loan in the USA. He’s been bankrupt 4 times. Fact: Mueller now has his hands on Trump’s financial records.
Putin conned Donnie. Donnie conned us. Well, just enough of us in just the right states. 3 million more of us voted for Hillary. The only person who hates Hillary more than Trump is Putin. Why? Because she’s not looking to put herself in a position to get blackmailed. She’s looking to find ways to hold murderous dictators like Putin accountable, and she’s been calling him out for years.
I know who Ronald Reagan would cheer for, and it’s not the guy calling Russia “not so bad” and demanding congress build walls, that’s for sure.
Ya done messed up, America.