But on to the main topic, here’s a selection for you:
Does Trump owe Russia? The Supreme Court’s ruling on the president’s taxes may eventually give us answers
Elaine Kamarck , July 10, 2020
www brookings _ edu/blog/fixgov/2020/07/10/does-trump-owe-russia-the-supreme-courts-ruling-on-the-presidents-taxes-may-eventually-give-us-answers/
“You’ve made yourself beholden to Putin.”
June 12, 2019,
www americanprogressaction _ org/progress-reports/youve-made-beholden-putin/
Russia’s hold on Trump, as detailed in the Mueller report
You know it’s bad when Republican allies say that Trump’s campaign is “beholden to Putin.”
Here are three takeaways from today’s hearing:
All of Russia’s actions accumulated to gain leverage over Trump: From contacting George Papapdopoulos to coordinating with Donald Trump, Jr., to backing up Trump’s and Cohen’s lies about the Trump Tower Moscow, the Kremlin succeeded in influencing Trump’s campaign and accumulating enough leverage to continue influencing Trump once he was in office.
Trump and his inner circle are compromised: One former FBI official put it this way: “If you can be compromised based on your dishonesty about something, that’s something a foreign intelligence agency can take advantage of.” That describes Trump and his inner circle. That’s exactly the alarm that was raised about Michael Flynn when he lied about his calls with Russia. The danger that poses to our national security cannot be overstated.
It’s Congress’s job to make sure that Americans know what Mueller’s report does—and does NOT—say: Rep. Adam Schiff began the hearing by making the report’s conclusions clear in no uncertain terms: “For those who have not yet read the Mueller report, and most have not, they might be astonished to learn that a finding of no collusion, much less a finding of no obstruction, is nowhere to be seen on any page or in any passage of the Mueller report.”
How Russian Money Helped Save Trump’s Business
After his financial disasters two decades ago, no U.S. bank would touch him. Then foreign money began flowing in.
BY MICHAEL HIRSH | DECEMBER 21, 2018,
foreignpolicy _ com/2018/12/21/how-russian-money-helped-save-trumps-business/
… But Trump eventually made a comeback, and according to several sources with knowledge of Trump’s business, foreign money played a large role in reviving his fortunes, in particular investment by wealthy people from Russia and the former Soviet republics. This conclusion is buttressed by a growing body of evidence amassed by news organizations, as well as what isreportedly being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the Southern District of New York. It is a conclusion that even Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., has appeared to confirm, saying in 2008—after the Trump Organization was prospering again—that “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets.” …
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/21/opinion/sunday/trump-business-mueller-money-laundering.html
All of Trump’s Russia Ties, in 7 Charts
By MICHAEL CROWLEY
March/April 2017
www politico _ com/magazine/story/2017/03/connections-trump-putin-russia-ties-chart-flynn-page-manafort-sessions-214868
What is the real story of Donald Trump and Russia? The answer is still unclear, and Democrats in Congress want to get to the bottom of it with an investigation. But there’s no doubt that a spider web of connections—some public, some private, some clear, some murky—exists between Trump, his associates and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
These charts illustrate dozens of those links, including meetings between Russian officials and members of Trump’s campaign and administration; his daughter’s ties to Putin’s friends; Trump’s 2013 visit to Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant; and his short-lived mixed martial arts venture with one of Putin’s favorite athletes. The solid lines mark established facts, while dotted ones represent speculative or unproven connections.
BY JEFF NESBIT
UPDATED: AUGUST 15, 2016 10:39 AM ET
https:// time _ com/4433880/donald-trump-ties-to-russia/
So, yes, it’s true that Trump has failed to land a business venture inside Russia. But the real truth is that, as major banks in America stopped lending him money following his many bankruptcies, the Trump organization was forced to seek financing from non-traditional institutions. Several had direct ties to Russian financial interests in ways that have raised eyebrows. What’s more, several of Trump’s senior advisors have business ties to Russia or its satellite politicians.
“The Trump-Russia links beneath the surface are even more extensive,” Max Boot wrote in the Los Angeles Times. “Trump has sought and received funding from Russian investors for his business ventures, especially after most American banks stopped lending to him following his multiple bankruptcies.”
What’s more, three of Trump’s top advisors all have extensive financial and business ties to Russian financiers, wrote Boot, the former editor of the Op Ed page of the Wall Street Journal and now a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. …
Yes that is plenty unacceptable for an American President.