On Monday, while French kissing Putin on global television, Trump announced that Putin had proposed “an incredible idea” to him during their private session to address Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. We now know what that “incredible idea” was, and I had to read it twice to believe it; the story was confirmed by Aunt Lydia Sarah Sanders yesterday in the first WH daily briefing held in two weeks. The “idea”? For Trump to allow Russian intelligence to question 11 American citizens, including former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, and businessman Bill Browder, whose attorney was murdered in a Russian prison.
This “incredible idea” cynical demand is nothing more than Putin’s chess move against legitimate indictments of Russian intelligence officials for hacking DNC servers and conducting cyber war against the United States. Bill Browder has been a thorn in Putin’s side for years for pointing out the corruption in his regime. The murdered attorney, Sergei Magnitsky, had been arrested for uncovering massive corruption in Russia which lead to hundreds of millions of dollars of laundered money being deposited in banks in the US and around the world. The law passed in his name froze those assets and banned a number of Russian government officials and oligarchs from entering the US. Putin and his gang hate that law, and have been trying to undermine it since its adoption. Don’t forget that the meeting with Russian agents at Trump tower in the summer of 2016 was an effort to get the Magnitsky Act repealed.
The shocking thing about the current chapter in this entire sordid story of the love affair between Trump and his handler is that, instead of categorically condemning this demand, the White House IS ACTUALLY ENTERTAINING IT. Are you kidding me? And, of course, the invertebrates in Congress are responding as you would expect, mealy mouthed and cowering in the corner, terrified of Trump’s Twitterfingers.
There is a place for anger, and this is it.
UPDATE: File this under “No Shit” – Saying he’s considering allowing Russian intelligence to interrogate former US ambassador Michael McFaul and others caused HUGE blowback yesterday and today around the world (especially from McFaul himself). The invertebrates in Congress were actually able to pull themselves far enough vertical to raise their hands and were preparing a resolution condemning the idea when Aunt Lydia Sarah Sanders announced that Trump “disagrees” with the notion of handing Americans over to Putin’s Gulag. Apparently, the WH now agrees that allowing US citizens to be interrogated by Russian intelligence is not a great idea. To that we say, NO SHIT.