I’d like to take a few minutes of your valuable time to hopefully try to put some perspective on all of the events surrounding Trump, Russia, Ukraine, and even Brexit and the UK election, because they’re all connected, and it’s important to understand how. We focus so much on the specifics of what happened with Trump and Russia/Ukraine that the bigger picture gets lost.
First we’ll start with some history.
In 2011, Putin decided to run in Russia’s presidential elections, essentially just swapping places with Medvedev for Prime Minister, continuing their grasp on power. There was a rigged election in Duma that sparked the massive Bolotnaya protests in Moscow, and drew criticism from Hillary Clinton, who was Secretary of State at the time. Putin was worried about revolution, and of course cracked down on dissent, detaining nearly 1000 people, formally charging more than 30, and crushed the protest movement. Shortly after this, a real revolution, known as the Revolution of Dignity, broke out in Ukraine, and resulted in the overthrow of the Ukrainian government and the ouster of the corrupt Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych. Yanukovych is in exile in Russia and still wanted by Ukraine for high treason. The Revolution of Dignity could have been a role model for Russians unhappy with the status quo, so Putin quickly launched a campaign of political manipulation, ensuring negative coverage of Ukraine on Russian state media at all times.
Crimea, transferred by the Soviet leadership from Russia to Ukraine in 1954, is populated by Russian speaking citizens who were frightened by the possibility of coming under the rule of extreme nationalists. The Revolution of Dignity was a legitimate uprising against a corrupt government, but it also had an ultra-nationalist component which was prominent for all to see, and was exacerbated by the constant push of Putin’s media campaign. A whole floor in the revolutionary HQ was occupied by Right Sector ultra-nationalists, and flags and symbols associated with Ukrainian Nazi collaborators in the World War II were flown in Maidan square. All of this was seen as a threat by Crimeans and influenced them to turn their backs on the revolution in favor of Putin. Following the Revolution of Dignity, Putin launched the Russo-Ukrainan war where they annexed Crimea.
Putin sold the invasion and eventual annexation of Crimea, which was a clear violation of international law, as an act of salvation, and saved himself from the threat of revolution.
After Russia annexed Crimea, Obama placed sanctions on Russian individuals associated with the invasion, and pushed European leaders to take a firm stand against Putin. I’m sure Putin was not a fan of this, which leads to everything that has happened since.
With the United States and Europe in strong opposition to Putin’s advances in Ukraine, Russia would not be able to further extend its invasion. This was untenable for Putin, so he orchestrated a massive campaign to destabilize his enemies. He started with targeting the upcoming US elections (remember, the Mueller report detailed that the intelligence operation began in 2014). Since Clinton as Secretary of State had been so vocally opposed to Putin’s actions, the operation targeted her campaign with the intent to undermine it. Russia, using a wide variety of methods, including infiltrating the NRA using spies, and funneling money to conservative groups through the NRA, using intermediaries such as Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman to make campaign donations, oligarchs funneling money to conservative political causes, trading favors with Mitch McConnell, and much more.
Trump was already indebted to Russia for bailing out his various failed business efforts since the late 1980’s, and had been vocally supportive of them during his campaign. There’s even video of Maria Butina, the Russian spy, asking Trump questions about Russia during a rally. Russia couldn’t count on anyone else to be as friendly to their agenda as Trump, so they worked tirelessly to get him elected. We know what has happened from there, and I don’t think it’s necessary to review the Mueller and Ukraine investigations here.
Russia’s other effort, interfering in the Brexit referendum, also started in 2014. For those of you who have not been following Brexit closely, it’s a disastrous decision of the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union. It was sold to the citizens without explaining what the impacts would be, and was largely pushed on the same racist lies that Trump used to stir ultra-nationalism in his base (immigrants are the causes of all of society's ills, etc). Russian continued the interference all the way through the most recent election that saw Boris Johnson, the champion of Brexit, elected.
So, how is all of this connected? The Russian interference campaign has resulted in a weakened United States, a weakened Europe, weakened NATO, lifted Russian sanctions, decreased ability of Ukraine to defend itself and its independence, and an upswing in Putin’s popularity among Republicans in the US. Putin was a senior foreign intelligence officer in the KGB, and has masterfully manipulated the world stage to his advantage. It’s important to remember that as bad as Trump’s actions have been, they’re only a small part of Putin’s agenda. If Putin gets his way, he’s going to continue his expansion into Ukraine, which is incredibly dangerous for the rest of Europe, and the free world in general.
Many Republicans are complicit in this effort, or are complicit in covering it up. It’s critically important to hold Trump and his administration accountable for what he has done so that we, as a country, can take a strong stand against Russia, help protect our allies in Europe, and ensure that we can have free and fair elections, which gives us the ability to self-determine the future of our country.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
The GOP says Trump is an anti-corruption crusader. Let's check the receipts.
Since the GOP insist that Trump is an anti-corruption crusader, let's take a look at some of his record (receipts attached):
Paid $25 million because he defrauded college students trying to get an education by running a fraudulent university
Paid $2 million because he defrauded 8 different charities that he ran (including ones for veterans and one for kids with cancer). He and his family are now banned from operating charities in New York.
Named "Individual 1" in the case that sent his attorney Michael Cohen to prison for bank fraud and campaign finance violations, among other crimes, that he committed at the behest of Trump.
Committed 10 different counts of obstruction of justice as outlined in the Mueller report.
Is currently being sued for fraud for his involvement in multi-level marketing scams.
Was sued by the Department of Justice for racially based housing discrimination.
In addition to his former personal lawyer, the following associates of his have either pleaded guilty or been found guilty of crimes uncovered during the Mueller investigation:
Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign chairman, convicted of 18 felony counts, including five counts of filing false tax returns, two counts of bank fraud, and one count of failing to disclose a foreign bank account.
George Papadopoulos, Trump's campaign advisor, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during the Mueller investigation.
Roger Stone, Trump's long-time political advisor, who was found guilty of five counts of lying to Congress, one count of witness tampering and one count of obstruction of a proceeding.
Michael Flynn, Trump's national security advisor, who pleaded guilty to "willfully and knowingly" making "false, fictitious and fraudulent statements" to the FBI regarding conversations with Russia's ambassador.
His current personal lawyer is the subject of 3 ongoing criminal and counterintelligence investigations; a federal investigation for possible campaign-finance violations, as well as a failure to register as a foreign agent, and a criminal investigation and a counterintelligence investigation for his dealings in Ukraine.
If that’s not enough, let’s look at the people he’s appointed to positions of power:
Tom Price, who used taxpayer money to take private jets for multiple government business trips, even to fly distances often as short as from Washington to Philadelphia. The cost for the trips ran into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
David Shulkin improperly accepted Wimbledon tickets, and his chief of staff misled officials about Shulkin’s wife’s travel to Europe in 2017. That trip consisted of Shulkin, his wife, three VA staffers, and six members of the secretary’s security detail — involved “personal time for sightseeing and other unofficial activities” such as a visit to Westminster Abbey and not one, but two river cruises on the Thames and the Nyhavn Canal in Copenhagen. Shulkin justified the travel as in support of the VA’s mission. But the report documented only three and a half days of meetings and other official events during a nine-day trip that cost at least $122,334 in taxpayer money.
Wilbur Ross, who as commerce secretary failed to divest assets when he said he would - despite telling ethics officials he had done so, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, and profited to the tune of tens of millions of dollars because of it.
Steven Mnuchin was involved in too many scandals to list here, so I recommend reading the link.
Betsy DeVos was held in contempt of court and the Education Department must pay a $100,000 fine after a federal judge ruled it failed to stop collecting student loans on a now-defunct college. After the ruling, the director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending at Harvard University said, "Secretary DeVos has repeatedly and brazenly violated the law to collect for-profit college students' debts and deny their rights."
Brenda Fitzgerald purchased shares in a tobacco company one month after taking her position at the agency, and also had a history of tobacco investments prior to taking her post at CDC. She was forced to resign due to conflicts of interest.
Matthew Whittaker, who Trump appointed as acting Attorney General, sat on the board of a scam company that the FTC eventually forced into shutting down, and still has an ongoing criminal investigation into it. He was also appointed to interfere with the Mueller investigation.
Ryan Zinke was forced out of the administration amidst several scandals. The Justice Department is considering whether to pursue a criminal investigation against the former Montana congressman and Navy SEAL, who is facing several probes into whether he has used his office for personal gain.
Scott Pruitt resigned after many ethical breaches. Again, for the sake of space, I'll refer you to the article.
Ben Carson, in addition to the ethically questionable things he's done in his official duties, allowed his son, Ben Carson Jr., to help organize an agency “listening tour” in Baltimore last summer despite warnings it might run afoul of federal ethics rules since Carson Jr. and his wife “may be doing business with these entities or may be interested in doing business with [Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, Genesis Rehab Services co-chief operating officer Dan Hirschfield, and members of the Paterakis family, which owns a real estate development and bakery business in Baltimore].”
Mick Mulvaney, aside from his deep involvement in the Ukraine scandal, is riddled with ethical complaints and a legacy of undermining consumer protections as head of the agency that's supposed to fight for them.
Brock Long stepped down from his position of chief of FEMA for misuse of government resources and unauthorized travel expenses.
Alex Acosta, who got Jeffrey Epstein a sweetheart deal and shielded him from further investigation despite being the prosecutor in the case. And that was before Trump hired him as labor secretary.
No, this isn’t all of Trump’s scandals, nor is it all of his administration’s scandals, but if you think Trump is an anti-corruption crusader, as the GOP are trying to claim, I have a bridge to sell you.
Paid $25 million because he defrauded college students trying to get an education by running a fraudulent university
Paid $2 million because he defrauded 8 different charities that he ran (including ones for veterans and one for kids with cancer). He and his family are now banned from operating charities in New York.
Named "Individual 1" in the case that sent his attorney Michael Cohen to prison for bank fraud and campaign finance violations, among other crimes, that he committed at the behest of Trump.
Committed 10 different counts of obstruction of justice as outlined in the Mueller report.
Is currently being sued for fraud for his involvement in multi-level marketing scams.
Was sued by the Department of Justice for racially based housing discrimination.
In addition to his former personal lawyer, the following associates of his have either pleaded guilty or been found guilty of crimes uncovered during the Mueller investigation:
Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign chairman, convicted of 18 felony counts, including five counts of filing false tax returns, two counts of bank fraud, and one count of failing to disclose a foreign bank account.
George Papadopoulos, Trump's campaign advisor, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during the Mueller investigation.
Roger Stone, Trump's long-time political advisor, who was found guilty of five counts of lying to Congress, one count of witness tampering and one count of obstruction of a proceeding.
Michael Flynn, Trump's national security advisor, who pleaded guilty to "willfully and knowingly" making "false, fictitious and fraudulent statements" to the FBI regarding conversations with Russia's ambassador.
His current personal lawyer is the subject of 3 ongoing criminal and counterintelligence investigations; a federal investigation for possible campaign-finance violations, as well as a failure to register as a foreign agent, and a criminal investigation and a counterintelligence investigation for his dealings in Ukraine.
If that’s not enough, let’s look at the people he’s appointed to positions of power:
Tom Price, who used taxpayer money to take private jets for multiple government business trips, even to fly distances often as short as from Washington to Philadelphia. The cost for the trips ran into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
David Shulkin improperly accepted Wimbledon tickets, and his chief of staff misled officials about Shulkin’s wife’s travel to Europe in 2017. That trip consisted of Shulkin, his wife, three VA staffers, and six members of the secretary’s security detail — involved “personal time for sightseeing and other unofficial activities” such as a visit to Westminster Abbey and not one, but two river cruises on the Thames and the Nyhavn Canal in Copenhagen. Shulkin justified the travel as in support of the VA’s mission. But the report documented only three and a half days of meetings and other official events during a nine-day trip that cost at least $122,334 in taxpayer money.
Wilbur Ross, who as commerce secretary failed to divest assets when he said he would - despite telling ethics officials he had done so, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, and profited to the tune of tens of millions of dollars because of it.
Steven Mnuchin was involved in too many scandals to list here, so I recommend reading the link.
Betsy DeVos was held in contempt of court and the Education Department must pay a $100,000 fine after a federal judge ruled it failed to stop collecting student loans on a now-defunct college. After the ruling, the director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending at Harvard University said, "Secretary DeVos has repeatedly and brazenly violated the law to collect for-profit college students' debts and deny their rights."
Brenda Fitzgerald purchased shares in a tobacco company one month after taking her position at the agency, and also had a history of tobacco investments prior to taking her post at CDC. She was forced to resign due to conflicts of interest.
Matthew Whittaker, who Trump appointed as acting Attorney General, sat on the board of a scam company that the FTC eventually forced into shutting down, and still has an ongoing criminal investigation into it. He was also appointed to interfere with the Mueller investigation.
Ryan Zinke was forced out of the administration amidst several scandals. The Justice Department is considering whether to pursue a criminal investigation against the former Montana congressman and Navy SEAL, who is facing several probes into whether he has used his office for personal gain.
Scott Pruitt resigned after many ethical breaches. Again, for the sake of space, I'll refer you to the article.
Ben Carson, in addition to the ethically questionable things he's done in his official duties, allowed his son, Ben Carson Jr., to help organize an agency “listening tour” in Baltimore last summer despite warnings it might run afoul of federal ethics rules since Carson Jr. and his wife “may be doing business with these entities or may be interested in doing business with [Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, Genesis Rehab Services co-chief operating officer Dan Hirschfield, and members of the Paterakis family, which owns a real estate development and bakery business in Baltimore].”
Mick Mulvaney, aside from his deep involvement in the Ukraine scandal, is riddled with ethical complaints and a legacy of undermining consumer protections as head of the agency that's supposed to fight for them.
Brock Long stepped down from his position of chief of FEMA for misuse of government resources and unauthorized travel expenses.
Alex Acosta, who got Jeffrey Epstein a sweetheart deal and shielded him from further investigation despite being the prosecutor in the case. And that was before Trump hired him as labor secretary.
No, this isn’t all of Trump’s scandals, nor is it all of his administration’s scandals, but if you think Trump is an anti-corruption crusader, as the GOP are trying to claim, I have a bridge to sell you.
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