Josh Wilson
Josh Wilson
2 days ago
Why is there any doubt that Trump is colluding with Russians? Just follow the facts:
1) He was pursuing a deal to build a hotel in Moscow from 2015-2017, and has repeatedly lied and instructed others to lie about it.
2) His family and company have been indebted to Russian oligarchs for funding since the early 2000s, including laundering money by selling properties for double their value to Russian-owned shell companies.
3) Members of his campaign met frequently with Russians during and after the 2016 campaign and uniformly lied about it.
4) The Trump campaign's single change to the GOP platform was a pro-Russian change.
5) His campaign manager was personally indebted to Russian oligarchs and - at the least - gave them internal campaign polls.
6) Trump has always praised the Putin, who hates America and democracy, and spoken well of Russia, even though it is America's most dangerous adversary.
7) Trump tried repeatedly to end investigations into Russia's role in hacking the 2016 elections.
8) Trump won't release his tax returns.
9) Trump won't release the transcripts of private conversations with Putin.
10) According to the intelligence officials involved, when briefed on Russian election interference, Trump's only reaction was "how do we prevent this from becoming a PR problem."
11) Trump repeatedly brings up Russian talking points, like claiming that Montenegro is a "violent, dangerous country that should be kicked out of NATO," which is a bizarrely specific thing for him to say.
12) The Trump administration tried to remove sanctions against the Russian oligarch Oleg V. Deripaska - one of the Russian intelligence officials his campaign was in contact with - without any rational justification.
13) Trump sided with Putin, live, on stage, in Helsinki, against his own national security forces.