Any expectation of a robust response from Trump to Russian aggression in Ukraine is belied by:
1. Campaign rhetoric ("being on good terms w/ Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing")
2. Trump campaign's softening of Republican plank for defense of Ukraine.
1. Campaign rhetoric ("being on good terms w/ Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing")
2. Trump campaign's softening of Republican plank for defense of Ukraine.
3. Trump's hiring, as campaign Chairman, of Manafort, who made $ millions advising a Ukrainian Pres. who was a Russian lackey. Manafort actively undermined Ukrainian independence and democracy.
4. Trump's 4/16 Mayflower Hotel speech, promising good relations w/ Russia.
4. Trump's 4/16 Mayflower Hotel speech, promising good relations w/ Russia.
5. Erik Prince's secret meetings w/ Putin emissaries in the Seychelles, during the campaign.
6. Kushner's attempt, during the transition, to set up a secret communications channel w/ Russia, using the Russian embassy's communications systems.
6. Kushner's attempt, during the transition, to set up a secret communications channel w/ Russia, using the Russian embassy's communications systems.
7. Trump's issuance of 'tasking orders' to State Dept., during the transition, to begin planning for removal of sanctions on Russia (imposed in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine).
8. Trump's refusal to implement Russian sanctions duly legislated by Congress.
8. Trump's refusal to implement Russian sanctions duly legislated by Congress.
9. Trump's insistence on meeting w/ Putin w/ no USG officials present, and no official record of their conversations, including Trump's excruciating humiliation by Putin in Helsinki.
10. Trump's continued refusal to squarely accuse Russia of tampering with the 2016 election.
10. Trump's continued refusal to squarely accuse Russia of tampering with the 2016 election.
All of this, and much more, is within Mueller's ambit, and we will one day know the full story. I believe it is a shameful story of crime and corruption, in which the POTUS has been suborned by a foreign power and is acting in *its* interests, not ours.
The upshot, unfortunately, is that Ukraine cannot, for now, count on a robust U.S. response to Russian aggression. Others must now defend Ukraine. When a Bill of Impeachment is drawn, Trump's failure to defend Ukraine, and the corrupt motives for it, shd feature prominently.
