Putin’s pal
Indictments should scare Trump away.
Under Ronald Reagan, nuclear armistice talks with the Soviet Union in Reykjavík fell apart because of disagreement over a single word.
Under Donald Trump, not even the indictment of 12 Russian intelligence agents can stop a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.
Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, released charges on Friday against a dozen foreign officers for their role in breaking into the Democratic National Committee computers and government agencies during the 2016 election. It is hard to view this timing as merely coincidental. Trump is scheduled to hold a summit today with Russia’s aspiring dictator. After disparaging our allies at a NATO conference last week, the president seemed positioned to embrace his pal in Moscow as a fellow traveler.
“Somebody was saying, is he an enemy?” Trump said during an impromptu news conference on Tuesday. “He’s not my enemy. ... Hopefully someday, maybe he’ll be a friend.”
Trump will certainly find it more difficult to make friends after Friday’s announcement. Good.
Meanwhile, the American people should be deeply disturbed that the commander-in-chief views foreign nations exclusively on a personal level. That style of diplomacy went out of fashion with the divine right of kings. In a republic, other nations are judged by how they interact with our foreign policy goals and respect values like representative government, rule of law and individual liberty. In that context, yes, Putin is our enemy. He has sought to undermine our allies, promote corruption, kill journalists and weaken public faith in the U.S. democratic process.
For his own sake, Trump should proceed with caution at today’s meeting. The charging documents raise questions about the role his presidential campaign played in this sprawling cybercrime. For example, the indictment states the first attempts to break into Hillary Clinton’s email account didn’t begin until July 27, 2016. That was the same exact day Trump went on television and called on Russia to “find” some of Clinton’s emails. The indictments also allege the hackers were in regular contact with a senior member of Trump’s presidential campaign.
Congress has to be prepared to act on these findings. For the time being, that means protecting special counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections, and allowing it to proceed until completion.
And everyone, Democrats and Republicans alike, must resist the temptation to let this become just another partisan pie-fight. The very nature of our country is at stake. When Reagan negotiated over nukes, it was a question of saving our lives. Today, with Trump and Putin, it is a question of saving our soul. impede Donald Trump from assuming the presidency. His written words confirmed his intentions.
Are there any Sen. Howard Bakers or Sen. Lowell Weickers in the Democratic Party? Are there any Democrats in that party willing to honestly look at the facts and defy their leadership and put country first over party politics? Not one?
My distracted bleeding country is slowly being ripped apart by selfish greedy partisan bickering, in the House Judiciary and Oversight committee hearings, particularly from partisan Democrats. Surely there are honorable members left in the Democratic Party willing to follow the footsteps of Sens. Baker and Weicker.
Mike Gonzales, Houston