Los Angeles Times

He acts like a Russian asset

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Re “Is Trump really a Russian asset? Not likely” Jan. 15

Jonah Goldberg listed several of President Trump’s highly suspicious actions related to Russia while at the same time suggesting that they could have an innocent explanatio­n.

Is Goldberg not aware that lying about or hiding something is evidence of consciousn­ess of guilt? Trump repeatedly denied having any business dealings with Russia, while we now know that his company was pursuing a building project in Moscow deep into the 2016 campaign.

We recently learned that Trump reportedly confiscate­d his translator’s notes from a meeting he had with his Russian counterpar­t. Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, knows what was said, and he knows that Trump is keeping that informatio­n from the American people, which gives him leverage over the president.

Furthermor­e, Trump has advocated pulling out of Syria and has reportedly wanted to pull the U.S. out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organizati­on.

The president may not have intended to become an asset of Russia, but almost everything he has said and done has put him in Putin’s pocket. Dorothy Gravino

Los Angeles

All we can do at this point is speculate about whether or not Trump is an asset of the Russians. The New York Times article that Goldberg cites is based on solid evidence, but according to him it is both “understand­able and outrageous.”

What I find objectiona­ble is Goldberg’s assertion that this could all be explained away by Trump’s incompeten­ce and petulance. The behavior of our president should not be tolerated by the people in Washington who are supposed to exercise oversight.

Trump is one of the most powerful leaders on the planet. He threatens our security by embracing autocrats like Putin and rejecting our allies. Just listen to what he has said about NATO.

The real national emergency is an incompeten­t president and lawmakers who are unwilling to hold Trump accountabl­e. John Beckman

Chino Hills

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