Time to Revisit Trump-Russia Collusion
A version of the below article first appeared in David Corn’s newsletter, Our Land. The newsletter comes out twice a week (most of the time) and provides behind-the-scenes stories and articles about politics, media, and culture. Subscribing costs just $5 a month—but you can sign up for a free 30-day trial. The recent news from ProPublica that a Russian oligarch attended […]
The recent ProPublica story about a Russian oligarch attending Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding in the Bahamas has reignited discussions about the alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian interests. The oligarch, Umar Kremlev, is not merely a wealthy businessman; he is a key member of Putin's security apparatus, having infiltrated the Trump clan.
This is not the first instance of Russia attempting to infiltrate Trump Jr.'s world—during the 2016 campaign, he received a message from an associate linked to another Russian oligarch, proposing a secret meeting with Kremlin officials to receive damaging information on Hillary Clinton. Despite Trump and his team denying any collusion, their actions, such as lying about the meeting and providing cover for Putin's denials of interference, suggest that they were complicit in the Kremlin's attempts to influence the election.
The term "collusion" has been central to the narrative, but the author argues that a more accurate term might be "complicity," given Trump's long-standing assertion that Russia had no role in the 2016 election. The Senate Intelligence Committee's 966-page report on the Russian attack on the 2016 election provides further evidence of Manafort's interactions with Russian intelligence officers and the potential for the Kremlin to obtain compromising information on Trump.
Written by urgent.news from Mother Jones's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
