Tag: TRUMP

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The Trump Epstein Connection

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In case you missed it MSNBC’s Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell yesterday had a segment in which Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) read in the U.S. Senate, an excerpt from an old Washington Post piece in which Trump is quoted as talking very favorably about his friend and accused child predator Jeffrey Epstein, including their mutual taste for women “on the younger side”.

Trump reportedly said about Epstein, “He’s a lot of fun to be with. Its even said that he likes a lot of beautiful women as much as I do and many of them are on the younger side.”

This of course comes against the backdrop of news reports of a ruling by a federal judge that prosecutors who handled Epstein’s case violated the law by not conferring with his victims before arriving at his super sweetheart deal which saw him avoid jail time.

Naturally after the federal judge’s decision many questions about Epstein’s case are popping up chief among them, whether the public has a right to know more about the details of Epstein’s infamous case. Is it for example in the public’s interest that Epstein disclose the political figures(Democrat or Republican) who accompanied him in his infamous escapades with underage girls? Given the fact that many public officials have been forced to relinquish their seats because of pressure from the #MeToo movement, doesn’t the public have a right to know what public officials, past and present, Epstein hang out with? These are just some of the questions that will need to be addressed after the federal judge’s bombshell ruling.

Bottom line as a wise man once said, “sunlight is the best disinfectant.” It is in the best interests of everybody involved that Epstein come out and explain what happened in his infamous escapades and the politicians who participated in them. Granting him immunity from prosecution in return for his testimony is something that needs to be seriously considered. It however cannot be left unsaid that because there may be very powerful individuals from both political parties implicated in Epstein’s scandal, the public may never get to the bottom of what really happened.

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Staggering $40 Million Of Trump’s Inaugural Funds Missing

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President Donald J. Trump’s Inauguration Ceremony, Jan 20, 2017

In case you missed it, a stunning segment on OutFrontCNN with Erin Burnett said that a staggering $40 million dollars of Trump’s inaugural funds have just disappeared. Citing a Pro Publica report, host Erin Burnett said, “We know that they[Trump’s Inaugural Committee] raised $107 million from donors….Of the $107 million, we to this day do not know where $40 million of it went. How is that possible?” Erin Burnett is not alone in her outrage. A lot of Americans are shocked at how this level of public corruption has gone unanswered(no prosecution) for 2 years.

An even more troubling revelation from the bombshell OutFrontCNN segment is that Ivanka Trump who doubles up as Presidential daughter and Adviser apparently was in the middle of the price negotiations between the Trump Inaugural committee and the Trump Organization raising obvious conflict of interest questions–self-dealing. The Trump Organization apparently extremely overcharged the Trump Inaugural Committee for rooms, meals and event space at Trump Hotel in DC and there are emails showing that Ivanka Trump was in on the price negotiations.  

This is hands down one of the biggest stories of the week but it has strangely received very little mainstream media attention. It is mind-boggling how $40 million dollars can just disappear in thin air–outright theft/embezzlement– and two years later nobody is either sitting in jail for it, or fighting a criminal indictment. Can you imagine if this happened under the Obama administration and the Obama family was suspected of having embezzled inaugural funds? 

This is by all objective standards a shocking case of public corruption. But you don’t have to take Yours Truly’s word for it, listen to what Richard Painter, the Ethics Chief under the George W. Bush administration told OutFrontCNN host Erin Burnett; “It’s shocking. Somebody’s stealing money….somebody’s putting money in their own pocket…$40 million dollars unaccounted for, that is a telltale sign of fraud…criminal activity is very likely. If we had seen any amount of money missing in the Bush inaugural committee I would have called people into my office and said I want to find out exactly where that money is, and better find out fast because it could be a crime…”

Bottom line folks when incidents of blatant corruption by public officials go on for this long without any legal consequences, the spotlight shifts from the corrupt act itself to who we are as a society. In this case it raises the question as to whether certain people are above the law. There is absolutely no way that two years after a suspected theft/embezzlement by members of any other previous U.S. administration, one that was widely reported by the mainstream media and has a lot of documentary evidence, would not have yielded indictments already.

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Will Dems Subpoena Justice Kennedy’s Son Over Deutsche Bank?

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President Trump with Justice Anthony Kennedy(Retired)

In the days following the June 2018 announcement by Justice Anthony Kennedy that he was retiring from the Supreme Court, there was rampant speculation that his resignation was not entirely voluntary but rather that the Trump administration engineered/even forced him out for fear that the GOP may lose their U.S. Senate majority to the Democrats in the November 2018 elections. In essence, the Trump administration did not want Justice Kennedy to retire at a time when Democrats controlled the Senate because that would make it difficult for any Trump SCOTUS nominee to be confirmed.

Speculation that the Trump Admin forced out Justice Kennedy took a whole new turn after the New York Times did a bombshell piece revealing that Justice Kennedy’s son Justin Kennedy had been a longtime financier for Trump. Specifically, that Justin Kennedy was Trump’s financier at the troubled Deutsche Bank which has come under international scrutiny over allegations that it is the bank of choice for Russian money launderers.

Justin Kennedy, the son of Retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy

Justin Kennedy was apparently the global head of real estate capital markets at Deutsche Bank which leaves absolutely no doubt that he would be the point man at Deutsche Bank for Trump’s vast real estate empire. Part of the bombshell The NYT piece read;“During Mr. Kennedy’s tenure, Deutsche Bank became Mr. Trump’s most important lender, dispensing well over $1 billion in loans to him for the renovation and construction of skyscrapers in New York and Chicago at a time other mainstream banks were wary of doing business with him because of his troubled business history.” 

With Special Counsel Mueller increasingly zeroing in on Trump’s business ties to Russia and news that German authorities recently raided the troubled Deutsche Bank, the question now being raised is whether with their new found majority in the House, Democrats will subpoena Trump-related Deutsche Bank records and specifically whether they will call Justin Kennedy to testify about his financial dealings with Trump.

Justin Kennedy’s testimony in Congress could also lay to rest the lingering speculation as to whether his dad was forced by the Trump administration to resign from the U.S. Supreme Court before the November 2018 elections. For more on this topic Yours Truly suggests that you check out this must read thread, which also raises questions about Justice Kavanaugh’s involvement in Justice Kennedy’s abrupt decision to retire.

Justin Kennedy’s testimony in Congress could also lay to rest the lingering speculation as to whether his dad was forced by the Trump administration to resign from the U.S. Supreme Court before the November 2018 elections.

Bottom line given the serious questions being raised about Deutsche Bank’s ties to President Trump and its troubling history as a conduit for Russian money laundering, it would be Congressional malpractice if House Democrats did not call Justin Kennedy to testify about his role at the troubled bank and specifically, find out what criteria Deutsche Bank used to justify loaning Trump so much money when other “mainstream” banks declined to do so. Was Russia the source of these loans to Trump?. Grassroots Democrats would also like to know whether Kavanaugh played any part in Justice Kennedy’s retirement–essentially engineering his own ascendancy to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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The FBI Must Investigate Kavanaugh’s Debt

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After the last minute maneuver by GOP Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona that led President Trump to order the FBI to look into the sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, a partisan divide has emerged as to what exactly the FBI is allowed to look into.

Naturally the Republicans, fearful that a full blown FBI probe into Kavanaugh’s background will dig up damaging info, are advocating a “limited scope” inquiry in which they want the FBI to look into Dr Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations only. The GOP argument, presented today by White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway is that the FBI inquiry should not be a “fishing expedition.” Democrats on the other hand want a full blown FBI probe into all the sexual misconduct allegations made against Kavanaugh(4 so far), plus a look into whether he perjured himself during this and previous confirmation hearings.

One issue however that is strangely left out of the mix is the Kavanaugh family debt. According to a Yahoo News article, the Kavanaughs have racked up tens of thousands of credit card debt spanning all the 12 years preceeding 2017. According to the Yahoo News piece, there are conflicting explanations given by Kavanaugh and the Trump White House as to the origins of the Kavanaugh family debt.

Another very interesting tidbit from the Yahoo piece is that in 2017, a year before Trump nominated Kavanaugh for the U.S. Supreme Court, the credit card debt suddenly disappeared. Again, there are conflicting versions as to how the Kavanaugh family debt got cleared, with Kavanaugh saying one thing and the Trump White house saying something else. So there are conflicting stories from Kavanaugh and the Trump White House regarding both the origin and disappearance of his credit card debt.

Kavanaugh’s finances strangely never came up during his confirmation hearings. It goes without saying however that a judge’s finances are always an important line of inquiry especially as relates to recusals that may be necessitated by financial conflicts of interest.

Bottom line now that the FBI has a week to look into Kavanaugh’s background, Dems must insist that the feds also clear up discrepancies regarding the Kavanaugh family debt. Simply put, the FBI should find out what exactly led to the Kavanaugh family debt and what exactly cleared it up.

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Signs Of Russian Money Laundering In Trump’s Inauguration

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An interesting Rachel Maddow segment points out that a guilty plea by GOP Lobbyist Samuel Patten in the ongoing TrumpRussia investigation raises new troubling questions about the mysterious money flow surrounding Trump’s 2017 inauguration.

Maddow has previously reported extensively on the strange money flow surrounding Trump’s inauguration but the latest guilty plea by the said GOP operative provides specific details that take allegations of Russian money laundering at Trump’s inauguration way beyond the speculative level. As a matter of fact, details of Patten’s plea deal speak to a slam-dunk Russian money laundering scheme.

Here’s how the Russian money funneling scheme played out. GOP operative Sam Patten has a shell company in DC. Patten got a yet unnamed U.S. citizen to “donate” $50,000 to Trump’s inaugural committee. Patten’s shell company then reimbursed the unnamed U.S. citizen the $50,000. A Ukrainian with ties to a prominent Russian oligarch and who is also at the center of the ongoing Manafort case then reimbursed Sam Patten with a $50,000 drawn from a Cypriot bank. Cyprus is a well known haven of Russian money laundering meaning the said $50,000 that flowed into Trump’s inauguration could well have been laundered money.

There have been a lot of questions especially by Maddow about the whereabouts of the monies raised for Trump’s inauguration–an estimated $107 million. Maddow for example questioned why Trump’s inaugural committee never gave a detailed accounting of how the $107 million came in and what it was spent on–very odd.

With Sam Patten’s plea deal pointing heavily towards money laundering, expect Natasha Bertrand(Yours Truly’s MSM fave) and other journalists who’ve been excellent at TrumpRussia reporting to dig into Trump’s inaugural committee for answers to serious questions that still linger. For example How many other Patten-like “donations”  were made to Trump’s inauguration? Did this money find its way into GOP/RNC coffers–including to GOP members of congress? If so, did GOP/RNC know the source of the funds? As you can see there are numerous questions that need to be answered regarding the mysterious Trump inauguration funds.

Yours Truly recently wrote about how Trump’s GOP has degenerated into a criminal enterprise and stories like Sam Patten’s only work to support that argument. Bottom line Dems and the mainstream media must dig into this story to find out how much laundered Russian money has landed into GOP coffers.  Simply put House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Mitch McConnell and GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel must be questioned about dirty Russian money flowing into GOP coffers.

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Proof That Congressional Republicans Have Become A Criminal Enterprise

Ever since Trump became President, many have wondered why congressional Republicans have totally abdicated oversight functions that all their predecessors routinely conducted and Americans came to expect as the norm. The inaction as regards oversight by House Speaker Ryan and Senate Majority Leader McConnell’s congress has struck most Americans as very strange and has spawned many conspiracy theories, the most popular one being that Russian President Putin has “Kompromat” on all congressional Republicans.

Well, courtesy of a bombshell article by The Daily Intelligencer, we now find out that congressional Republicans have actually compiled a secret list of things they have vowed to block from any congressional oversight requested by Dems–a sad and totally unprecedented move by U.S. members of congress.

The list of items GOP has vowed to keep away from any congressional oversight includes “election security and hacking attempts”, ” White House security clearances”, “Trump’s Tax Returns”, ” Trump’s family businesses”, among many others. Think about that, we currently have GOP members of congress whose stated mission is to hide from the public any wrongdoing by Trump and his administration–the aforementioned criminal enterprise.

Bottom line Dems and the mainstream media must start calling out congressional Republicans for totally abdicating their oversight functions. Its about time people started calling Trump’s GOP what it truly is–a criminal enterprise. What House Speaker Ryan and Senate Majority Leader McConnell are presiding over in congress today goes way beyond what Americans would characterize as “politics as usual” and is borderline if not out and out criminal conduct.

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The Obscene Trump-Fox News Relationship

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Trump and Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo

When regular people encounter obscene images on the internet and elsewhere, the natural reaction is to recoil in dismay. Strangely however, America is witnessing daily an obscene relationship between President Trump and Fox News with seemingly no “recoiling in dismay” from politicians (especially Dems) or other sections of the mainstream media.

This lack of dismay/outrage at the obscene relationship between President Trump and Fox News leaves the wrong impression that this is okay/acceptable. Folks, this is not acceptable and Dems need to start screaming about it. There has to be a reasonable distance between the White House and a major U.S. news organization

Luckily Brian Stelter host of CNN’s Reliable Sources gets it and is beginning to call out this obscene relationship between Trump and Fox News. In a July 8 2018 segment, Stelter details how Fox News and Trump are engaged in conduct no other U.S. administration has ever engaged in with a major news organization–the stuff of state run tv stations in foreign dictatorships.

Stelter for example talks about how Maria Bartiromo literally handed Trump talking points in what was supposed to be an interview. Or how Trump promotes Sean Hannity’s show to his twitter followers and gets regular advice from him(Hannity) on political matters. Or how Lou Dobbs calls into Oval Office meetings to give his opinions(wow). Or how Kimberly Guilfoyle is now dating Trump’s son yet still appears as a host on Fox News discussing the Trump family. Or how Jeanine Pirro asked Trump for a job at DOJ. Or how Trump at the suggestion of Sean Hannity is now bringing in Bill Shine, former Fox News executive into the White House as Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications. Folks, examples of this obscene Trump-Fox News relationship are endless.

By the way Bill Shine’s wife Darla is known to post very racist things on Twitter. She has since deleted her Twitter account but Mediaite captured some of them. This blatant racism by Darla would be enough for any other U.S. administration to pull the plug on Shine’s appointment but not the Trump administration.

According to Stelter both Trump and Fox News benefit from this obscene relationship–Trump getting regular “soft” interviews which are essentially public relations campaigns and in turn he pitches the various Fox News shows, books etc to his massive twitter audience. It’s a great arrangement from a business standpoint, but goes against everything U.S. journalism has stood for–holding those in power accountable. Maria Bartiromo and her cohorts at Fox News appear to have twisted this age old journalism principle to “using those in power for ratings and profit.”

Yours Truly was on this Fox News beat way before it was vogue but admittedly, never thought it would ever get this bad.

Bottom line Dems need to start calling out this obscene Trump-Fox News affair. Simply put, this overt alliance and coordination between the president and a major news network is detrimental to a democratic society and needs to be vociferously called out.

***POST UPDATED on 10/15/23 to include the fact that CNN has since cancelled Brian Stelter’s Reliable Sources show, so the referenced 07/08/2018 video segment is no longer available***

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Appearance Of Impropriety Surrounding Justice Kennedy-Trump Relationship

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Americans increasingly consider the Roberts Supreme Court more of a political body than a court of law–a troubling trend. Even more troubling is this New York Times piece that  says the Trump Administration conducted a “quiet campaign” to  effect Justice Kennedy’s retirement before Midterms 2018.  The New York Times piece, partly written by Maggie Haberman was quick to add; “There were no direct efforts to pressure or lobby Justice Kennedy to announce his resignation on Wednesday, and it was hardly the first time a president had done his best to create a court opening.”

Given the norm-breaking habit  of the Trump Administration, many people including Yours Truly will take issue with this conclusory assertion by Haberman that “there were no direct efforts” to pressure Justice Kennedy into retirement before the Midterms. Dems should not treat Haberman’s conclusory assertion as Biblical truth, but instead keep inquiring into the circumstances surrounding Justice Kennedy’s seemingly strategic departure from the High Court. Any reasonable person would conclude that Justice Kennedy’s departure right before the midterm elections signals a political motivation–one highly beneficial to Trump and his GOP.

In addition to that, the Financial Times reported in 2017 that Justice Kennedy’s son was Trump’s most trusted banker at Deutsche Bank, which gave Trump loans when no U.S. bank was willing to. Deutsche Bank has also been linked to Russian money laundering and is one of the banks Special Counsel Robert Mueller is looking into in the TrumpRussia investigation. How the son of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice gets caught up in the affairs of Deutsche Bank involving Trump should be a question of the utmost importance for Dems. And Dems don’t have to take Yours Truly’s word for it,  just check out this excellent thread by Amy Siskind regarding this issue.

Also check out this interesting 2017 Politico piece which highlighted a private conversation (hot mic moment) between Justice Kennedy and President Trump regarding Kennedy’s son; “Say hello to your boy,” Trump said, “Special guy.” “Your kids have been very nice to him,” Kennedy replied. “Well,” Trump said, “they love him, and they love him in New York.” This establishes conclusively that Justice Kennedy was well aware of his son’s interactions with Trump and his children.

Bottomline Dems must demand answers from retiring Justice Kennedy and indeed Chief Judtice Roberts about whether he coordinated his exit with the Trump Adninistration and secondly the extent of his son’s dealings with Trump while he was at Deutsche Bank and thereafter. Justice Kennedy’s son’s dealings with Trump raise genuine conflict of interest questions or at the very least create an appearance of impropriety. People’s faith in the U.S. Supreme Court as an independent court of law is waning and stories like these only add to the mistrust. Dems must raise all these lingering questions as they fight for the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Meet the 23 House Republicans Hiding Trump’s Tax Returns

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After news that Rhode Island’s Senate approved a measure requiring all presidential candidates to release 5 years of their tax returns in order to be placed on the state’s ballot, the focus has again shifted to Trump’s tax returns, a major campaign issue during the run-up to the 2016 presidential elections. Grassroots Dems including Yours Truly, ecstatic about Rhode Island’s decision are now pushing for other states to follow Rhode Island’s lead and lock Trump out of the 2020 ballot unless he releases the tax returns he promised to–the #NoTaxReturnsNoBallot campaign

— Emoluments Clause (@Emolclause) June 22, 2018

Left out of the renewed tax return debate however, is the fact that GOP members of Congress have played a major role in aiding the president hide his tax returns from the public, especially these 23 Republicans in the House Ways and Means Committee, or as Yours Truly calls them, the “wall of shame”.

Their efforts to block moves by Congressional Dems to have Trump’s tax returns released to the public were reported in this February 15, 2017 piece by the DailyKos. As you can see from the article, the DailyKos has done all the legwork in exposing these shameful GOP members of congress. Yours Truly is simply hitting you with a reminder now that midterms 2018 are around the corner. As usual they will be coming begging for your votes claiming they stand for “transparency in government.” They will be hoping off course that you’ve long forgotten about their lack of transparency re Trump’s tax returns. Boy are they in for a rude awakening this fall?!

Here is a handy list of the names and office phone numbers of the wall of shame members

U.S. Representative Devin Nunes (CA-22)

Phone: (202) 225-2523

U.S. Representative Kevin Brady (TX-08)
Phone: (202) 225-4901

U.S. Representative Sam Johnson (TX-03)

Phone: (202) 225-4201

U.S. Representative Pat Tiberi (OH-12)

Phone: (202) 225-5355

U.S. Representative Dave Reichert (WA-08)

Phone: (202) 225-7761

U.S. Representative Peter Roskam (IL-06)

Phone: (202) 225-4561

U.S. Representative Vern Buchanan (FL-16)

Phone: (202) 225-5015

U.S. Representative Adrian Smith (NE-03)

Phone: (202) 225-6435

U.S. Representative Lynn Jenkins (KS-02)

Phone: (202) 225-6601

U.S. Representative Erik Paulsen (MN-03)

Phone: (202) 225-2871

U.S. Representative Kenny Marchant (TX-24)

Phone: (202) 225-6605

U.S. Representative Diane Black (TN-06)

Phone: (202) 225-4231

U.S. Representative Tom Reed (NY-23)

Phone: (202) 225-3161

U.S. Representative Mike Kelly (PA-03)

Phone: (202) 225-5406

U.S. Representative Jim Renacci (OH-16)

Phone: (202) 225-3876

U.S. Representative Pat Meehan (PA-07)(resigned in disgrace)

U.S. Representative Kristi Noem (SD-AL)

Phone: (202) 225-2801

U.S. Representative George Holding (NC-02)

Phone: (202) 225-3032

U.S. Representative Jason Smith (MO-08)

Phone: (202) 225-4404

U.S. Representative Tom Rice (SC-07)

Phone: (202) 225-9895

U.S. Representative Dave Schweikert (AZ-06)

Phone: (202) 225-2190

U.S. Representative Jackie Walorski (IN-02)

Phone: (202) 225-3915

U.S. Representative Carlos Curbelo (FL-26)

Phone: (202) 225-2778

Bottomline folks, #NoTaxReturnsNoBallot is a win-win fight for Dems because it puts the GOP in the unenviable position of defending a public official(Trump) who promised to release his tax returns while campaigning but now chooses to hide them, even as questions about his corrupt business practices continue to pile up. Dem State Reps across the country must introduce bills like the one in Rhode Island so as to get Republicans go on the record with a vote to hide Trump’s tax returns–a vote for lack of transparency in government. Dems can rest assured that midterms 2018 voters will not be happy with pro-secrecy in government candidates–the GOPers hiding Trump’s tax returns.

Folks see if one of these wall of shame bums is your Rep in Congress and if they are, make sure to vote them out this Midterms 2018!!

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Did Russia Funnel Money To TeamTrump Through The NRA?

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One of the biggest obstacles for Democrats, especially in the battle for control of State Legislatures has been the powerful gun lobby group National Rifle Association(NRA). Unlike other powerful lobby groups that influence both the Republican and the Democratic Party, the NRA literally has a stranglehold on the Republican party. NRA’s stranglehold on the GOP is so bad, even President Trump recently had to ask GOP Members of Congress not to be “afraid of” the gun lobby group when discussing sensible gun control proposals. Marion Hammer, a powerful NRA lobbyist in Florida for example is so feared by Florida State GOPers, that she’s dubbed “The Real Gov of Florida.” Such is the power the NRA wields over the GOP

The troubling news therefore that the FBI is investigating the NRA as a possible vehicle for funnelling Russian money to help Trump in the 2016 elections should be of great concern to Democrats. New York Times Columnist Frank Bruni said on CNN’s Outfront with Erin Burnett that the NRA spent a whopping $30M to help Trump get elected, which is more than they spent the last two Presidential cycles combined. A Russian banker Alexander Torshin who has ties to Putin is an NRA life member and the key suspect in the alleged funnelling scheme. Torshin apparently wanted to create a “back channel” between the Trump Campaign and Russia and one of his associates reportedly told a Trump campaign staffer that “Putin is deadly serious about building a good relationship with Mr. Trump.

Under normal circumstances this would be just another questionable daliance between a powerful U.S. gun lobby group and a foreign financier. However against the backdrop of an ongoing Special Counsel investigation into U.S. election meddling by the Russians, this strange relationship between the NRA and the Putin-allied Russian financier has become a much more serious issue, one that Americans trust Mueller and Co. will get to the bottom of.

It also bears pointing out, as New York Times Columnist Frank Bruni did that Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr, is a major NRA supporter and activist. Trump Jr you’ll remember is already in the middle of a very questionable meeting with Russian lawyer Natalya Veselnitskaya at Trump Tower. Veselnitskaya has since confessed that she’s an informant for Putin’s Kremlin

Simply put, the NRA-Russia story is a major story that could affect the Dem political fortunes from here on out. According to CNN Political Correspondent Sara Murray, the NRA is privately, very concerned about the FBI’s investigation into its ties to the Russian Banker(vid at 14:00). Obviously we Dems have to be patient and allow the feds to conduct their investigation into the NRA but just like Trump used the ongoing Clinton email probe to hamstring her 2016 campaign, there is no reason why the DNC should not pummel NRA-allied GOP candidates over Russian money as we head to Midterms 2018, the perfect target being Sen Ted Cruz

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