Go Ahead, be shocked by Trump's Russia Ties -- and Investigate
Yet, Rep. Schiff, mustering up all the oratorical power he could as a member of the minority party (and hinting at further classified details without disclosing them), delivered a devastating litany of suspicious "coincidences" that, heard together, present a damning portrait of possible collusion.
His nine-minute monologue is worth watching on the Web. Among other issues, Schiff speaks of payments on behalf of Russian leader Vladimir Putin to Michael Flynn, who briefly became Trump's national security adviser until disclosure of his conversations with the Russian ambassador and his other Russian ties.
There also was a deletion from the Republican Party platform of a section that supports the provision of "lethal defensive weapons" to Ukraine, an action that would be contrary to Russian interests.
Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign manager in midsummer and formerly on the payroll of pro-Russian Ukrainian interests, categorically denies involvement by the Trump campaign in altering the platform. But the Republican Party delegate who offered the language in support of providing defensive weapons to Ukraine said that it was removed at the insistence of the Trump campaign, Schiff pointed out.
Could these and other suspicious events be mere coincidence? Sure, Schiff allowed, but "it is also possible, maybe more than possible, that they are not coincidental, not disconnected and not unrelated, and that the Russians used the same techniques to corrupt U.S. persons that they have employed in Europe and elsewhere. We simply don't know, not yet, and we owe it to the country to find out."
Indeed, we do. It has long been known that Russia has interfered in elections in Ukraine and elsewhere, including ours. Whether they changed any votes, which is doubtful, or not, we owe it to ourselves to have serious and thorough investigations, preferably by a special prosecutor, not a political circus. The future of our democracy depends on it.
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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@chicagotribune.com.)
(c) 2017 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
