Trump’s Russia scandal wasn’t a “hoax.” It was reality. And a bipartisan report today from a Senate committee led by Republicans is a reminder that facts still matter - and that Trump’s relationship with Putin is an ongoing threat. My column: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-08-18/the-senate-report-on-trump-and-russia-is-a-triumph-for-truth
“One of Trumpism’s enduring scars will be the social fissures it’s widened by waging war on objective reality and public faith in bedrock institutions ... Division, chaos and disrepair — and the corruption of the American experiment — are the long-term consequences.”
Felix Sater is all over the Senate report. A reminder that Sater was a mobbed up grifter who did business with Trump and his family for years: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2017-06-21/trump-russia-and-those-shadowy-sater-deals-at-bayrock?utm_source=url_link
Felix Sater, a career criminal, keeps popping up to reveal Trump ties to Russia. The Senate report is just the latest example: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2017-08-29/felix-sater-is-a-lean-mean-trump-russia-machine
The Senate said that Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, was so steeped in the effort with Russia that he posed a “grave counterintelligence threat.”
The Senate report said Don Jr. participated in a covert effort by the Russian government to help his father in 2016. It said the president himself may have been a possible target of Russian blackmail.
The Senate report said that Putin was likely aware that Trump — during his presidential campaign — was secretly pursuing a deal to build a skyscraper in Moscow.
The Senate report said Trump spoke with Roger Stone about Wikileaks and with members of his campaign about Stone’s access to Wikileaks on “multiple occasions.” Trump told Mueller that he couldn’t recall any of these conversations.
Even if skullduggery the Senate documented didn’t amount to a formal conspiracy, sabotage and malfeasance took place. Russia got its hooks into a presidential election, Trump used his campaign to try to make business deals in Moscow and the president apparently lied to Mueller