Originally Posted by
time4fun
While I appreciate the fact that you're the only person who has had the guts to attempt to explain away the incredibly damning situation, there are a few things that need to be pointed out:
1) Lying about the existence of the deal during the campaign is one thing- and yes may very well be legal. (Though HUGELY unethical, to say the least) But you definitely could argue that he lied to win the election- nothing too crazy there, right? But after he had already won, he then directed people to lie to Congress about the deal. THAT is VERY illegal and runs afoul a few laws, risking prison time, impeachment, etc. If there was nothing untoward going on, then there's really no rational reason for him to have taken the huge risks he took (not to mention the people he directed to lie *cough*Cohen*cough*). He wanted that kept a secret for a reason, and there's no other obvious motive aside from it being part of something more scandalous than lying to Congress, obstruction of justice, etc.
2) The sentiment that Trump will make a better deal if he can is great, but it's completely irrelevant to the foreign policy and candidate narrative decisions I outlined. In terms of "being played by Russia"- that argument only makes sense if candidate Trump had a relationship with Russia that involved them trying to direct his foreign policy positions. And that- of course- lands us right back into collusion territory.
And these two points you raise still don't do anything to explain away the rest of the equation:
1) Why was Trump actively covering for Putin's election meddling when he knew- from the Russian government itself- that the meddling was going on?
2) How did Trump just magically end up arriving at the exact foreign policy positions Putin wanted when there was zero benefit to the United States AND when those positions were actually incredibly risky, politically? US Presidential candidates don't attack NATO. EVERYONE in the Western world wants Ukraine suitably armed so Russia doesn't invade the rest of it. There was obvious disincentive for Trump to take these positions, and, yet, he took them. And what possible incentive was there to roll back sanctions levied for election meddling? There was NO deal- Russia didn't give up a single thing. (At least, not to the United States government) And if he was doing it because he strongly believed it was the "right" thing to do (which, by itself should send chills down anyone's spine)- why did he rush to do it in secret? That's not really his style, is it?
And, of course, it doesn't explain why Trump lied repeatedly about his contacts with Russia (and those of his campaign), nor does it explain why the top levels of his campaign were so eager to accept help from our greatest geopolitical ally during the campaign (PS they had been warned by the FBI that Russia would try do to just that, and they had been instructed to contact the FBI immediately- which, of course, they didn't). Nor does it explain why he and his campaign lied about that as well.
Again, I appreciate your attempt. But your "Oh he's just being that rascally Trump" explanation isn't an explanation at all.
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