Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) explained that the Russians could use laundering money through the Trump Organization as leverage against Trump to control US foreign policy.
Rep. Schiff wrote in an op-ed for USA Today:
There have long been credible allegations that Russian money was laundered through the Trump Organization. If Russia could show that Trump, his business or his immediate family had benefited from tainted money or broken the law — or if Trump believed they could — it would mean that Russia could exert pressure on Trump to influence U.S. foreign policy.
The president’s behavior has done nothing to allay these concerns, including his inexplicable conduct in Helsinki, when he sided with Putin over his own intelligence agencies and appeared to accept Russia’s mendacious denial of involvement in the 2016 election.
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The Russians Own Trump
There is one inescapable conclusion. Whether the Russians swayed the election for Trump in a conspiracy, installed Trump to get sanctions removed, or bribed Trump with cash the outcome is the same. Putin owns Trump.
No US bank would loan money to Trump for his projects. The cash had to come from somewhere, and where it came from according to the Trump themselves is Russia. Eric Trump has bragged about how the Russians give them all of the money that they need for their golf courses. The odds are that the Russian money was laundered and taken in violation of US sanctions.
Once the Russians got Trump to launder money for them, they had everything that they needed to control him. After Trump decided to run for president, they had their candidate to install in the White House to do their bidding.
The Trump administration has yet to stand up to Russia on a single major foreign policy issue. When people in his administration have tried to take a hard stance against Russia, Trump has contradicted them.
The president is compromised by a hostile foreign government. Adam Schiff and the House Democrats are ready to blow the lid off of a national security crisis.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
