A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about Putin-gate, the growing scandal involving Donald Trump, Paul Manafort, and Russian President, Vladimir Putin. The catalyst for the article was a comment made by Trump at the time about how the Western world needed to simply accept the Russian invasion of the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine and his feeling that Ukrainians should receive no support to fight their Russian oppressors.
At about that same time, facts about the unhealthy relationship between Trump and Russian Oligarchs were also hitting the news as Trump refused to release his tax returns in what appears to be a cover-up. This is also when Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Manafort, was drawing attention to the campaign due to his decade-long work for pro-Russia politicians and his connection to members of organized crime in the Communist country.
Just when the dust had begun to settle from these events, The NY Times reported on a Ukrainian anti-corruption investigation that showed Manafort had illegally received nearly $13 million in cash—in other words, under the table—for his work as a consultant for former President of the Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych.
Of course, Manafort denied these accusations. In a voice that sounded a lot like the denials by Bill Clinton after the Monica Lewinsky affair—“I did not have sexual relations with that woman”—the manager of the Trump campaign denied having relations with that country.
“I am a campaign professional. It is well-known that I do work in the United States and have done work on overseas campaigns as well. I have never received a single ‘off-the-books cash payments’ as falsely ‘reported’ by The NY Times, nor have I ever done work for the governments of Ukraine or Russia.”
Gee, I’m surprised he didn’t channel the other Clinton from the Lewinsky days and blame this on some vast left-wing conspiracy in order to take the focus off of himself. Oh, wait a minute! He did!
“However, the Times does fail to disclose the fact that the Clinton Foundation has taken (and may still take) payments in exchange for favors from Hillary Clinton while serving as Secretary of State. This is not discussed despite the overwhelming evidence in emails that Hillary Clinton attempted to cover up.”
As I prepare this piece, I can already hear the voices of the Trumpettes. “Hillary has done worse,” they’ll say. “And all you’re doing is helping her win.” As usual, this lazy retort misses the point. Being a crook isn’t acceptable because the other person is a crook too. Besides, isn’t Trump the one claiming to be the law and order president? Isn’t he going to “Make America Great Again?”
How is that going to happen when the NY Liberal masquerading as a Conservative Republican is running a campaign just as politically corrupt as the other guy?
David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative, your source for opinion that’s politically-incorrect and always “right.” His articles can also be found on RedState.com.
His daily radio commentary is nationally syndicated with Salem Radio Network and can be heard on stations across America.
