You are using an outdated browser.
Please upgrade your browser
and improve your visit to our site.

Donald Trump couldn’t possibly raise more suspicion that he’s being blackmailed by the Russian government.

Pool/Getty Images

Juxtapose this Russian embassy tweet from one week ago:

With this report from Wednesday:

The Trump administration is moving toward handing back to Russia two diplomatic compounds, near New York City and on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, that its officials were ejected from in late December as punishment for Moscow’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.

President Barack Obama said Dec. 29 that the compounds were being “used by Russian personnel for intelligence-related purposes” and gave Russia 24 hours to vacate them. Separately, Obama expelled from the United States what he said were 35 Russian “intelligence operatives.” ... “We had no intention of ever giving them back,” a former senior Obama official said of the compounds.

These developments come just a few weeks after Trump invited the Russian ambassador and Russian foreign minister into the Oval Office for fairly naked Russian propaganda purposes because Russian President Vladimir Putin asked him to.

It calls to mind this recently unearthed, secretly recorded conversation between House Speaker Paul Ryan, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other House GOP leaders last June:

McCarthy: “There’s two people, I think, Putin pays: [Representative Dana] Rohrabacher and Trump.” [Laughter] “Swear to god.”

Ryan: “This is an off the record…[laughter]…NO LEAKS…[laughter]…alright?! … [Laughter] … This is how we know we’re a real family here.”

He who pays the piper calls the tune, right? (Deny this article if asked.)

Logo

Independent journalism matters

×

Ads help fund our journalism. Please disable your ad blocker so that we can continue striving to be the most influential magazine in Washington, D.C., with our breaking news coverage, in-depth political features, and much more.

Continue without disabling

Choose your Ad Blocker

  • Adblock Plus
  • Adblock
  • Adguard
  • Ad Remover
  • Brave
  • Ghostery
  • uBlock Origin
  • uBlock
  • UltraBlock
  • Other
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock Plus icon
  2. Click the large blue toggle for this website
  3. Click refresh
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock icon
  2. Under "Pause on this site" click "Always"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Adguard icon
  2. Click on the large green toggle for this website
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ad Remover icon
  2. Click "Disable on This Website"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the orange lion icon
  2. Click the toggle on the top right, shifting from "Up" to "Down"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ghostery icon
  2. Click the "Anti-Tracking" shield so it says "Off"
  3. Click the "Ad-Blocking" stop sign so it says "Off"
  4. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock Origin icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the UltraBlock icon
  2. Check the "Disable UltraBlock" checkbox
  1. Please disable your Ad Blocker
  2. Disable any DNS blocking tools such as AdGuardDNS or NextDNS

If the prompt is still appearing, please disable any tools or services you are using that block internet ads (e.g. DNS Servers).