More from Friedman's February 18 op-ed:
Our democracy is in serious danger.
...Trump is either totally compromised by the Russians or is a towering fool, or both...
...
That is, either Trump’s real estate empire has taken large amounts of money from shady oligarchs linked to the Kremlin — so much that they literally own him; or rumors are true that he engaged in sexual misbehavior while he was in Moscow running the Miss Universe contest, which Russian intelligence has on tape and he doesn’t want released; or Trump actually believes Russian President Vladimir Putin when he says he is innocent of intervening in our elections...
...
...Trump is either hiding something so threatening to himself, or he’s criminally incompetent to be commander in chief. It is impossible yet to say which explanation for his behavior is true, but it seems highly likely that one of these scenarios explains Trump’s refusal to respond to Russia’s direct attack on our system — a quiescence that is simply unprecedented for any U.S. president in history. Russia is not our friend. It has acted in a hostile manner. And Trump keeps ignoring it all.
...Trump’s behavior amounts to a refusal to carry out his oath of office — to protect and defend the Constitution.
...
It is so obvious what Trump is up to: Again, he is either a total sucker for Putin or, more likely, he is hiding something that he knows the Russians have on him, and he knows that the longer Mueller’s investigation goes on, the more likely he will be to find and expose it.
Donald, if you are so innocent, why do you go to such extraordinary lengths to try to shut Mueller down?
...
My guess is what Trump is hiding has to do with money. It’s something about his financial ties to business elites tied to the Kremlin. They may own a big stake in him. Who can forget that quote from his son Donald Trump Jr. from back in 2008: “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross section of a lot of our assets.” They may ownour president.
But whatever it is, Trump is either trying so hard to hide it or is so naïve about Russia that he is ready to not only resist mounting a proper defense of our democracy, he’s actually ready to undermine some of our most important institutions, the F.B.I. and Justice Department, to keep his compromised status hidden.
That must not be tolerated. This is code red. The biggest threat to the integrity of our democracy today is in the Oval Office.
###
Everything Friedman wrote there is accurate by my lights and my hunch is the same as his guess, that Putin owns Trump. I tracked down that statement by Don, Jr. to an obscure trade press release and published the link here months ago. Don, Jr.'s quote, and he goes on, and on, has the twin virtues of being candid and of having been made long before Trump, Sr.'s Russia connection was on anyone's radar. It explains all that I can think of: Trump's coziness with Putin; his refusal to release his tax returns; telling Lavrov and the Russian ambassador in the Oval Office that firing James B. Comey "relieved a lot of pressure over Russia"; telling the New York Times last summer that Mueller going into his finances would "cross a red line"; Mueller's recent subpoena of Trump Organization financial documents related to Russia; Trump's decision to fire Mueller last summer (forestalled only by the White House counsel's threat to resign); and of course the renewal of that desire this weekend.
Our democracy is in serious danger.
...Trump is either totally compromised by the Russians or is a towering fool, or both...
...
That is, either Trump’s real estate empire has taken large amounts of money from shady oligarchs linked to the Kremlin — so much that they literally own him; or rumors are true that he engaged in sexual misbehavior while he was in Moscow running the Miss Universe contest, which Russian intelligence has on tape and he doesn’t want released; or Trump actually believes Russian President Vladimir Putin when he says he is innocent of intervening in our elections...
...
...Trump is either hiding something so threatening to himself, or he’s criminally incompetent to be commander in chief. It is impossible yet to say which explanation for his behavior is true, but it seems highly likely that one of these scenarios explains Trump’s refusal to respond to Russia’s direct attack on our system — a quiescence that is simply unprecedented for any U.S. president in history. Russia is not our friend. It has acted in a hostile manner. And Trump keeps ignoring it all.
...Trump’s behavior amounts to a refusal to carry out his oath of office — to protect and defend the Constitution.
...
It is so obvious what Trump is up to: Again, he is either a total sucker for Putin or, more likely, he is hiding something that he knows the Russians have on him, and he knows that the longer Mueller’s investigation goes on, the more likely he will be to find and expose it.
Donald, if you are so innocent, why do you go to such extraordinary lengths to try to shut Mueller down?
...
My guess is what Trump is hiding has to do with money. It’s something about his financial ties to business elites tied to the Kremlin. They may own a big stake in him. Who can forget that quote from his son Donald Trump Jr. from back in 2008: “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross section of a lot of our assets.” They may own
But whatever it is, Trump is either trying so hard to hide it or is so naïve about Russia that he is ready to not only resist mounting a proper defense of our democracy, he’s actually ready to undermine some of our most important institutions, the F.B.I. and Justice Department, to keep his compromised status hidden.
That must not be tolerated. This is code red. The biggest threat to the integrity of our democracy today is in the Oval Office.
###
Everything Friedman wrote there is accurate by my lights and my hunch is the same as his guess, that Putin owns Trump. I tracked down that statement by Don, Jr. to an obscure trade press release and published the link here months ago. Don, Jr.'s quote, and he goes on, and on, has the twin virtues of being candid and of having been made long before Trump, Sr.'s Russia connection was on anyone's radar. It explains all that I can think of: Trump's coziness with Putin; his refusal to release his tax returns; telling Lavrov and the Russian ambassador in the Oval Office that firing James B. Comey "relieved a lot of pressure over Russia"; telling the New York Times last summer that Mueller going into his finances would "cross a red line"; Mueller's recent subpoena of Trump Organization financial documents related to Russia; Trump's decision to fire Mueller last summer (forestalled only by the White House counsel's threat to resign); and of course the renewal of that desire this weekend.
