“Our democracy is threatened whenever we take it for granted,” said President Barack Obama in delivering a somber and cautionary tone about the foundations of our democracy as he delivered his farewell address.
Allegations Bearing Down On Trump
Amidst a day that saw a President uplift a nation at a time when “hope” and “change” seem under threat for many — a story broke on CNN as veteran journalist Carl Bernstein along with Evan Perez, Jim Sciutto, Jake Tapper reported on information received by President-elect Trump surrounding serious and disturbing allegations — that include a trove of potential leverage Russia could conceivably use as blackmail material against the incoming President.
The question is — what happens should it come to light that the allegations reported on, and others suggested in the full document, meet with overwhelming evidence to prove validity beyond reasonable doubt?
Given the disregard for truth and facts in our current political climate — concern is real that information of such nature would be cast aside in favor of individual political agendas — and at odds with the United States Constitution.
President Obama’s words offered direction in his farewell address that speaks to some of these concerns in saying,
“Politics is a battle of ideas; in the course of a healthy debate, we’ll prioritize different goals, and the different means of reaching them. But without some common baseline of facts; without a willingness to admit new information, and concede that your opponent is making a fair point, and that science and reason matter, we’ll keep talking past each other...”
Tweets Heard ‘Round The World
The response from the President-elect was both mystifying and curious as he took to Twitter to challenge the story — and in doing so implies that the team of journalists who reported on it are propagating fake news.
Furthermore, the President-elect, took to posting his reactions again — going so far as to put his faith in Russia’s statements regarding this matter versus the media and intelligence community here in the United States — one rooted in principles of freedom and fairness — something not found in wide abundance to those President-elect Trump would rely upon in his tweet.
Ties That Bind
As the tweets ensued one stood out that certainly warrants a bit more explanation where Trump stated, “Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA - NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!”
Reports and information started appearing this past Fall that indicated ties between Russia and the President-elect that suggest otherwise — and warrant further scrutiny given the recent developing news.
These ties were reported on last November citing over 200 businesses in Russia that appear to have been associated with the President-elect.
Perhaps, some of the information now reported on, puts things into a bit more context — whereby helping to explain what influences the President-elect on his views about Russia and Vladimir Putin — and his kid glove treatment and comments about them since entering the campaign and through the present.
ARTICLES BY STEPHEN KRASNER