From the Tuesday edition of the Morning Jolt:
FBI: No Sign of Criminal or Intelligence Ties Between Trump and Russia
Go figure!
For much of the summer, the F.B.I. pursued a widening investigation into a Russian role in the American presidential campaign. Agents scrutinized advisers close to Donald J. Trump, looked for financial connections with Russian financial figures, searched for those involved with hacking the computers of Democrats, and even chased a lead – which they ultimately came to doubt – about a possible secret channel of email communications from the Trump organization to a Russian bank.
Law enforcement officials say that none of the investigations so far have found any conclusive or direct link between Mr. Trump and the Russian government. And even the hacking into Democratic e-mails, F.B.I. and intelligence officials now believe, was aimed at disrupting the presidential election rather than electing Mr. Trump.
Hillary Clinton’s supporters, angry over what they regard as a lack of scrutiny of Mr. Trump by law enforcement officials, pushed for these investigations. In recent days they have also demanded that James B. Comey, the director of the F.B.I, discuss them publicly, as he did last week when he announced that a new batch of emails possibly connected to Mrs. Clinton had been discovered.
The good news: Donald Trump is NOT offering kind words and a strangely consistent preference for a more conciliatory attitude to Vladimir Putin because he’s being bribed or blackmailed.
The bad news: Donald Trump is offering kind words and a strangely consistent preference for a more conciliatory attitude to Vladimir Putin because he actually thinks it’s a good idea.
It does say something that so many Democrats were convinced Trump had to be all warm and fuzzy towards Moscow because he was being paid to have that position. That motivation makes sense to them, sort of like taking it easy on Morocco’s human rights record because a mining company connected to the kingdom has made a $12 million donation to your personal foundation.
But those of us who have watched Trump for a while remember his Tiananmen Square comments and kind words for Saddam Hussein, Moammar Qaddafi and the rest. You don’t really have to bribe the mogul to get him to say nice things about foreign strongmen with brutal methods. He just does it instinctively.
The core question at the heart of every Trump decision and interaction is, “am I being respected enough?” Any slight, insult, or lack of respect sets off Trump’s sense of grievance and need for revenge. All slights, insults, and signs of disrespect are indications of weakness. They must be rooted out and snuffed out; they must be humiliated. Counter-punch anyone who dares criticize – even a Gold Star family. No act, comment, or gesture can be ignored. Even loyalists need to be periodically humiliated so that they’ll remember their place – think of Chris Christie.
Trump looks at Vladimir Putin’s Russia and sees a well-run place. Nobody messes with the boss over there. Everybody knows their place. It’s orderly. Everybody respects the leader’s strength. As longtime Trump employee Michael Cohen put it, “To those of us who are close to Mr. Trump, he is more than our boss. He is our patriarch.”
This is a terrible, dangerous attitude to have in a president. Of course, the Clintons are every bit as narcissistic, egomaniacal, and vindictive, with an enemies spreadsheet instead of an enemies list. No, that’s not comic exaggeration.