What Buzzfeed’s piece says about the nature of the presidency
Trying to understand the entirety of President Donald Trump’s Russia scandal is as difficult as trying to walk across a tightrope over the Grand Canyon while blindfolded.
The situation is filled with informational gaps as well as various lies and scandals permeating every sector: a common trend within the Trump administration.
The latest, and arguably infamous, Buzzfeed article regarding the Russia-U.S situation, written by Jason Leopold and Anthony Cormier on Jan. 18, asserts that “Trump [allegedly] directed his longtime attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, according to two federal law enforcement officials involved in an investigation of the matter.”
So in order to assess what this means to the Trump-Russia scandal, it has to fit somewhere into the big picture. After scanning the web for hours and with the assistance of Lisa A. Baglione, Ph.D., professor of political science at St. Joe’s, I found that there seem to be three main “themes” that summarize the gist of the whole situation.
First, one issue that the American people find concerning is how the Trump campaign in 2016, and the presidential election as a whole, was compromised by Russian meddling. This event seems to be the most straightforward and best understood phenomenon.
According to BBC, “the central focus of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation is to uncover any ties between Russia and the Trump presidential campaign.”
However, if you know anything about the nature of the Russian leadership, it’s pretty clear that Putin’s Kremlin is a heavy instigator within American elections and politics as a whole.
Second to this comes the concerns many have with the political ties Trump holds with Putin. Russia has constantly been a national security issue for this country, and by linking himself with Putin, Trump significantly compromises the national interests of the U.S. Trump is putting himself in the best possible position to act as the perfect pawn in Russia’s global political agenda.
Finally, the economic ties Trump maintains within Russia poses a threat to his position as president and to the American people because in order to even economic interests with Russia, one must have some kind of personal or political ties.
For example, in 2007, Trump claimed a potential real estate deal in Moscow had fallen through but another deal was close. Then in 2008, Trump sold a Florida mansion to a Russian billionaire for $95 million. Keep in mind, these aren’t the only instances proving economic interests exist between Trump and Russia.
Which to bring it full circle, we come to the latest Buzzfeed article that specifically targets Trump’s economic interests within Russia.
As of right now, no other news outlet has come forth with claims that would corroborate Leopold and Cormier’s reporting, and thus the credibility of their article is up for dispute and investigation.
However, let’s say that this information is true. What does that mean for the Commander in Chief?
Well, Trump would have committed a serious crime, and thus be held accountable for obstruction of justice. This is quite a viable basis for an impeachment hearing.
This Buzzfeed article obviously isn’t the first instance in which Trump or one of his officials have publicly lied, either to Congress or the U.S. people. If the information within the Buzzfeed article is true, this is just another example in which President Trump has created an unnecessary illusory environment on Capitol Hill.
I don’t care what party you identify as, this is an issue that affects the nation as a whole, and is not simply a partisan issue.
We cannot have a man running the government who is known to be a habitual liar and believes he is above any federal law. We cannot have a man who has shut down the government in order to keep a promise he damn well knew he couldn’t keep, and now he has a piece on him that implies he committed a crime worthy of an impeachment trial.
Once the article was released, Trump tweeted in response “Fake News is truly the ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!” How can we let him emanate this bombastic authoritarian language like it’s nothing?
So a message to Trump: We know you are compromising the best interest of this country whether or not this specific article can prove it.
Instead of tweeting about an article that could quite possibly get you kicked out of office and trying to cover your back by attacking the press, how about you get back to work to definitively (not just a two week quick-fix) reopen the government you shut down over a petty promise you can’t fulfill?
