Book Report: Seth Abramson's "Proof of Collusion"

The good news is that America will survive.

The bad news...

...we are being governed by a criminal conspiracy compromised by a foreign adversary, Putin's Russia.

Abramson's book is unique in historical journalism. He is not an investigative reporter as were Woodward and Bernstein. Well, both of those guys are still around, but not like they were in the days of Nixon. Abramson provides in disturbing detail a narrative from the public record of the crimes of #Individual1 (donald j. trump) and his associates. Most importantly, and as Rober Mueller has now concurred in court filings, the quid pro quo is revealed that the trump family and presidential campaign conspired with Putin's Russia to elect #Individual1 and with the promise of financial rewards in Russian real estate deals in exchange for the removal of sanctions against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine and interference in U.S. elections.

The book is disturbing and hard to accept, except that Abramson has been proven correct in his predictions and reporting to date. Abramson's book is basically a narrative of the long Twitter threads he has been providing over the past couple of years analyzing the alleged crimes of #Individual1. There is some cosmic justice that a well-researched and reasoned Twitter feed will help bring down a president who has a dynamic and occasionally damning presence on Twitter. This modern political world is blessed and cursed by new technologies.

I could only read this book after the revelations in court last week confirming the criminal conspiracy far exceeding the Watergate break-in and cover-up. And there's some satisfaction in writing this on the day #Individual1's personal attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, was sentenced to three years in prison even though fully cooperating with the investigations (Mueller had recommended lighter sentencing, the US Attorney in the Southern District of New York recommended a bit harsher treatment in the financial investigations and prosecutions ongoing there).

Amazingly as he was sentenced, Cohen said he was finally "free."

Worse than Benedict Arnold

Benedict Arnold in Continental Army Uniform

It could be argued that Benedict Arnold was simply loyal to King George III as the king still claimed sovereignty over the American Colonies and had sent an occupying army to suppress a colonial rising. And fortunately, General Arnold's plan to deliver the fort at West Point on the Hudson was foiled by exposure of the plot.

I suppose one could also argue that Individual 1 is merely loyal to his highest interest, his own view of a great America with him at its head. It all revolves around him and it's all in his head under that mass of highly controlled hair cover which must take so much work it helps explains why the rest of his appearance is so slovenly.

trump Sets Grand Jury Record

Robert Mueller, Special Counsel investigating Trump. Now with Federal Grand Jury.

The third Watergate Grand Jury investigated the President. It was convened January 7, 1974, nearly five years after Nixon first became President.

The Whitewater Grand Jury first subpoenaed records from First Lady, Hillary Clinton, in May 1994, over three years after Bill Clinton became President.

News broke today in the Wall Street Journal, a fairly conservative news source, that Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, has convened a federal Grand Jury in the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign. CNN reports that this includes financial dealings of trump corporations and links to Russians.

The Latest Revelations on Jared Kushner

Would you buy a used car from these guys?

The latest news reporting on trump scandals is that first-son-in-law, Jared Kushner, may have attempted to set up secret, back-channel communications with Russian officials during the transition. This is reported independently by the Washington Post and Reuters who claim sources (i.e., leaks) from within US Intelligence Agencies.

This immediately tells us that trump's war with US national security interests is not over and they are fighting back. The leaks are troubling, not as much as leaks but what they appear to reveal.

First, they reveal that US security agencies do not trust trump and his family. Whether the underlying facts are true or not, there are powerful elements of the US government who are undermining trump. Some of these disclosures may be technically illegal. However, all federal employees, political or career, sign an oath that their highest duty is to the Constitution of the United States. It is not to the President or any party or political view. It is to the Constitutional Union of these United States. (If you need a Hollywood explanation, try the scene in Clear and Present Danger in which James Earl Jones playing he CIA Director (the voice of Darth Vader) tells Harrison Ford, playing  government agent, Jack Ryan (not Han Solo) that his highest duty is to the Constitution, not to the President. Now, it's still very troubling that this appears to be a silent coup of the security forces by leaks to the press and likely formal and appropriate revelations to Congressional Committees and the new Special Counsel. This is really big time.