Playing Russian Roulette With the Trump Administration

This is my very first attempt into writing articles, so I would urge everyone to sit back and relax, grab a cup of tea and a biscuit, you may just learn something. As a global citizen, I have found myself among billions of other human beings captivated by the ever evolving political drama gripping Washington. The Trump administration is lurching from one crises to the other on a weekly basis since they took over the reins at the White House in February.

CNN reported on 7 February 2017, that the then President Elect Mr. Donald Trump downplayed Russian interference in American elections. The question is, how does he know Russia did not influence or at least attempted to define the course of American politics. How much does Mr. Trump know about Russia's covert operations in the US? And finally, how did he come to posses this knowledge? But you could easily argue that Russians themselves have denied ever trying to influence the outcome of US elections. Fair point: you wouldn't expect Russians to own up to that one would you? It is up to American intelligence officials to provide evidence to support their claims. To that end, the outgoing US President Obama issued an Executive order to expel 35 Russian Diplomats in retaliation for election hacking:

“I have issued an executive order that provides additional authority for responding to certain cyber activity that seeks to interfere with or undermine our election processes and institutions, or those of our allies or partners.”

The Guardian reported on 30 December 2016. Russia was slapped with additional sanctions as punishment for their cyber activities against Us democracy. It is on record Mr. Obama spoke to the then President elect Mr. Trump about this response to Russian interference before it was announced publicly.

The Russian saga continues to rumble on to this day, crushing US political heavy weights in it's path. Mike Flynn appears to be at the epicenter of this never ending drama, which is now threatening to bring down the entire Trump administration. The Independent reported that former CIA director John Brennan told Congress he warned Russia last summer against interfering in the US presidential elections and was concerned about Russian contacts involved in Donald Trump's campaign that he convened top counterintelligence officials to focus on it. There are murmurs of impeachment: not easy, but not impossible. This Russian story has developed lethal tentacles that have reached the FBI and claimed Director James Comey's job. The fallout continues.

Let us take a moment to explore why impeachment may be a real possibility in this case. There are many reasons, I hardly know where to begin. Perhaps, we should start by looking at Donald Trump's unfounded allegations against his predecessor Barack Obama; that he wire tapped his Trump Tower offices on the run-up to the 2016 general elections. There is absolutely no evidence put forward by Mr. Trump to support his claim although the administration tried and failed to nail Susan Rice, a National Security Advisor in the Obama administration. And then, there are allegations that Mr. Trump himself requested the now axed FBI Director James Comey to shut down the current inquiry into Russian meddling of the US elections. If proven true, there are serious grounds for impeachment on obstruction of justice here. A proposal by Mr. Trump to cut Federal spending by a staggering $3.6 trillion for a period spanning over a decade is causing sleepless nights for many GOP Senators. Approval of these spending cuts could lead to cuts on many GOP senators' careers. It's possible they may end up with the easiest solution: pushing President Trump out of the White House.

On the other hand, President Trump can survive any impeachment attempts, simply because GOP controls both the lower and upper Chambers of the House. Now you would think it is that simple, wouldn't you? Not so, according to Senator John McCain. He is reported to have expressed deep concerns about rolling Trump scandals which he suggested have now reached Watergate proportions in size and scale. The major problems with President Trump, in my view, is that he is too naïve to trust Russians. I mean, you ask me for evidence, the man shared classified intelligence with Russian Foreign Minister in front of live cameras.

So who is winning in all this? Whichever way you look at it, President Putin and Russia emerge as undisputed winners. How does it look for US President Trump? The future is very hazy and with this Russian super storm hanging over Trump's White House, the future is anyone's guess.