Salon Magazine Interview – “Corruption like we’ve never seen before”
The cauldron that is the Russia scandal and its related tendrils — including possible money laundering and likely obstruction of justice — has boiled over. In recent weeks it has been revealed that Robert Mueller is investigating a secret meeting between Trump ally Erik Prince and a Russian contact in the Seychelles, additional charges have been added to Paul Manafort and Rick Gates’ indictments, 13 Russians and various American assets have been indicted for interfering in the 2016 presidential election, and Donald Trump has engaged in what looks like witness tampering. Adding to this imbroglio, adult film star Stormy Daniels, who was apparently paid $130,000 in hush money by Trump’s personal attorney, is threatening to reveal intimate photos and other evidence of her affair with the president.
Trump and his associates are not acting like innocent people. Their behavior suggests a deep level of culpability in reference to the 2016 presidential election as well as the other illegal behavior that Mueller has already and will continue to uncover.
What does this new information suggest about Mueller’s investigation into Trump and his inner circle? What of the claim by Trump’s defenders that he is a victim of a plot” by the so-called Deep State? Has the success of Russia’s efforts to undermine American democracy been overstated? Is China, rather than Russia the true beneficiary of Trump’s foreign policy and other failures?
In an effort to answer these questions I recently spoke with Melvin Goodman. He was an intelligence analyst at the CIA for 24 years, specializing in relations between the United States and Russia. Goodman is the author of several books including his most recent, “Whistleblower at the CIA.”
This conversation has been edited for clarity and length. A longer version of this conversation can also be heard on my podcast.
Given your four decades of experience as an intelligence analyst with the CIA, and your work with the State Department and other agencies, how do you view the Russia scandal and Donald Trump?
…. read the full article at Salon
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The Washington Post’s Newest Strategy for Challenging China
nstead of exploring policies that enable the United States to find ways to get along with China, too many politicians and pundits, like Boot, believe the only answer is in the pursuit of confrontation. The idea that India can be our ally against China seems far-fetched, given China’s many strengths, particularly in its economic and military advantages vis-a-vis India.
The Global Importance of Sino-American Relations
Currently, China has been taking advantage of the U.S. preoccupation with supporting Ukraine to steal a march on Washington’s interests, particularly in the Middle East. Unlike the United States, China has avoided contentious disputes throughout the Third World in order to establish reliable state-to-state relations in the Global South. While the Middle East has become America’s briar pitch, China has concluded long-term energy deals with Iran and Saudi Arabia, and recently orchestrated a rapprochement between the region’s leading countries. The United States could not play the honest broker role because it has no diplomatic relations with Iran and unreliable relations with Saudi Arabia.
