In my last blog entry (6 May, 2019) I pointed to the 'mystery' surrounding the recent 'private' telephone call between Putin and his Manchurian Candidate, Donald Trump.
As reported by Maegan Vazquez and Allie Malloy (left),
"The Kremlin said the phone call was initiated by Trump.
...
Friday's conversation was part of a larger discussion that was focused on the crisis in Venezuela and also touched on North Korea, a potential nuclear deal with Russia and China, and the situation in Ukraine. (CNN : 4 May, 2019) (my emphasis)
Rick Stengel of MSNBC hits the nail on the head when he said that,
"... I actually want to go back to the Ukraine issue ... This is also a potential area of collusion between Trump and Putin ... Why ... Putin annexed [Ukraine Crimea] in 2014 ... He had a soft invasion of Ukraine in 2015 ... Now you have the President of the United States basically saying, "Let's make a deal about this ... If you're Ukraine you're caught between these two corrupt administrations ... " (MSNBC : 10 May, 2019) (my emphasis)
However, it is NOT insignificant that, shortly after the Trump-Putin telephone conversation, Emily Tillett reports that,
"President Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani (right) says it's his right to travel to Ukraine to "defend" his client -- to try to push for investigations that he thinks could be "very helpful" to the president.
...
He said there's "nothing illegal" about his effort to pursue probes in Ukraine, since he is not trying to carry out foreign policy initiatives on behalf of the administration." (CBS News : 10 May, 2019) (my emphasis)
Hardly had Giuliani uttered his words about going to Ukraine "...to try to push for investigations that he thinks could be "very helpful" to the president" when he suddenly decided against going to Ukraine.
As reported by Caroline Kelly and Kyle Feldscher, Giuliani then stated that,
"I'm not gonna go," he said, "because I think I'm walking into a group of people that are enemies of the President, in some cases enemies of the United States and, in one case, an already convicted person who has been found to be involved in assisting the Democrats with the 2016 election." (CNN : 11 May, 2019) (my emphasis)
In other words, Giuliani now sees the incoming President-elect of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, as an enemy not only of Donald Trump but, more significantly, as an enemy of the United States.
After Giuliani's announcement about cancelling his trip to Ukraine, suddenly we have the announcement that,
"Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week as the Trump administration sends mixed messages about the state of relations with Moscow.
The State Department announced Friday that Pompeo would meet with Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Sochi, Russia, next Tuesday.
The leaders are expected to have "frank discussions" on a broad range of multilateral and bilateral issues, including arms control, Ukraine, Venezuela, North Korea and Iran, according to a senior State Department official." (Jennifer Hansler (left): CNN : 10 May, 2019) (my emphasis)
This 'sudden' meeting between Pompeo and Putin is inextricably linked to the impending appearance of Robert Mueller in front of a House Congressional Committee.
Trump is petrified about what Mueller may divulge to the Congressional Committee.
WHY????
As reported by Stephanie Baker and Helena Bedwell,
"A Georgian-American businessman is accusing Special Counsel Robert Mueller of “glaring inaccuracies” and sensationalizing texts about alleged salacious tapes involving Donald Trump’s 2013 trip to Moscow.
In a letter to U.S. Attorney General William Barr on Tuesday, lawyers for Giorgi Rtskhiladze demanded a retraction to a footnote in Mueller’s 448-page report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election." (Bloomberg News : 24 April, 2019) (my emphasis)
Rachel Maddow (25 April, 2019) examines in more detail the nature of the texts between Giorgi Rtskhiladze and Michael Cohen. (Full video: MSNBC YouTube) (Steele Dossier)
President-elect of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, is now in the dangerous situation where Trump is scrambling to try and conceal the collusion between himself and Putin regarding Ukraine.
Will Zelensky be able to withstand the coming onslaught against himself by Putin and Trump?
(to be continued)
As reported by Maegan Vazquez and Allie Malloy (left),
"The Kremlin said the phone call was initiated by Trump.
...
Friday's conversation was part of a larger discussion that was focused on the crisis in Venezuela and also touched on North Korea, a potential nuclear deal with Russia and China, and the situation in Ukraine. (CNN : 4 May, 2019) (my emphasis)
Rick Stengel of MSNBC hits the nail on the head when he said that,
"... I actually want to go back to the Ukraine issue ... This is also a potential area of collusion between Trump and Putin ... Why ... Putin annexed [Ukraine Crimea] in 2014 ... He had a soft invasion of Ukraine in 2015 ... Now you have the President of the United States basically saying, "Let's make a deal about this ... If you're Ukraine you're caught between these two corrupt administrations ... " (MSNBC : 10 May, 2019) (my emphasis)
MSNBC (10 May 2019)
However, it is NOT insignificant that, shortly after the Trump-Putin telephone conversation, Emily Tillett reports that,
"President Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani (right) says it's his right to travel to Ukraine to "defend" his client -- to try to push for investigations that he thinks could be "very helpful" to the president. ...
He said there's "nothing illegal" about his effort to pursue probes in Ukraine, since he is not trying to carry out foreign policy initiatives on behalf of the administration." (CBS News : 10 May, 2019) (my emphasis)
CNN News (May 10, 2019)
Hardly had Giuliani uttered his words about going to Ukraine "...to try to push for investigations that he thinks could be "very helpful" to the president" when he suddenly decided against going to Ukraine.
As reported by Caroline Kelly and Kyle Feldscher, Giuliani then stated that,
"I'm not gonna go," he said, "because I think I'm walking into a group of people that are enemies of the President, in some cases enemies of the United States and, in one case, an already convicted person who has been found to be involved in assisting the Democrats with the 2016 election." (CNN : 11 May, 2019) (my emphasis)
In other words, Giuliani now sees the incoming President-elect of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, as an enemy not only of Donald Trump but, more significantly, as an enemy of the United States.
After Giuliani's announcement about cancelling his trip to Ukraine, suddenly we have the announcement that,
"Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week as the Trump administration sends mixed messages about the state of relations with Moscow.
The State Department announced Friday that Pompeo would meet with Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Sochi, Russia, next Tuesday.
The leaders are expected to have "frank discussions" on a broad range of multilateral and bilateral issues, including arms control, Ukraine, Venezuela, North Korea and Iran, according to a senior State Department official." (Jennifer Hansler (left): CNN : 10 May, 2019) (my emphasis) Trump is petrified about what Mueller may divulge to the Congressional Committee.
WHY????
As reported by Stephanie Baker and Helena Bedwell,
"A Georgian-American businessman is accusing Special Counsel Robert Mueller of “glaring inaccuracies” and sensationalizing texts about alleged salacious tapes involving Donald Trump’s 2013 trip to Moscow.
In a letter to U.S. Attorney General William Barr on Tuesday, lawyers for Giorgi Rtskhiladze demanded a retraction to a footnote in Mueller’s 448-page report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election." (Bloomberg News : 24 April, 2019) (my emphasis)
Rachel Maddow (25 April, 2019) examines in more detail the nature of the texts between Giorgi Rtskhiladze and Michael Cohen. (Full video: MSNBC YouTube) (Steele Dossier)
President-elect of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, is now in the dangerous situation where Trump is scrambling to try and conceal the collusion between himself and Putin regarding Ukraine.
Will Zelensky be able to withstand the coming onslaught against himself by Putin and Trump?
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