Lynn Breshears: Trump’s Russian ties should disqualify him for presidency
Donald Trump has frequently expressed his admiration for Vladimir Putin, an anti-American world-class tyrant. He has called Putin a better leader than our own president and has treasonously called for Russia to interfere in U.S. politics.
Several reasons for this come to mind. In 2008 Donald, Jr. stated that, "Russians make up a disproportionate cross-section of our assets. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia." Trump used mainly Russian capital to rebuild his empire after U.S. banks refused him. The tax returns that he refuses to release would reveal Trump's dependence on investments from Russian oligarchs close to Putin. And it doesn't end with Trump.
Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign manager, served as adviser to Viktor Vanulkovych, ex-president of the Ukraine, who was opposed by the U. S. due to his ties to Putin. Manafort was accused of skimming money from Ukrainian natural gas deals and laundering it through bogus New York real estate transactions.
Carter Page, Trump's foreign policy adviser, made his career in Russian investments and has close ties to Gazprom, the state-run oil company.
These ties to a hostile foreign dictatorship disqualify Trump from any U.S. office.
Lynn Breshears, Coulterville
This story was originally published July 29, 2016 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Lynn Breshears: Trump’s Russian ties should disqualify him for presidency."