Despite Clinton Conspiracy Theories, FBI Finds No Clear Link Between Trump And Russia

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Donald Trump has many other faults, but The New York Times reports that the FBI has found no clear link between Trump and Russia:

For much of the summer, the F.B.I. pursued a widening investigation into a Russian role in the American presidential campaign. Agents scrutinized advisers close to Donald J. Trump, looked for financial connections with Russian financial figures, searched for those involved in hacking the computers of Democrats, and even chased a lead — which they ultimately came to doubt — about a possible secret channel of email communication from the Trump Organization to a Russian bank.

Law enforcement officials say that none of the investigations so far have found any conclusive or direct link between Mr. Trump and the Russian government. And even the hacking into Democratic emails, F.B.I. and intelligence officials now believe, was aimed at disrupting the presidential election rather than electing Mr. Trump.

Hillary Clinton’s supporters, angry over what they regard as a lack of scrutiny of Mr. Trump by law enforcement officials, pushed for these investigations. In recent days they have also demanded that James B. Comey, the director of the F.B.I., discuss them publicly, as he did last week when he announced that a new batch of emails possibly connected to Mrs. Clinton had been discovered.

The Clinton campaign has been trying to blame many of their problems on Russia, imagining a conspiracy between Trump and Putin and engaging in what has felt like Cold War era red-baiting.

Clinton and Putin have a long history of distrust for each other, and, while there is no clear evidence, it is possible that Putin did desire to interfere in Clinton’s election in retaliation for what he perceived as Clinton interfering in Russian elections along with her views on regime change. From Politico:

…nothing angered Putin as much as Clinton’s statement about Russia’s December 2011 parliamentary elections, which produced widespread allegations of fraud and vote-rigging on behalf of Putin allies. At a conference in Lithuania, Clinton issued a biting statement saying that the Russian people “deserve to have their voices heard and their votes counted, and that means they deserve fair, free transparent elections and leaders who are accountable to them.” Some Obama officials felt the provocative statement went too far…

Whether Putin genuinely believed that Clinton was plotting his overthrow is another question. But he has repeatedly criticized the U.S. for “regime change” policies that have toppled authoritarians in other countries, including Iraq and Libya, that Clinton supported. In the latter case, Putin was furious when a 2011 U.S. and European military operation billed as humanitarian — and advocated by Clinton — evolved into a de facto campaign against dictator Muammar Qadhafi.

Putin reportedly obsessed over Qadhafi’s violent death in Kremlin meetings. The graphic video of the Libya ruler’s bloodied body being dragged by a mob is often replayed on Russian television, along with Clinton’s wisecrack about the executed strongman: “We came, we saw, he died.”

It has been a goal of Clinton’s fellow neoconservatives to also achieve regime change in Russia, similar to Iraq and Libya, and Clinton has threatened war with Russia. Even prior to this threat, Putin and other Russian leaders have believed that the election of Clinton would mean war between the United States and Russia, giving them motivation to oppose Clinton without any plots between Trump and Putin.

Another story in The New York Times describes how Donald Trump Used Legally Dubious Method to Avoid Paying Taxes.

Update: Slate reviewed some of the suspicious behavior which has suggested communications between the Trump Organization and Russia.

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