In whose interest will Trump serve — Americans’ or Putin’s?

We need an exhaustive and expansive congressional probe into President-elect Donald J. Trump’s possible ties to Russia. Recently, U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded with a high degree of certainty that Russia influenced the presidential election in favor of  Trump. This is highly suspect considering we don’t know the depth of Trump’s relationship to Russia.

The Russian favoritism towards Trump during this past election is extremely apparent. Both Hillary Clinton’s campaign emails and the Democratic National Committee’s server were likely hacked by Russian sponsored actors, and some of this information was distributed through Wikileaks.

The Republican National Committee’s server was also hacked, but intelligence agencies concluded that the information was withheld to promote the Trump campaign.  

This latest revelation is in stark contrast to the one released previously. In October, the intelligence community concluded in a now disputed finding Russia wanted to merely interfere with American democracy. The newly released aforesaid intelligence assessment agreed on a more nuanced conclusion: influence was indeed the motivation.  

{mosads}Tell that to Trump. The president-elect ostensibly believes our intelligence community’s conclusions are absurd. This past Sunday on Fox News, Trump merely shrugged off accusations of hacking as ridiculous; this from the same man who has refused his daily intelligence briefings — truly astonishing.  

The American people deserve to know the scope of Russian influence on the presidential election, but it shouldn’t end there. Thankfully, U.S. Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), and my own Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.) issued a statement calling for Congress to look into Russian interference, but also should be expanded to include Trump’s ties to Russia as well.  

There are already a number of red flags that warrant further investigation. Various news agencies reported contact existed between Trump associates, and the Russian officials during the campaign season. This contact should be scrutinized for Americans to judge for themselves. If warranted, a special prosecutor should weigh criminal penalties.  

This is not a stretch for Russian President Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer, to manipulative and undermine liberal democracy. Such “active measures” as they were called during the Cold War were used to influence world events.

Though considerably harder to successfully conduct in the United States because of the vast distance, advanced technology has made such psychological operations that much easier. Russian-sponsored actors don’t have to relocate to the United States to influence domestic affairs. Russia hackers can initiate cyber attacks from the comfort of the Kremlin.

Even the Russia’s alleged proliferation of “fake news” online falls within the KGB’s modus operandi. Russia has been accused of promulgating bogus stories about Clinton to influence the electorate. This is concerning because some reports cite fake news as a serious source of resentment towards Clinton.

In addition, Russia has a recent track record meddling in other country’s affairs. The Russian government has been known to fund far-right parties across the world in hopes of implanting pro-Russian leaders. Putin essentially runs a criminal empire that seeks to manipulate, and undermining liberal democracy across the globe for his own benefit.  

During the campaign, Trump was compared to President Ronald Reagan. Make no mistake, Trump is no Reagan.

Reagan ran under the slogan, “Let’s Make America Great Again” and Trump ran on an identical slogan, “Make America Great Again.” Despite the empty rhetoric, President Reagan had the strength and fortitude to stand up to Soviet Russia when he said at loudly to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev “tear down this wall!”

Contrast this with Trump who seems to have a penchant for selecting individuals with troubling ties to Russia. Trump’s likely pick for Secretary of State, Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, has significant ties to Russia. He was on such good terms, Russia awarded him the Order of Friendship. Tillerson also negotiated a financial deal with Russia worth an estimated $500 billion, but was killed by U.S. sanctions — that could now change.

Other members of the Trump camp also have some disturbing Kremlin ties. Trump’s pick for national security advisor, Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, can be seen seated next to Putin at a Russia Today anniversary dinner in 2015. Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, was a paid consultant to Russian ally, and past Ukrainian President Viktor F. Yanukovych.  

Trump and Putin seem to have a particularly cozy relationship. Trump and Putin have been known to fawn over each other. Putin has called Trump “talented.” While Putin is suspected of ordering the murder of journalists, and dissidents across the globe, Trump called Putin a “leader.”

When NBC host Matt Lauer confronted Trump about this malfeasance, Trump merely disregarded any criticism, and said Putin was a better president than President Barack Obama – truly disgusting.  

We still don’t know the depth of Trump’s financial ties to Russia. Even disgraced former President Richard Nixon released his tax returns, though grudgingly.

A break from precedent, Trump has thus far refused to release his respective tax returns, but has promised the American people he has no significant ties to Russia — if you can take his word on it. Trump’s 12,000-page tax return would clear up any speculation of his financial ties to Russia.

Congress has an obligation to probe Russian involvement in this past American election, but also probe Trump’s potential ties to Russia.

We need to know who we elected as president, and whether his decisions will influence how he governs. A congressional probe into these ties would be beneficial for everyone. This is not a partisan issue; we need to ensure our election was free and fair.

More importantly, we need to know the individual we elected as president will be an unbiased advocate for American interests.    

Matt Fecteau (Matthew.Fecteau@gmail.com), of Pawtucket, Rhode Island was a Democratic congressional candidate in 2014. He is a former White House national security intern and Iraq war veteran.

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