Tuesday’s headlines are devastating for the president and his team. But far from being giddy about them, Democrats are incredibly concerned. The country and all Americans should be, too.
The Washington Post reported, “Kushner’s overseas contacts raise concerns as foreign officials seek leverage.” The New York Times reported, “Kushner’s Security Level Downgraded.” CNN reported that special counsel Robert Mueller has started asking about Trump’s past Russian business dealings — a clear red-line as far as Donald Trump is concerned.
{mosads}There is no doubt these jaw-dropping headlines have rocked the Oval Office, and his team is reeling from what could be the fallout. We don’t have to look any further than Trump’s own Twitter feed to see just how worried he is about what this may mean for his presidency.
“Witch Hunt” was one tweet Trump put out recently. Sorry Mr. President, but it is not a witch hunt. What is happening now is a byproduct of Trump’s dangerous lack of fitness for the presidency, the astounding hypocrisy that surrounds his every move and the great con he has pulled over on the American people that is starting to crumble around him.
Donald Trump campaigned on his ability to get things done, on how he will surround himself with the best people and on how Hillary Clinton’s “dangerous” handling of classified information would put the nation at risk.
Recent headlines about the number of people in the White House working with interim security clearances — and now Kushner’s clearance being downgraded — are astounding pieces of news given just how much classified information has passed through Kushner’s hands.
Jared Kushner’s actions have put the country at risk, and now we know exactly how.
Trump’s critics have always been against his nepotism (there is a reason there are laws against it) but especially when the family members he puts in charge of the most sensitive issues facing the country have absolutely no experience in these fields and have huge vulnerabilities given their past business dealings that can clearly be exploited by our adversaries.
Now we know that that is precisely what our adversaries tried to do.
Whether it was to exploit Kushner’s naivete and inexperience or to try to blackmail him given his need for foreign investors in his flailing business ventures, Kushner was a perfect storm of nefarious opportunity for our adversaries.
Kushner can try to claim he didn’t know what the protocols were, but when it is reported that he had several foreign contacts that were undisclosed and he continued to have meetings with foreign officials without any national security expert present, it is easy for one to assume this was not all done innocently.
So much for taking the treatment of classified information seriously.
Can you just imagine if it had been President Hillary Clinton in the White House, and it came to light that she had given a sensitive portfolio to her son-in-law? Can you imagine if he could not even pass a background check and was functioning on an interim clearance, and that foreign officials tried to take advantage of him? There would be hellfire coming from the Republican members of Congress.
So much for draining the swamp.
It seems every day brings new stories of how Trump is putting our national security at risk. His past business ties with the Russians have always been what many thought put him in a dangerous situation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Why else has he not slapped Russian with sanctions? Why else can he not admit Russia committed an act of cyber terrorism designed to derail our democracy?
While it will all be detrimental to him with the ongoing Mueller investigation, there is also a huge political price he and Republicans will pay in November.
The recent CNN poll showed 60 percent of Americans believe Trump is not doing enough to protect U.S. elections from Russian cyber attacks. A recent poll showed majority of Americans believe Trump was involved in something illegal or unethical when it came to the Russians.
The recent generic ballot has Democrats up over Republicans by 16 points. On Tuesday, Democrats enjoyed their 38th and 39th red-to-blue flip of two state districts in Connecticut and New Hampshire.
The more Americans understand just how dangerous Trump is at the helm and just how much he is putting our national security at risk, the bluer the wave will be in November.
But for now, while the GOP is silent as Trump continues to put the country on a perilous path, all Americans should be concerned about the ominous threat our own president is subjecting us to.
Maria Cardona is a principal at the Dewey Square Group, a Democratic strategist and a CNN/CNN Español political commentator. Follow her on Twitter @MariaTCardona.