Opinion: Trump’s campaign never tried to defend our democracy
A journalist reads a redacted court filing from special counsel Robert S. Mueller III in the Paul Manafort case on April 16. By Jennifer Rubin Jennifer Rubin Opinion writer covering politics and policy, foreign and domestic Email Bio Follow Opinion writer April 22 at 12:15 PM Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report details the multiple contacts between Trump campaign associates and Russian operatives and cutouts. Donald Trump Jr.
Former prosecutor Renato Mariotti agrees that while criminal conduct is hard to prove, “when intent or knowledge must be proven” there are other possible guardrails we can erect. He offers that with regard to foreign contacts with a presidential campaign, “A law requiring reporting, which would impose civil penalties, would be a good start.”
His campaign’s senior leadership was eager to benefit from that country’s efforts to dish dirt on his opponent and was willing to meet with people it knew to represent that country in order to receive such information. While we might bemoan a political culture in which it is necessary to codify what amounts to self-evident decent conduct, it’s essential to thwart future campaigns that might consider assisting a foreign power’s intervention in our presidential election.
AILSA CHANG: Even though it didn’t give rise to conspiracy charges, does it trouble you as a former intelligence officer to see that kind of receptiveness to offers of assistance? MCLAUGHLIN: You know, I think the main impression that comes through to me, Ailsa, is how open we were to this, how vulnerable we were. We were an open target. The fact that Russians could come here in 2014, do this research and get away with it unnoticed is astonishing.
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