My theory is that courting Russia is like courting a large corporate or financial interest; something that most pols do in the course of their efforts to gain and keep power.
I wasn't aware of the visa issue over the Russian lawyer and I hope the investigation of ties to Russia also includes the Obama administration and Clinton. The issue is the extent Russia is involved in the elections, not if it is just the Trump administration or Obama administration. If it continues, it will impact both parties. Putin has to be stopped and this isn't a partisan issue. Trump's lack of knowledge of Russia is scary and he is doing a lot of damage.
I read the book "Red Notice" by Bill Browder and that was the first time I heard of the Magnitsky Act. Browder was the founder of Hermitage Capital and was a big investor in Russia. He was accused by the Russians of being a "threat to national security" (the same excuse all governments use when they have something to hide) because he started uncovering large scale corruption and tax evasion. They raided his offices, seized assets and essentially tried to intimidate him and shut down his company, while keeping his assets of course. One of the lawyers working for Hermitage was Sergei Magnitsky and he was charged with the tax evasion, the same charge he was investigating. (Aside - this is typical of what happens in Russia. They charge you with the same thing they are doing wrong. When Putin recently offered to sign a cyber-security deal with Trump, I was reminded of that story in the book because it is right in Putin's playbook. They do something illegal, and then try to accuse you of doing the same thing or in this case, make a deal with you to prevent you from doing the same thing. Trump fell for that one hook, line and sinker and shows he is out of his league when dealing with Russia).
Anyway, Magnitsky ended up dying in prison (he was beaten to death) and from that Browder worked with U.S Congress to try and punish the Russians. Putin was outraged and has been trying to overturn this ruling ever since. The Act essentially banned some high profile Russians from entering the U.S and a lot of their overseas assets were frozen.
Interestingly, the person in the U.S most responsible for the passing of the Magnitsky Act was John McCain. He was the only Senator or Rep that Browder was able to convince to do something and it was Browder, with McCain's help, that eventually got it passed. McCain deserves a lot of credit and it really changed my mind about him. When McCain stands up and denounces some of the things going on between the Trump administration and Russia, there is very good reason for it.
When I read some of the comments here that this whole issue is simply because Democrats are upset about losing the election, or that they should just get over it, I shake my head. Those people have not been paying attention. This relationship with Trump and Russia is evidence of collusion and I think maybe the start of legitimate grounds to have him impeached. There may also be some serious charges for people in the Obama administration and the Clintons if they were also involved in accepting money.
I wasn't aware of the visa issue over the Russian lawyer and I hope the investigation of ties to Russia also includes the Obama administration and Clinton. The issue is the extent Russia is involved in the elections, not if it is just the Trump administration or Obama administration. If it continues, it will impact both parties. Putin has to be stopped and this isn't a partisan issue. Trump's lack of knowledge of Russia is scary and he is doing a lot of damage.
I read the book "Red Notice" by Bill Browder and that was the first time I heard of the Magnitsky Act. Browder was the founder of Hermitage Capital and was a big investor in Russia. He was accused by the Russians of being a "threat to national security" (the same excuse all governments use when they have something to hide) because he started uncovering large scale corruption and tax evasion. They raided his offices, seized assets and essentially tried to intimidate him and shut down his company, while keeping his assets of course. One of the lawyers working for Hermitage was Sergei Magnitsky and he was charged with the tax evasion, the same charge he was investigating. (Aside - this is typical of what happens in Russia. They charge you with the same thing they are doing wrong. When Putin recently offered to sign a cyber-security deal with Trump, I was reminded of that story in the book because it is right in Putin's playbook. They do something illegal, and then try to accuse you of doing the same thing or in this case, make a deal with you to prevent you from doing the same thing. Trump fell for that one hook, line and sinker and shows he is out of his league when dealing with Russia).
Anyway, Magnitsky ended up dying in prison (he was beaten to death) and from that Browder worked with U.S Congress to try and punish the Russians. Putin was outraged and has been trying to overturn this ruling ever since. The Act essentially banned some high profile Russians from entering the U.S and a lot of their overseas assets were frozen.
Interestingly, the person in the U.S most responsible for the passing of the Magnitsky Act was John McCain. He was the only Senator or Rep that Browder was able to convince to do something and it was Browder, with McCain's help, that eventually got it passed. McCain deserves a lot of credit and it really changed my mind about him. When McCain stands up and denounces some of the things going on between the Trump administration and Russia, there is very good reason for it.
When I read some of the comments here that this whole issue is simply because Democrats are upset about losing the election, or that they should just get over it, I shake my head. Those people have not been paying attention. This relationship with Trump and Russia is evidence of collusion and I think maybe the start of legitimate grounds to have him impeached. There may also be some serious charges for people in the Obama administration and the Clintons if they were also involved in accepting money.