Over the last two months or so, the United States President Donald Trump has been in the eye of a storm due to the investigations into Russian intervention into the elections last year and possible links to his campaign. Plenty of details have tumbled out that have not done him any favors. However, according to the Washington Post, the latest leak could, in fact, prove to be a boon for the troubled president.
A break?
Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that one of the aides in the Trump campaign had tried to set up a meeting between representatives of the Kremlin and Donald Trump.
The aide had made repeated attempts and had even gone on to ask for meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the time, Trump had not yet been made the Republican candidate yet. However, the reports over the past few months and Donald Trump Jr.'s clandestine meetings with a Russian lawyer did not make the revelations in any way favorable to the president.
In spite of the fact that the leak might be a damaging one for the president, the Washington Post has now stated in a new report that the whole thing might, in fact, prove to be beneficial. The aide, George Papadopoulos, who was responsible for these meeting requests was too far down the ladder among the advisors in the Trump campaign and had very little influence.
His proximity to Russian officials is also unclear, according to senior journalists at the Washington Post.
No clear case of collusion
The aide claims in the leaked e-mails that he has connections with Russian officials but what is interesting is that he does not explicitly state as to why it might be beneficial for Donald Trump to sanction such an approach.
So, there is no clear case of collusion and in addition to that, Trump or senior members of the campaign can claim that that the question of collusion with the Russians does not arise.
It is also important to point out that when George Papadopoulos first broached the subject, people in the higher echelons of the campaign were not amused and his proposal “sent a ripple of concern" at Trump Tower.
In fact, Charles Kubic, a senior member of the Trump campaign, had pointed out that the whole approach might prove to be against the laws of the land. Kubic stated that the provisions of the Logan Act (no US citizen can negotiate with foreign governments without authorization) and the US sanctions on Russia could land the Trump campaign in hot water if such an approach was authorized.
