The FBI and U.S. Senate are searching for connections between Russia and Donald Trump, but Vladimir Putin is resolute in his story that there was no Russian meddling in the recent US presidential election.
While speaking recently at an economic forum in St. Petersburg he called the U.S. investigations into Russian involvement “hysteria” and also made comments that likened the continuing allegations against Russia to antisemitism, and also placed Hillary Clinton's loss squarely at her feet.
To Mr. Putin's credit, there has been absolutely no evidence produced so far that would create a solid link between the Russian state and Trump's victory.
Mr. Putin did concede that Russian hackers could have played a role in the U.S. election, though not in an official capacity.
Who benefits?
What has come to light is an attempt to manufacture evidence that ties the Russian state to Trump, but these electronic records have been shown to be the handiwork of US intelligence services according to Reuters.
At this point, it would seem that the entire Russian hacking affair has taken on a life of its own, and Mr. Putin wasn't shy about what he felt would be the best course of action going forward. “Let's end this,” Putin told Megyn Kelly in a recent interview, “You will feel better and we will feel better,”
Vladimir Putin may be right, but at this point, the investigation into the Trump/Russia theory is becoming more heated all the time.
Whatever the origins of this story, it still looks like it has a long way to go.
Ongoing interest
A string on high-level Trump insiders have been the subject of recent FBI interest, and his son in law, Jared Kushner is under FBI scrutiny according to NBC. The news outlet cited numerous high-level sources for the report, but there was little to show in terms of a reason for all the attention.
The same dynamic seems to be in play when it comes to another close Trump connection, Nigel Farage, who has been named as a person of interest in the investigation. Much like Mr. Kushner, Mr. Farage hasn't actually been charged with any sort of wrongdoing, but nonetheless, The Fbi is apparently interviewing both men on the subject of Russian mischief.
The U.S. senate is also actively investigating this subject, and this week former FBI director James Comey is due to testify in front to a senate panel. It will be very interesting to see if any solid evidence ever emerges that ties Donald Trump to state-sponsored Russian hackers, but as of yet, there doesn't seem to be a shred of evidence against anyone.
