Russia and Trump Connections

A lot of controversy has surrounded the 2016 Presidential election, and President Donald Trump is part of it. Over his entire campaign there have been many allegations accusing Trump and his staff of colluding with the Russian Government to sway the outcome of the U.S. election.  Russian Hackers stealing emails from Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton, the firing of FBI Director James Comey, and previous business ties with the Russians are among the many controversial connections with the President of the United States and the President of the Russian Federation.

In March of 2016, the Russians hacked the Democratic Party’s emails. United States intelligence agencies have concluded that Russians are behind the hacks, but they are unsure whether they are from the Russian government itself, or just Russian hackers.  The hackers got the emails by using phishing techniques to get into the Clinton email infrastructure. The Russians sent emails to staff members of the Clinton Campaign made to look like they were from Google. The emails encouraged the staff members to increase security and change passwords, while leading them to decoy websites to get their credentials.

FBI Director James Comey was fired by President Donald Trump on May 9th 2017. At the time the White House said it was due to the handling of Democratic Frontrunner and Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton’s emails. It was later released that Trump fired him because he was looking too far into his ties with Russia.

In February, Comey and Trump met. According to Comey, Trump asked him to “let go” potential charges of Michael Flynn, former National Security Advisor. Trump met Comey after that to ensure that the FBI was not looking into Trump himself as a suspect of the Russia Investigation. Some say that these actions could be obstruction of justice, including legal scholars, members of the media, and politicians.

Over the years Trump has had many business ties in Russia. He and his children have visited Moscow many times over the years, meeting with developers and government officials to explore joint venture opportunities. In early 2017 BuzzFeed news released a unofficial dossier about Trump’s connections with the Russians. Trump came out the next day saying that he had no financial connections with Russia. Former Press Secretary Sean Spicer reiterated that there are no connections with the Russians in May of 2017.

The connections with President Trump and the Russians have left the American people doubtful of the intentions of their president. Many people are skeptical and want the president to step up, do what he said he would do during his campaign, and start acting like a true leader who puts America first.