“[T]he Russia and Ukraine scandals are, in fact, one
story. Indeed, the President’s false denials in both of them capture the common
themes: soliciting help from foreign interests for partisan gain, followed by
obstruction of efforts to uncover what happened. Both, too, share roots in
Vladimir Putin’s Russia…. As [Robert]Mueller documented, [Trump campaign chair
Paul] Manafort passed proprietary campaign polling data to pro-Russian
Ukrainians. The campaign-era Trump portrayed in the report suffered from one
major limitation: he wasn't President. He clearly welcomed Putin's assistance,
and promised a better relationship with Russia, but he was still just a
businessman from New York. The whistle-blower's complaint [about the call with
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky] is the epilogue to Mueller's report:
the coming of age of an aspiring colluder.”— Jeffrey Toobin, “The Talk of theTown—Comment: From Russia to Ukraine,” The New Yorker, Oct. 14, 2019
(Photo of Jeffrey Toobin taken Oct. 21, 2007, by Ed
Schipul from Houston, TX.)
