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Wheels of Justice

The United States of America or more accurately its 45th President, Donald Trump, bears witness to the turn of the…

Wheels of Justice

Donald Trump (Photo: AFP)

The United States of America or more accurately its 45th President, Donald Trump, bears witness to the turn of the wheels of justice, however slowly yet exceedingly fine. Exactly a year after the presidential election, the FBI has charged his former election campaign chairman, his deputy, and a foreign policy aide with having facilitated the Russian intervention to ensure Trump’s victory and Hillary Clinton’s defeat.

A more quirky turn of events is difficult to imagine ~ yesterday’s Cold War warriors had acted as partners together in the elections. It was above all an incredible devaluation of ideology on the part of the Kremlin, such as it exists in the post-Soviet era. The position of the world’s most powerful Head of State ~ not to forget Xi Jinping ~ stands denuded and almost irreparably so. His contrived query, “Why aren’t Hillary and the Dems the focus? Also, there is no collusion,” will cut no ice.

However indirectly, Trump has also been indicted for being in league with his former aides, the likes of Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, and the foreign policy aide, George Papadopoulos. Monday’s charges have widened the scope for further investigation; the special counsel, Robert Mueller, hasn’t yet made his final statement.

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Markedly, he has been tasked to probe “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump and any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation”. The President’s almost obligatory bluster on controversial matters holds no water.

Mueller is probing a matter that is as exceptionally serious as it is unprecedented ~ the Kremlin’s meddling in the US elections. It beggars belief that Trump’s campaign managers had colluded with a historically hostile foreign government ahead of the election in the fountainhead of democracy. The President has trivialised the matter with his facile response, and it shall not be easy to shore up his image on the world stage.

There is much to investigate and the Mueller report may be only just the beginning. The ambience in and around Capitol Hill gets murkier still with reports that Russian-backed content reached as many as 126 million Americans on Facebook during and after the 2016 election. It is hard not to wonder whether Russia is engaged in a systematic attempt to influence elections in the democratic world with the ulterior objective of disrupting and weakening democracies.

Is America its immediate objective, not to forget the Kremlin’s alleged role in the UK’s referendum on the European Union? Trump’s presidency cannot accord short shrift to the rule of law. A year after her defeat, Hillary Clinton might be enjoying a quiet chuckle.

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