Six weeks into Donald Trump’s presidency and one of the few constants has been allegations of ties between members of his administration and Russia.
Another, it would seem, is the continued support of his fanbase despite this.
That meetings took place between Trump aides and Russian officials during the US election campaign in 2016 isn’t in doubt.
What is causing controversy is what was discussed during this contact and what each person under scrutiny has willingly disclosed.
In the best case scenario, these were simply routine meetings at which Trump’s aides were not acting in a capacity related to the election campaign.
WHO SPOKE TO THE RUSSIANS?
- National Security Advisor Michael Flynn (has since been fired)
- Attorney General Jeff Sessions (has recused himself from overseeing Justice Department investigation into Russian interference in the US election
- Senior Trump aide and son-in-law Jared Kushner
- National Security Advisers to the campaign, J D Gordon and Carter Page
- Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort (resigned in August)
- Longtime Advisor Roger Stone
- Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen
- The Washington Post has a detailed breakdown here.
In the worst case scenario, these meetings are evidence of collusion between Trump’s team and the Russians, including ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, in order to undermine the US presidential election.
This would include Moscow’s alleged role in hacking the Democratic National Committee (DNC), something the US intelligence community is convinced did occur.
The scandal has already claimed one scalp - Michael Flynn was fired as National Security Advisor when it transpired he had not disclosed to Vice President, Mike Pence, a discussion with Kislyak about sanctions in December.
Jerry Wirth, 63, is a Christian ordained minister from Evansville, Indiana.
He told The Huffington Post UK: “Colonel Flynn sort of stepped in a cow patty and said a little bit a little to soon to the Russians, but I don’t see the great harm he did except in not letting his boss know who tracked the bovine scat on the new rug.”
The latest to be caught up in the furore is Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, who this week recused himself from the investigation into the affair.
Democrats have said this is not enough and that he should resign.
Trump maintains the entire thing is a “witch hunt” to distract attention from the Democrat’s shock election defeat.
Wirth added: “Well shucks, down here in the cornfields of Indiana we’re mostly wondering what this Russian ruckus is all about.
“Now I’ve got to admit those Russians are pretty crafty about breaking into emails, but it’s like cracking a safe - doesn’t matter how good of a safe cracker you are, you can only get what’s in the safe you crack open.
“Seems to me these Democrats are more worried about who cracked open the safe than what was found in it.”
Trump himself has denied discussing or encouraging others to discuss the DNC hacking with any Russian officials but his wider links to Moscow remain murky due to his continued refusal to publish his tax returns.
He has sought to deflect attention away from the accusations by tweeting pictures of prominent Democrats with Putin.
Brad Linzy, 39, is a Trump voter fromLouisville, Kentucky. He said: “I believe the Russia thing is a ruse. There is zero evidence the Russians were even behind any ‘hacks’. There are no credible, non-partisan, named sources in any of the reports.
“In fact, Assange said Russians weren’t responsible for the info he received, and claimed DNC insiders (probably rightfully disgruntled Sanders people) were responsible for the DNC email leaks. I think Clinton wanted a no-fly zone in Syria to force a possible confrontation with Russia, or at least a protracted, new Cold War.
“When Trump won, the narrative switched to the ready-made, pre-percolating allegations of a Putin/Trump collusion. It’s a deep state psy-op campaign. In fact, a recent bill made CIA commission of domestic psy-ops legal, probably for this very reason.”
One factor working heavily against Trump’s affiliates is that information made public regarding the allegations was not volunteered and has only come to light following media scrutiny.
Sessions failed to disclose any contact during his confirmation hearing in January.
This week Sessions clarified through a spokeswoman: “I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign”.
But this carefully-worded statement still raises the possibility that said issues arose during the course of other conversations.
Joe Wallace is CEO and Chief Innovation Officer of the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership, Palm Springs, California. He said: “The fact that Jeff Sessions has been accused of meeting with a Russian official while serving as a US Senator is not a big deal. Lying to congress may however turn out to be problematic but even that is doubtful because that particular offense is not enforced often.
“The bottom line is if Hillary faced no charges for lying to congress how can Sessions be held to a different standard?
“The Democrats are creating an outrage to get the very well received speech that President Trump gave off of the front page. Did you watch the crowd? The congressional Democrats were being painted into a corner by President Trump and they finally realised it Tuesday night.”
This sentiment was echoed by Phillip Brown who lost his job as a coal miner in Sturgis, Kentucky, during the Obama administration.
He said: “I don’t see how Sessions should be precluded from retaining his appointment. He met with the Russian diplomat, as a senator in professional regards, twice last year.
“When they asked him about his having meetings with Russian diplomats during the Senate nomination headings, they only asked him if he had had contact with Russian officials while campaigning for Trump.
“I do not believe it is a big enough deal that he should resign from his position.”
Just this morning Trump stepped up his deflectionary attack with accusations against Obama.
The affair has seemingly done little to dampen enthusiasm for Trump amongst those who support him.
Wirth said: “I’m pretty satisfied with President Trump. He is actually working out better than I thought he might, and his speech the other night was one of the best yet.
“Kind of concerned that the Democrats are looking like a fishbowl full of oddities and idiots, but we have known that here in Indiana how they are for as long as they have been jet setting over our heads.”
Brown added: “My opinion of the Trump administration has not changed due to allegations and speculative chatter about Russian interference with the election.”