
Republicans take sides for a Trump-fueled tug of war over Russia
CNN
Recently, ex-President Donald Trump proudly declared, "What's happening with Russia and Ukraine would never have happened under the Trump administration. Not even a possibility!"
That may actually be true. After all, just a couple of years ago, Trump was impeached for trying to use Ukraine to dig up dirt on his potential presidential rival Joe Biden. He tried to push Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to "do us a favor" and investigate Biden and his son, Hunter -- all while holding up almost $400 million in crucial military aid. Remember that "perfect" phone call?
So, yeah, given Trump's predilection to hug Russia and blackmail Ukraine -- a fledgling democracy -- it's probably a good bet that Russian President Vladimir Putin wouldn't be pulling these particular tricks right now. I mean, Trump was his guy. When Bill O'Reilly pointed out to Trump that Putin was a killer, he demurred. "There are a lot of killers," Trump said. " ... You think our country's so innocent?"

The two men killed as they floated holding onto their capsized boat in a secondary strike against a suspected drug vessel in early September did not appear to have radio or other communications devices, the top military official overseeing the strike told lawmakers on Thursday, according to two sources with direct knowledge of his congressional briefings.












