Donald......'Memba this?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

Donald J. Trump Verified account 
?@realDonaldTrump

@AgalarovAras I had a great weekend with you and your family. You have done a FANTASTIC job. TRUMP TOWER-MOSCOW is next. EMIN was WOW!

https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/399939505924628480

I mean, that was kind of weird, considering you've denied ever having any sort of business designs in Russia.

But whatever. I'm sure whoever you addressed this tweet towards was just your average, run of the mill Russian guy. Your everyday Josef Schmoe, so to speak. I mean, it's not like he's close buddies with Putin or anythi--

Арас Агаларов
?@AgalarovAras

Президент РФ Владимир Путин вручил «Орден Почета» Арасу Агаларову @agalarovaras #award #vladimirputin #crocusgroup

(Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded the "Order of Honor" Aras Agalarov @agalarovaras #award #vladimirputin #crocusgroup)



https://twitter.com/AgalarovAras/status/395447166707445760

Aрас Агаларов
?@AgalarovAras

Открытие медцентра. Владивосток

(The opening of the medical center. Vladivostok)



https://twitter.com/AgalarovAras/status/374513662889054208

So it's not like this guy has actually been described as an intermediary between you and Putin, though, right?

Donald Trump was in his element, mingling with beauty pageant contestants and business tycoons as he brought his Miss Universe pageant to Russia for a much-anticipated Moscow debut. Nonetheless, Trump was especially eager for the presence of another honored guest: Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump tweeted Putin a personal invitation to attend the pageant, and a one-on-one meeting between the New York businessman and the Russian leader was scheduled for the day before the show.

Putin canceled at the last minute, but he sent a decorative lacquered box, a traditional Russian gift, and a warm note, according to Aras Agalarov, a Moscow billionaire who served as a liaison between Trump and the Russian leader.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-trumps-financial-ties-to-russia-and-his-unusual-flattery-of-vladimir-putin/2016/06/17/dbdcaac8-31a6-11e6-8ff7-7b6c1998b7a0_story.html?utm_term=.65a0b4707413

Well, okay then. It's not like there's anything else odd about your relationship with the Agalarov guy, right? It's not like you agreed to appear in his son's music video that was shot at the Moscow Ritz Carlton or anything like---Oh, wait. You did.

......Well. Okay then.

Goddammit, everything seems so blatant and in front of your face at this point. It's like as if America's a family, and there's one member of the family who's an absolute trainwreck with alcohol, drugs and gambling, and everyone is too scared to admit there's a problem. So we just shut our traps and deny.

[cyclonefence]

1. Total non sequitur

But Emin's "piano playing" in that video is my favorite part.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

3. Mastery of the highest order.

[gratuitous]

2. Trump was very careful in his denials

A lot more careful than he usually is in speaking and tweeting, Trump was very careful to say that he didn't have any deals with "Russia," not any individual Russians, which is the fine point he would be parsing at, say, a deposition under oath or in sworn testimony in open court or other legal proceeding.