It's difficult to keep up with everything involved in this scandal...

[kentuck]

I have been following it fairly closely but there are stories and events that I miss, I am sure?

The latest story coming out of Venezuela seemed to tie a lot of loose ends together. As we know, the economy of Venezuela is in the dumps. Russia has invested heavily in their oil company, CITGO to us, and could take over the entire operation if they file for bankruptcy. In doing so, they would have access in many of our states. They would be a player in our nations oil needs.

Also, there was some connection to Venezuela and the anonymous donations made to the Trump Inauguration. They received hundreds of millions of dollars that were unaccounted for.
It now appears this was a back door contribution from Russia and Putin.
========================

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/19/venezuela-donation-donald-trump-inauguration

<snip>
A Venezuelan state-owned oil company, heavily indebted to the Russian oil giant Rosneft, made a $500,000 donation to Donald Trump’s inauguration festivities, it has emerged.

Foreign donations are banned under US law, but the Venezuelan company, PdVSA, made the donation through a US affiliate, Citgo Petrol, soon after offering a nearly 50% stake in Citgo to Rosneft as collateral for a $1.5bn loan.

These transactions come at a time when PdVSA and the Venezuelan government of Nicolas Maduro is desperate for cash as oil revenues shrink and civil unrest grows. The influx of money from Rosneft is helping keep PdVSA and Maduro afloat.

If Venezuela defaults on the debt, Rosneft could stand to gain a controlling stake in Citgo, a prospect that has caused anxiety among both Republicans and Democrats in the US Congress. Under current circumstances, however, Rosneft could not take ownership of its shares in Citgo – which owns three refineries, as well as pipelines and oil terminals – because the Russian firm and its boss, Igor Sechin, are under US sanctions linked to Moscow’s military intervention in eastern Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea.

more at link...

[L. Coyote]

1. Bottom line, Russia's oil company (Putin and friends) could control major oil pipelines in the USA.

[Eliot Rosewater]

2. And rank and file borderline middle class Americans are fine with that, in fact

they are excited at the prospect of being ruled by a dictator who kills his opponents especially if they are gay or not white.

I think they are giddy at the prospect of seeing tanks coming down the street with putin and pals in them.

I am not kidding.

[rzemanfl]

3. IMHO Rosneft is what this whole thing is about. n/t

[kentuck]

4. I think that was Trump's original interest in Russia...

...and Putin, by connection, to this business interest of Trump's.

[rzemanfl]

5. It's like this awful movie we keep watching to find out how it ends. n/t

[kentuck]

6. But the Republicans do not want you to know the ending.

So, America will stay in suspense.

[rzemanfl]

7. We may have to force an ending, it won't be pretty. n/t

[kentuck]

8. I don't think the Congress or the Senate knows what to do.

This is all strange territory for them. They are lost as to how to handle it?

[rzemanfl]

9. There is no mechanism in place to arrest the President, Vice-President and Cabinet.

Does the Secret Service allow the President to be taken into custody?

Does the military ignore the Commander-in-Chief?

Beats the hell out of me....