The issue about the release of Donald Trump’s tax returns now has a new angle from conservative commentator George Will, who alleges that the billionaire won’t release those financial documents because of possible ties to Russian oligarchs. These postulations were made during the July 26 broadcast of Special Report With Bret Baier. With Russia appearing to be the principal actor behind the leak of DNC emails that showed staffers working behind the scenes to sabotage the Sanders campaign, our old Cold War adversary is back in the limelight; the Clinton campaign is trying to push this odd narrative that the Russians are helping the Trump campaign (via The Hill):
Both the campaign chair and anybody you talk to, including Sen. [Chris] Murphy [D-Conn.] would not go down that road once pressed on the connection between Russia and the Trump campaign," said Baier. "But they have thrown it out there. George?""Well, it's the sort of thing we might learn if we saw the candidate's tax returns," Will responded. "Perhaps one more reason why we're not seeing his tax returns — because he is deeply involved in dealing with Russian oligarchs and others. Whether that's good, bad or indifferent, it's probably the reasonable surmise."
The Clintons were involved with actors that led to the sale of Uranium One to the Russian Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation. The chairman of Uranium One would give the Clinton Foundation over $2 million, while Bill would receive $500,00 for a speech given to a bank selling Uranium One stock. Then-Secretary Clinton was one of the principal actors to sign off on the sale through the Committee on Foreign Investment, which is “charged with reviewing any deal that could result in foreign control of an American business or asset deemed important to national security.” At the time, Uranium One had mining sites in the United States. The deal was approved, with Russia coming that much closer to controlling most of the world’s uranium supply. It’s these types of deals that raised the eyebrows of many, including Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Still, Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort said that the billionaire is not going to release the documents, even with businessman Moishe Mana offering $1 million for any charity of Trump’s choosing as a sweetener. Oh, and this has nothing to do with Russia. Now, back to Will—he’s left the GOP due to Trump’s nomination, with the billionaire’s attacks on a federal judge’s heritage as the straw that broke the camel’s back regarding his affiliation with the party. Nevertheless, Will has taken the position that Republican donors should save their party by not giving to Trump’s campaign. In essence, Will is saying that we should tread water for four years under a Clinton presidency, and then try again with a Republican Party that hasn’t been Trumped in 2020. I mean, it sounds appealing—most certainly to the Never Trump crowd—but Hillary Clinton winning the White House is a scarier thought.
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