There Has Been Much Speculation Here On DU That TFG Or Putin Are Blackmailing Repugs.....

[global1]

and that is why they are acting like they are acting with respect to protecting TFG, the big lie and discounting the 1/6 insurrection.

I'm curious - has any journalist put the question to Liz Cheney or Adam Kinzinger if they know if members of the Repug Party are being blackmailed into their silence and complicity?

If they know - would they actually say anything?

I'm asking this question because I just can't believe that all the Repugs in both the House, Senate and in the States are all in agreement with TFG and the dismantling of democracy.

[Skittles]

1. Trump never had a bad thing to say about Putin, a short bald man

the *ONLY* reason for that could be kompromat

[sop]

2. It's telling that Putin is the only one Trump has never criticized...other than himself, of course.

[Celerity]

8. Trump uncharacteristically criticizes Putin after reports of chemical attack in Syria

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-uncharacteristically-criticizes-putin-after-reports-attack-syria-n863716



Trump’s new rebuke of Vladimir Putin is unprecedented

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/04/09/trumps-unprecedented-scolding-of-vladimir-putin/

[sop]

12. It must have been a particularly cold day in hell.

[Celerity]

13. yes, lol

[Pobeka]

3. LOL! Truth is sometimes funnier than fiction!

We have a winner!!!

[keithbvadu2]

4. Nicknames

[DickKessler]

15. And yet, relations with Russia deteriorated under his administration.

[iemanja]

22. false

Trump rolled over for Russian when he withdrew from Syria and when he reduced forced in Germany. That was all for Putin.

[DickKessler]

26. Trump has always complained about other countries "ripping us off"

I’m not convinced that this was “for” Putin. If anything, the Syria withdrawal was “for” Erdogan.

[Demsrule86]

23. No they didn't either. Putin was desperate to reelect Trump.

[DickKessler]

27. Trump tore up the nuclear treaty with Russia, increased sanctions, and gave lethal aid to Ukraine.

Moreover, basically all of his national security team were huge hawks on Russia (and China and Iran).

Yes, Putin appreciated the chaos and division Trump sowed among Americans and European allies, but he also was fully aware that the same chaos could blowback onto Russia, start WWIII in a fit of Trumpian rage, and just always be unpredictable. Putin is a cold-blooded killer, sure, but he’s not SUICIDAL.

[Demsrule86]

31. They wanted it torn up...Trump was and is Putin's puppy...he did not do anything to Russia

And tried to give them back the LI property and keep them from being sanctioned.

[DickKessler]

32. A lot of this is just inaccurate. Sorry.

[Skittles]

25. EVERYTHING deteriorated under the Trump misadminstration

EXCEPT RACISM, MISOGYNY AND XENOPHOBIA

[DickKessler]

28. True.

[keithbvadu2]

5. Maxwell

[DickKessler]

19. lol, nice!

[ibegurpard]

6. Are the 80% of Republicans...

... still supporting and voting for these people being blackmailed? Nope. They are authoritarians who believe they should be in power by any means necessary.

[msfiddlestix]

29. ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️

[brooklynite]

7. Answer your own question.

Why would the media ask about blackmail based on "speculation here..."?

Where have you read any authoritative opinion that such a thing is happening?

[Achilleaze]

10. They could base questions on what Repube Leader Kevin McCarthy spewed

He definitely thinks some of his Repubes are on the take for Russian rubles.

Though he tried to weasel back out of speaking the truth, and reassert the KGOP Party Propaganda.

Read it and weep for the degenerate condition of the Republican soul:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/17/putin-pays-donald-trump-kevin-mccarthy-recording

[DickKessler]

16. I suppose an Internet forum is what counts as authoritative these days, huh

[Whiskeytide]

9. Blackmail is possible, I suppose. But I think it's ...

… more a fear of losing power. They cannot win general elections in key swing areas without Тяцмp‘s base. There simply is not enough traditional republicans voters if the psychos fail to turn out.

And they cannot win primaries in heavily red areas without courting that base. It’s just a numbers game.

[DickKessler]

17. There are plenty of non-traditional Republican voters that they can pick up, as Trump did both times

[Whiskeytide]

20. Sure there are. Millions of them. But that's my point. They have ...

… to be Tяцмpy to keep his base AND hope to get the traditional Republicans out to vote as well. The wealthy and the evangelical votes are a given for any Republican on any ballot anywhere. But without the base of crazies, that won’t be enough. That’s why we hear all these stories about Republicans secretly saying they despise Tяцмp while publicly sucking up to him. They need his base.

[Midnight Writer]

11. Notice in 2016 Russian hackers stole files from both the Democrats and Republicans, yet

only released the files of the Democrats.

We also know Russian money "made its way" into our elections, but seems to have gone exclusively to Republicans.

It seems to me either the Russians find the Republican Party better for their interests, or else the Republican Party was more vulnerable to their influence.

Or both.

[DickKessler]

18. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Israel also interfered in 2016 on Trump's behalf.

Are the Republicans colluding with them too? I think so, and more universally than w/Russia, which seems to be mainly a Trump-driven thing.

I suppose these Middle East countries are "allies" of the US, so it's not as controversial for some reason.

[msfiddlestix]

30. ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️

[rownesheck]

14. Also

remember all those republican fuckwads went to Russia on July 4th no less. Many, if not all, are compromised in some way.

[Midnight Writer]

24. What an extraordinary thing. That story sure got lost, didn't it?

You would think that would be a big deal, both in the press and in the campaigns.

[iemanja]

21. The TFG doesn't have to blackmail them

He holds power over the base, and that terrifies the cowards.
Putin--I think he had something over Trump, and I suppose it's possible he does over some of the rest of the GOP as well. If nothing else, he has funneled some of them money.