Omen: NATIONAL SECURITY 2016 RNC Delegate: Trump Directed Change To Party Platform On Ukraine Suppor

[Laura PourMeADrink]

https://www.npr.org/2017/12/04/568310790/2016-rnc-delegate-trump-directed-change-to-party-platform-on-ukraine-support

Updated at 3:36 p.m. E.D.T. on December 4.

President Trump may have been involved with a change to the Republican Party campaign platform last year that watered down support for U.S. assistance to Ukraine, according to new information from someone who was involved.

Diana Denman, a Republican delegate who supported arming U.S. allies in Ukraine, has told people that Trump aide J.D. Gordon said at the Republican Convention in 2016 that Trump directed him to support weakening that position in the official platform. Ultimately, the softer position was adopted.

The revision to Denman's proposed amendment to the Republican platform scaled back the party's position on pro-Western elements in Ukraine — from supporting supplying weapons for fighters there to a more general assistance.

The issue is of interest to investigators in Congress and the team working for Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller because the idea of arming Ukrainians in the fight against pro-Russian separatist forces was staunchly opposed by the Russian government — and, it seems, the Trump campaign as well.

Denman has told people she spoke with Gordon, a national security aide on the Trump campaign, at the Republican convention in Cleveland last year. Gordon identified himself as a representative with the Trump campaign and informed her he had phoned "New York" about the Ukraine proposal, in Denman's account.

More at link

[Laura PourMeADrink]

1. PS smoking gun if there ever was one!

[50 Shades Of Blue]

2. Putin's handpuppet.

[Hortensis]

3. My gosh, I can't believe all this didn't make me remember that.

Absolutely a smoking gun, and it was seen as one at the time. There were still a bunch of Russians and such around his campaign at the time.

This just made me reminded me of tRump saying out of nowhere in 2017 at Helsinki that Montenegrans were very agressive and might start WWIII. It was Montenegro's head of state he'd pushed out of his way during a group picture, but very fortunately Montenegro had managed to join NATO earlier that year. Tucker Carlson brought up Montenegro and encouraged our depraved orange clown to object publicly to NATO and the very notion that we could have a duty to protect Montenegro from attack...

“So, let’s say Montenegro, which joined [NATO] last year, is attacked, why should my son go to Montenegro to defend it from attack? Why is that?” Carlson asked Trump.

“I understand what you’re saying. I’ve asked the same question,” Trump replied. “Montenegro is a tiny country with very strong people. They have very aggressive people. They may get aggressive and congratulations, you’re in World War III, now I understand that. But that’s the way it was set up.”

And went on complaing about NATO. But he couldn't get us out in his first term. I've read that ambitious authoritarians who get reelected typically claim it as a mandate from the people to go much farther than before.