MS NOW host Rachel Maddow is flabbergasted that Donald Trump’s new scandal isn’t bigger news, especially since it has a connection to Russia.
On her show Monday evening, Maddow laid out the case of Alexander Smirnov, a Russian spy who was indicted for passing false information about former President Joe Biden to the FBI.
In a recent court filing, none other than Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche made it clear that the Trump Justice Department is actively trying to get Smirnov released from prison.
News of the DOJ’s efforts to help Smirnov came to light this week thanks to reporting from David Corn of Mother Jones.
For a year, the Trump Justice Department has been on an odd mission: to assist a mysterious former FBI informant with ties to Russian intelligence who ended up in prison for passing disinformation about Joe Biden to the bureau. His crime deeply affected American politics. The false claim he slipped to the FBI—that Biden and his son Hunter each were paid a $5 million bribe by a Ukrainian energy company—became the main evidence in the House Republicans’ reckless and ill-fated impeachment drive against the 46th president,” Corn notes.
“For pushing this phony tale, Alexander Smirnov, who pleaded guilty of lying to the FBI, was sentenced a year ago to six years of incarceration. (The punishment also covered failing to pay taxes on more than $2 million in income.) But for some strange reason, Trump’s DOJ has been helping him to get out of prison. On March 4, in a move that has drawn no media attention, the department quietly filed an unusual brief—submitted by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche—supporting Smirnov’s attempt to throw out his sentence and withdraw his guilty plea.”
“Maybe our president just can’t stop himself from acting to help Russia,” Maddow speculated.
“Even when Russia is acting to kill Americans. Maybe he just can’t stop himself. It just feels so good. He can’t stop. But doesn’t it seem like in the middle of this war, he should be able to stop himself from at least helping Iran, from helping the Iranian regime, which he has just declared war on?”
“I don’t know why this isn’t more of a show-stopping scandal in our country,” Maddow said. “Is it that hard to see what this is?”
For years, Trump has claimed he has no connections to Russia and mocked those who claim he does. But the evidence suggests otherwise, and if Democrats regain control of Congress after the November midterms, this and other issues will be thoroughly investigated.
