Trump’s Russian connections and the “Cold War” inside the USA

Trump supporters are using blackmail tactics in the USA: even if he is really guilty of unlawful ties to the Kremlin, law enforcement bodies and congressmen should not bring the case to impeachment in order to avoid a "civil war," and therefore one should turn a blind eye to the crimes, even if they are confirmed. The topic of Russia's interference in the US elections has not lost its relevance in America. However, unfortunately, so far few understand the alarming fact that Moscow is still trying to interfere in American politics, both internal and external. In particular, this is quite clear in the situation surrounding the investigation of Trump's and his team's ties to the Kremlin. This investigation has recently begun to take a rather unpleasant turn for the new US president; namely, former Trump adviser Carter Page said that it was Trump who initiated a rapprochement with Russia and meetings with the Russian ambassador. The extent to which such statements displease the Russian side can be gauged not even by the official Russian press, but by the formally "liberal" media, which is, in fact, largely controlled by the Kremlin. For example, Ekho Moskvy is publishing articles one after another that, while avoiding justification of Putin and his policies, nevertheless, in many respects are repeating the Kremlin's rhetoric about "McCarthyism," "Russophobia" and "innocent meetings with the Russian ambassador." Some even call on Trump "to go on the offensive," advise on specific methods of attacks against the Democrats, and rejoice that Trump "landed a blow against his opponents." At the same time, the authors are not at all embarrassed that the "blow" is due to Trump's baseless claim that Obama allegedly listened to his telephone conversations. This is by no means the first false assertion of the new owner of the White House, but here, it seems, he went too far – so much so that the director of the FBI, James Comey (by the way, a die-hard Republican, whose October attack against Hillary Clinton greatly influenced the outcome of the elections), demanded the leadership of the Department of Justice publicly refute the president's statement.

American fans of Trump, especially in the Russian-speaking community, are also concerned about the progress of the investigation and argue against its continuation in terms strikingly similar to Putin’s rhetoric about the 2011-12 protests. In particular, they threaten the Republicans with the "angry reaction of Trump's voters" in the case of impeachment and then point out that continuing the investigation can lead to violence and brutality in the streets, and therefore, "everything must be done to prevent it." Let us recall the speeches of the "guardians" during the Russian protests on Bolotnaya Street, when instead of recognizing the massive falsification of the elections and answering the questions posed by the people, Putin's supporters spread fears that the protesters are "rocking the boat" and dreaming of "destroying the peaceful sky over their heads." As a result, as we recall, the protest was nipped in the bud, and the "peaceful sky" lasted less than two years – before Russia began a bloody war with Ukraine and repression inside the country. The same slogans were used in Ukraine against Euromaidan, and now they are used in Belarus – in the best traditions of the Russian propaganda. However, it is especially ridiculous to hear them in the US from the Trump supporters who, ever since the elections, accuse the opposition of radicalism, violence and other such sins. It turns out that the "left radicals," "rioters," and other opponents of Trump (who, by the way, make up the majority of the population of the country) did not plunge the country into a state of chaos and civil war while organizing thousands of protest rallies, but carried out their actions in the overwhelming majority of cases peacefully and civilly. As they say, no comments needed. Simply put, what we have here is a trivial blackmail. Such blackmail in a country where one of the main principles is the rule of law looks somewhat barbaric – but it is perfectly familiar to residents of Russia and other post-Soviet countries. In the same context, we should also consider the recent "leakage of data" about the CIA cyber-center in the US consulate in Frankfurt am Main. What part of the information published on Wikileaks is genuine remains to be seen, but the official Russian media is gloating over the fact that this could complicate relations between Washington and Berlin, especially shortly before the meeting of Donald Trump and Angela Merkel. However, it seems that the second, no less significant goal of the campaign is to discredit the CIA itself. In particular, the "leak" fits very well into Trump's theory of a "deep state" and can exacerbate the already strained relations of the US president with his own intelligence services. Moreover, Russian propagandists have already begun asserting that it is the US that is "hacking under the guise of Russians." As expected, this theory was presented not only on the Russian information sites but began to show up in the American media. For example, some reporters on Fox News have already begun to "wonder" whether the CIA used cyber attacks against Russia. Others went even further and suggested that it was the US intelligence that hacked the DNC server in order to blame it on Moscow. Thus, this scandal also proved to be connected with the notorious investigation and the confrontation that is now taking place inside the USA. In conclusion, it is worth noting that the Western society (including American) unfortunately still does not understand one important thing: a new "cold" war is now being conducted on the territory of the Western countries themselves, using Western democratic institutions, playing on the Western weaknesses and contradictions. And as long as the West does not realize this, this war will be impossible to win.

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