When foreign governments aren't currying favor with Trump by staying at his Washington hotel, they're using state-owned companies to finance projects that will line Trump's pocket, like China's $500 million entertainment complex in Indonesia that includes a Trump-branded hotel.
Trump claims the Deep State allows foreigners to take advantage of America. The reality is Trump's Corrupt State allows Vladimir Putin and his goon squad to continue undermining American democracy.
"I'd take it" if Russia again offered campaign help, Trump crowed last week, adding that he wouldn't necessarily tell the FBI about it. Just days before, Trump acknowledged "Russia helping me get elected" the first time.
Despite evidence that Russia is back hacking and trolling its way toward the 2020 election, Republican defenders of Trump's Corrupt State won't lift a finger.
Mitch McConnell refuses to consider any legislation on election security. He and Senate Republicans even killed a bill requiring campaigns to report offers of foreign assistance to the FBI and federal authorities.
The charitable interpretation is McConnell and his ilk don't want to offend Trump by doing anything that might appear to question the legitimacy of his 2016 win.
The less charitable view is Republicans oppose more secure elections because they'd be less likely to win them.
Trump and his Republican enablers are playing magicians who distract us by shouting "look here!" at the paranoid fantasy of a Deep State, while creating a Corrupt State under our noses.
But it's not a party trick. It's the dirtiest trick of our time, enabled by the most corrupt party in living memory.
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