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President Donald Trump is purportedly becoming increasingly paranoid in the midst of new indictments in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.
Former Democratic Committee Chairman Jon Cooper sent out an alarming tweet on Sunday evening, suggesting that the news of more indictments of his former campaign associates is making Trump evermore paranoid.
"A former Trump staffer told me tonite that w/ news that Mueller has been able to flip Rick Gates, in addition to Mike Flynn & George Papadopoulos, "there's nobody more nervous than Trump" right now. He added Trump's "always been paranoid" but his paranoia has reached new heights," Cooper said.
Trump has consistently said there was "no collusion" between his presidential campaign and Russia, despite a growing number of indictments and guilty pleas by former campaign associates and staffers. Included in this list are former campaign manager Paul Manafort, his business partner Rick Gates, campaign staffer George Papadopoulos, and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.
His behavior behind the scenes, however, tells a different story. He seems unable to separate Russian interference and his victory, even though there is not, as of yet, any concrete evidence that his victory is owed to Russia. This has placed the President at odds with our intelligence chiefs, who unanimously agree that Russia meddled in the 2016 election.
Trump's fear, it seems, is that his victory may not have been on his own merits. It is this insecurity that is blocking any meaningful action on preventing future foreign interference into our elections.
Trump has also treated Russian President Vladmir Putin like a friend, because to Trump, flattery is all that matters. "He said very nice things about what I have done for this country in terms of the economy, but he said also some negative things in terms of what is going on elsewhere," Trump said in December. "The primary point was to talk about North Korea."
"The result is without obvious parallel in US history, a situation in which the personal insecurities of the president -- and his refusal to accept what even many in his administration regard as objective reality -- have impaired the government's response to a national security threat. The repercussions radiate across the government," The Washington Post reported in December.
On Friday, 13 indictments were announced against Russian nationals for their role in interfering in the 2016 election. While these indictments do not indicate collusion by Trump or his associates, they do provide irrefutable evidence that Russia did in fact hack our last presidential election. In response, Trump claimed vindication and tweeted that he never said Russia didn't interfere in the election, and that he never called it a hoax.
This was an outright lie. Below is just one example of Trump calling the Russia probe a "hoax."
He also blamed his own divisive rhetoric on Russia. You're right, Mr. President, "they are laughing their asses off in Moscow," because you're letting Russia get away with it, again.