PROOF OF CONSPIRACY

One-time attorney Abramson extends the argument begun in Proof
of Collusion: How Trump Betrayed America (2018) by widening the net of
culprits.

Donald Trump entered the field of presidential contenders
without a discernible ideology save receiving money for nothing, a penchant
that many actors were glad to serve. In this long, complex study, the author
adds evidence concerning the principal actor, Russia, while layering on other
parties: Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates.
Each has served Trump in various ways—Saudi Arabia, for example, by once
bailing Trump out from bankruptcy—and each has been rewarded in turn, with
Egypt removed from sanctions, given more military aid than it requested, and
legitimated even as elected members of the Muslim Brotherhood were branded as
terrorists. There are geopolitical issues surrounding this network of “Red Sea
conspirators,” as Abramson dubs them: All are committed to the continued
supremacy of the oil economy, all are positioned to contain Iran and Syria, and
all are autocratic to one extent or another—and there’s not much Trump likes
better than an autocratic leader. Russia remains the principal villain of the
piece, but, as the author writes, “the Saudis and Emiratis marked…the
additional slate of possibilities opened up by the Kremlin’s burgeoning
interest in a political neophyte with malleable ethics.” By Abramson’s
extensive account, malleability has shifted into full-blown corruption, as
Trump and his associates accepted Israeli intelligence here, Russian offers of
support there, and the like. The author’s deft tracing of the undeclared
international shuttling back and forth between interested parties of former
Trump aide Michael Flynn will make readers wonder why he’s not locked inside a
maximum security prison. Abramson closes by connecting the dots in current
newspaper headlines: Netanyahu wins reelection in Israel, Saudi Arabia declares
war on dissidents and neighboring nations alike, Trump pledges an additional
10,000 American troops for deployment in the Middle East, a prelude to war in
Iran….

A richly documented indictment of power and corruption that
bears urgent discussion in the coming electoral cycle.