He Makes Leo Tolstoy Novels Look Tame.

There seems to be some intrigue developing between the Trumps and his staff with Russia and it makes me wonder why isn’t Donald Trump releasing his tax returns, is it possible because it shows how deeply he is in bed with the Russians?

US election: Trump team 'must disclose pro-Russia ties'
BBC News
August 15, 2016

Donald Trump's campaign team must disclose all pro-Russia links, Hillary Clinton's manager has said, following new allegations in the New York Times.

The paper said ledgers earmarked $12.7m (£9.8m) in undisclosed cash payments from a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine to Mr Trump's campaign head Paul Manafort between 2007 and 2012.
His lawyer said Mr Manafort had not received any such payments.

Mr Trump's ties to Russia have been a frequent topic in the US election.

The New York Times article says Mr Manafort and his business played a key role in advising Ukraine's former pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled after an uprising in November 2013.

It said Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau had discovered the listed payments in the ledgers of Mr Yanukovych's then governing Party of the Regions - allegedly part of "an illegal off-the-books system".

Note: this is not a U.S. paper saying these thing but BBC known worldwide for its integrity. The article goes on to say,

The Democratic Party insisted questions had to be answered given the "pro-[Russian President Vladimir] Putin policy stances adopted by Donald Trump".

Mrs Clinton's campaign manager Robby Mook said: "Donald Trump has a responsibility to disclose campaign chair Paul Manafort's and all other campaign employees' and advisers' ties to Russian or pro-Kremlin entities, including whether any of Trump's employees or advisers are currently representing and or being paid by them."

And if that is not enough…

Donald Trump and Russia: a web that grows more tangled all the time
Frank Mermoud, a key figure at the recent Republican convention, has strong business ties with Ukraine, to which others in Trump’s orbit have been linked as questions grow over the candidate’s interests in Russia and view of its president
The Guardian
By Peter Stone, David Smith, Ben Jacobs, Alec Luhn and Rupert Neate
Saturday 30 July 2016

A key figure at the Republican national convention where Donald Trump was nominated for president has strong business ties with Ukraine, the Guardian has learned.

The party platform, written at the convention in Cleveland last week, removed references to arming Ukraine in its fight against pro-Russia rebels, who have received material support from the Kremlin. Trump’s links to Russia are under scrutiny after a hack of Democratic national committee emails, allegedly by Russian agents.

The coordinator of the Washington diplomatic corps for the Republicans in Cleveland was Frank Mermoud, a former state department official involved in business ventures in Ukraine via Cub Energy, a Black Sea-focused oil and gas company of which he is a director. He is also on the board of the US Ukraine Business Council.

Mermoud has longstanding ties to Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, who in 2010 helped pro-Russia Viktor Yanukovych refashion his image and win a presidential election in Ukraine. Manafort was brought in earlier this year to oversee the convention operations and its staffing.

People Magazine reports that…

Pals Ivanka Trump and Wendi Deng Murdoch Go Sightseeing in Croatia
By Stephanie Petit
August 14, 2016

Ivanka Trump is taking a break from the campaign trail to vacation with friends.

The daughter of GOP nominee Donald Trump shared a scenic snap with Wendi Deng Murdoch, the ex-wife of billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch, from Dubrovnik, Croatia.

And then in another People article,

Rupert Murdoch's Ex-Wife Wendi Deng Denies Rumors She's Dating Vladimir Putin
By Char Adams
July 25, 2016

Rupert Murdoch's ex-wife Wendi Deng Murdoch has denied rumors she is dating Russian President Vladimir Putin – and also hit out at claims she had a relationship with former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Earlier this year, rumors swirled that Deng Murdoch, 47, and 63-year-old Putin, who is married, had sparked a romance. But Deng Murdoch told Vogue that she doesn't even know the Russian president.

Hmmm… Then we have this about Trump’s military adviser Michael Flynn,

Donald Trump’s Many, Many, Many, Many Ties to Russia
Time
By Jeff Nesbit
August 2, 2016

When asked about this [the Russians hacking into the DNC], and his affection for Russian president Vladimir Putin, Trump said any inference that a connection exists between the two is absurd and the stuff of conspiracy. “I have ZERO investments in Russia,” he tweeted after the Democratic National Committee was apparently hacked by Russia and the emails released by Wiki Leaks on the eve of the DNC convention to nominate Clinton as its 2016 presidential candidate.
[…]
The truth, as several columnists and reporters have painstakingly shown since the first hack of a Clinton-affiliated group took place in late May or early June, is that several of Trump’s businesses outside of Russia are entangled with Russian financiers inside Putin’s circle.

So, yes, it’s true that Trump has failed to land a business venture inside Russia. But the real truth is that, as major banks in America stopped lending him money following his many bankruptcies, the Trump organization was forced to seek financing from non-traditional institutions. Several had direct ties to Russian financial interests in ways that have raised eyebrows. What’s more, several of Trump’s senior advisors have business ties to Russia or its satellite politician.
[…]
What’s more, three of Trump’s top advisors all have extensive financial and business ties to Russian financiers, wrote Boot, the former editor of the Op Ed page of the Wall Street Journal and now a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Trump’s de facto campaign manager, Paul Manafort, was a longtime consultant to Viktor Yanukovich, the Russian-backed president of Ukraine who was overthrown in 2014. Manafort also has done multimillion-dollar business deals with Russian oligarchs. Trump’s foreign policy advisor Carter Page has his own business ties to the state-controlled Russian oil giant Gazprom. … Another Trump foreign policy advisor, retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, flew to Moscow last year to attend a gala banquet celebrating Russia Today, the Kremlin’s propaganda channel, and was seated at the head table near Putin.

But it is Trump’s financing from Russian satellite business interests that would seem to explain his pro-Putin sympathies.

So how deeply is Trump in bed with the Russians? Deep enough for them to control him?

There are many reasons speculated about why Trump hasn’t released his tax returns, he claim it is because he is being audited but the IRS says he can release his tax returns. Other say it is because he doesn’t donate to charity or they show his real net worth, but I think it is because of his Russian connection.

This photo shows Michael Flynn sitting at the table with Putin and Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein at the Tenth Anniversary of Russia Today (You can see the whole video of Russian President Putin speech here).

Should Donald Trump release his tax returns?

Yes, it will clear up a lot questions

No, he has a right to keep them secret

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