Susan Collins, tax returns, and Felix Sater. Day 33 in trumpland.

* I tried to tell you all a couple of nights ago that this Russian connection with trump and his people could be a "big deal".

We are now learning that Herr trump might have to finally release those pesky tax returns he has tried so hard over the past few months to hide from the American people. He claims that he is under an audit, and that his lawyers won't allow him to show them, but he has refused to  show us the letter from the IRS that shows that they are auditing him in the first place. My guess (and I am sure yours is as well) is that there is no such letter.

But I digress.

Senator Susan Collins of Maine, said today, that she would subpoena trump's tax returns if the Russia probe leads in that direction.   She is a republican, albeit a moderate one, but there are others like her, and this might be a crack in trump's wall of protection around his swamp in Washington.

They are seeing what we all see: that there is just too much smoke surrounding this entire Russian connection for there not to be a fire.

I am telling you people, this Russian cloud over team trump is like a bad hangover after a night of drinking vodka; it just won't go away.

"Asked whether that could include issuing a subpoena for the tax returns that Trump has refused to release, Collins said it could if that is what is required to find out if the president had undisclosed connections to the Russians.
 

“I don’t know whether we will need to do that,” Collins said. “If it is necessary to get to the answers, then I suspect that we would.”
 

But she also suggested she hoped it would not come to that. 
 

“My hope is that we’ll have a lot of voluntary cooperation,” Collins said."

Senator, you are wasting your time, there will be no cooperation from this administration.  We have learned over the first thirty days or so (seems like 30 years already) of this administration that they are just not built that way.

But there will be a reckoning, and I am sure that trump and his people know it.

I bet Felix Sater knows it. (You can read about him and his history with trump here.)

Across the pond in London, the bookmakers are already taking bets on how much longer trump will last in the White House. Just a hint for you: You won't make a whole lot of money betting that he will be impeached, because a lot of folks are already placing that bet.

"There needs to be a full-blown congressional investigation of the Trump-Russia connection, and there needs to be an independent prosecutor (and not Trump campaign supporter Jeff Sessions, the new attorney general) probing every aspect of a scandal that has all the potential of being worse than Watergate. And the first witness should be Felix Sater."

Yes it does. At least Watergate involved another domestic political party trying to influence our politics. We are talking about a foreign government with this one, and potential collaborators in very powerful positions. 

Donald, it might be time to call your accountant. We are going to need to see those returns.

*Pic from bbc.com