During the 2016 Presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton suggested, to the chagrin of Donald Trump, that he might be a puppet of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Of course, Mr. Trump was indignant; but it did seem strange that he not only suggested that he would have closer relations with Russia, but appeared never willing to criticize Russia in any way. Rather than a narrative, I will herein mention 20 facts that individually are suspicious; combined they are chilling, but not to congressional Republicans nor to the hordes of Trump supporters believing he will “Make America Great Again”.

1. To handle the numerous inquiries into Russian connections, President Trump has hired attorney Marc Kasowitz. Mr. Kasowitz represents OJSC Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank in U.S. civil court disputes.
2. Trump’s “leading candidate” to replace Jim Comey as F.B.I. Director is Joe Lieberman, an associate at Mr. Kasowitz’ law firm.
3. Law firm Morgan Lewis was named Russia Law Firm of the Year 2016 for their extensive ties to Russia. Trump turned to them to get a certified letter which he claims proves he has no business ties to Russia.
4. Trump fired F.B.I. Director Comey after Comey refused to pledge loyalty to Trump, rejected Trump’s request to stop investigating former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn’s Russian connections, and refused to end the investigation of the Trump campaign’s possible collusion with Russia in hacking and other influences on the U.S. election.
5. Mr. Trump maintains communication with Mike Flynn after reluctantly firing him, advising Flynn to “stay strong” under intense investigation, as Flynn has sought immunity and fifth amendment protections.
6. Mike Flynn was removed due to not declaring then lying about his interactions with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak.
7. Jared Kushner, Trump Senior Adviser and son in law had undisclosed meetings with Russian Ambassador Kislyak along with Mike Flynn, and with Sergey Gorkov, head of Russian state owned bank Vnesheconmbank, which has been under sanctions since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014.
8. The day after firing Jim Comey as F.B.I. Director for continuing to investigate “the Russia thing and Trump”, the President at Vladimir Putin’s request hosts Russian Foreign Minister Sergy Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak in the White House, brags to them about relieving pressure on himself about his Russian connections in doing so, and divulges highly secret intelligence to the Russians, possibly endangering an agent of the U.S. ally who provided the intelligence. U.S. media was excluded from the meeting, but Russian were not, and Vladimir Putin offered to provide transcripts if needed.
9. Mr. Trump asked the Director of National Intelligence and the National Security Adviser to deny that there is evidence of Trump campaign collusion with Russia in the 2016 election, even though the matter is under investigation.
10. Devin Nunes, Head of the House Intelligence Committee and Richard Burr, Head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, at the behest of the White House call media outlets to discredit news stories about contacts between the Trump campaign team ad Russians, while these committees are investigating just that.
11. Mr. Nunes pulls a stunt with White House staff, pretending the take data he actually got from those staffers to the White House in an attempt to validate Mr. Trump’s discredited assertion that former President Obama wiretapped President Trump.
12. Due to his behavior, Mr. Nunes has to recuse himself from the Russian investigations.
13. Attorney General Jeff Sessions also has to recuse himself because he was part of the Trump campaign being investigated, and he like others did not properly divulge his meeting with Russian Ambassador Kislyak.
14. Mr. Trump defends Vladimir Putin constantly while denouncing the U.S. intelligence agencies who unanimously conclude that Russia was behind the hacking and misinformation efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. Presidential elections, including Wikileaks activities. He even compares them to Nazis.
15. Even though warned about Mike Flynn by President Obama who had fired Flynn, and being told by Flynn about his foreign entanglements, Mr. Trump hired Flynn as National Security Adviser and had Flynn getting the Presidential Daily Intelligence Briefings. After Acting Attorney General Sally Yates went to the White House to warn that Flynn had lied to the F.B.I. about his Russian contacts, he remained in position with unlimited access for another 18 days.
16. Vice President Michael Pence denied knowing about Mr. Flynn’s foreign payments and lobbying even though the Trump Transition Team, headed by Pence, got a letter from Rep. Elijah Cummings about these matters, and Flynn himself had informed the Trump Transition Team that he was under investigation for his work on behalf of Turkey.
17. Mike Flynn’s lobbying client in Turkey actually had business dealings in Russia, and worked with an executive in Russian oil companies on Turkish lobbying projects.
18. Former British MI6 agent Christopher Steele compiled a dossier on Donald Trump which concluded that Trump is under Russian influence. Much in the dossier has been proven accurate.
19. Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort was paid by former Russian ally Ukraine to influence U.S. attitudes toward Ukraine ties to Russia. The Republican Party platform deleted language critical of Russia’s actions in the Ukraine reportedly at the insistence of the Trump campaign.
20. Carter Page, former adviser to the Trump campaign and a constant advocate for warmer relations with Russia visited Russia during the campaign, and met with Russian Ambassador Kislyak during the Republican convention. He is evasive about why he is under investigation Similarly, Roger Stone, another Trump associate visited Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and seemed to have pre-knowledge of what Wikileaks would reveal.

This is just a partial list. Concerning?