Trump and Putin made a huge mistake with the translator, and it’s already coming home to roost

| 9:55 pm EDT July 17, 2018
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Maybe it was yet another Vladimir Putin power play over Donald Trump. Maybe the two of them were too desperate to think it through. Or perhaps Putin was cutting his losses by setting Trump up to fail. Whatever the reason behind it, Putin and Trump created an evidence trail when they decided to include translators in their private meeting yesterday, even though Putin speaks fluent English. Now it’s already coming home to roost.

All you have to do search YouTube for “Putin English” to find interview clips of the Russian leader speaking English more fluently than Trump does. But Putin has only done so on rare occasions, seemingly preferring to force others to go through translators, simply because he can. So why on earth would he and Trump take the risk of having translators in the room for their treason meeting? To be clear, the Russian government translator is surely loyal to Putin. But the American translator in the room have already become a liability.

Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen posted this on Twitter: “I’m calling for a hearing with the U.S. interpreter who was present during President Trump’s meeting with Putin to uncover what they discussed privately. This interpreter can help determine what POTUS shared/promised Putin on our behalf.” It’s not yet clear if she’ll get any cooperation from her Republican counterparts on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee – but that may ultimately not matter.

Even if the Democratic minority in Congress can’t subpoena the translator, Special Counsel Robert Mueller can. He’s already investigating Donald Trump’s collusion with Russia, so yesterday’s Trump-Putin summit would be within his purview. This brings us back to our original question: why would Trump and Putin take the risk of allowing an American translator in the room when none was needed? After all, Putin’s English is fluent, and Trump’s English is passable.