Sheriff David Clarke’s resignation comes amid his suspicious role in Donald Trump’s Russia scandal
Milwaukee Sheriff David A. Clarke, best known nationally for his unhinged speech in favor of Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention, and best known locally for his inhumane policies that led to deplorable conditions and deaths in his prisons, has resigned. Scattered reports have him planning to join the Trump administration. But if he does, that’ll only bring his own role in Trump’s Russia scandal back into the public spotlight – and he’s likely already under investigation for it.
Palmer Report reported back in February of this year (link) that in December of 2015, Kremlin-funded television propaganda network RT held a dinner event in Moscow. Michael Flynn was paid $40,000 to attend the dinner, and he sat at the head table next to Russian President Vladimir Putin; shortly thereafter, Flynn joined the Donald Trump campaign. Jill Stein, who by that time was already running for president as a Green Party candidate, was also at that table with Flynn and Putin. On that same day, Sheriff David Clarke tweeted a photo of himself in Moscow:
Clarke included the caption “Red Square near the Kremlin with a Russian officer. Met earlier with Russian Foreign Minister who spoke on Mid East” (link). It’s never been confirmed whether or not Clarke was also at the Putin dinner. Later he asserted that the NRA had paid him to travel to Moscow to promote gun ownership (link). But no one seriously believes that Clarke’s presence in Moscow on the same day as the Putin-Flynn dinner in Moscow was a mere coincidence, particularly considering that Clarke also went on to become an informal Trump adviser shortly thereafter.
Two weeks after Palmer Report reported on Sheriff Clarke’s Moscow trip, the House Intelligence Committee began publicly asking questions about that trip (link). Since that time the committee has made no further public comment about Clarke. But by now it seems a given that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is probing Clarke’s role in the Trump-Russia scandal behind the scenes. If Clarke does now join Trump’s White House, it may be a sign that Trump and Clarke are attempting to coordinate their defense.
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report