We are in a tough spot. No doubt about it.they want to push through with their anti-democracy, wealth grabbing revolution.

It is going to come down to how strong the democracy part of the Democratic republic is. That is us, the millions who voted for candidate Clinton for president and the millions who now wish they had.

The story line is that a legitimate business borrows money from the Russians (mob), they are ready to pay it back but the mob moves in and takes over their business, uses it for money laundering, eventually kills everyone who tries to stop them (including the surviving owner).

I think this is what Trump is afraid of. And death by poisoning is a preferred method for Kremlin killings of this type.

a fairly serious corruption problem possibly including the GOP Congress as well as the WH (which would explain their campaign against Mueller's investigation). Other countries have had to address their corruption problems from time to time but I don't recall any major anti-corruption measures in the U.S.; I'm not sure Trump's DOJ would even consider getting serious about it. Some recent examples:

Anti-corruption campaign under Xi Jinping

Romanians protest against weakening of anti-corruption powers

Corruption Perceptions Index 2016

Thanks. Been looking for historical analogies. Watched Bourdaim in Hungary on DVR last night. Boy, that was bloody.

Organized Crime has several hallmarks. One is to get regular people involved in their criminal activities so they have leverage over them. That's what's going on here. Trump is an idiot fraud, but he's had organized crime running him for decades. He's been laundering money for them for decades, his bankruptcies were the result of his money laundering with the mob. The local guys sold him to the Russians long ago and they've been squeezing him ever since, probably came onto Putin's radar in the late 2000s.