Published as a Letter to Editor, The East Hampton Star, Feb. 22

Needs to End

East Hampton

February 18, 2018

To the Editor,

The scope of the Russian crimes, as put forth in the indictments of 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies, is astounding — from the infiltration of state voting systems to social media trolling to email hacking and dumping. Without the special counsel, it is highly unlikely the extent of these attacks would have ever come to light.

These indictments, and the previous ones (Manafort, Gates) completely undermine Trump’s endless proclamations that Mueller’s investigation is “nothing but a witch hunt.” And yet after the indictments were announced, Lee Zeldin tweeted, “We have heard @realDonaldTrump repeat over and over again that he did not collude with the Russians. After Rosenstein’s statement today, the extraordinarily dishonest narrative otherwise needs to end.”

While the question of collusion has yet to be resolved, the only extraordinarily dishonest narrative that needs to end is the one proffered by Trump and his enablers — that the investigation is fake news, a Democratic hoax, a product of F.B.I. bias.

In November, vote Zeldin out of office. We need a representative who defends our country, not one who defends the interests of a loathsome con man.

CAROL DEISTLER