Why the lewd Trump-Russian prostitutes allegation is a distraction, and we should all be careful

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/04/15/why-the-lewd-trump-russian-prostitute-allegation-is-a-distraction-and-we-should-all-be-careful/?utm_term=.fdc8168411ec ^ | April 14, 2018 | Aaron Blake

[E. Pluribus Unum]

For better or worse, James B. Comey's new book has forced us to talk about an allegation involving President Trump and urinating Russian prostitutes. It'd be better if we didn't dwell upon it.

The Steele dossier's allegation that Trump watched prostitutes, uh, micturate upon themselves in a Moscow hotel room — and the idea that Russian President Vladimir Putin is using it as kompromat against Trump — is kibble for Trump's opponents. Until this week, though, it had largely been relegated to social media jokes and an occasional glancing reference on cable news.

But just like Trump's use of a profanity to describe African nations — and the largely uncorroborated Steele dossier itself — the allegation has been pushed into the mainstream. According to Comey, Trump is fixated upon it. He wrote that Trump devoted a fair amount of time arguing to him that it wasn't true, even asking Comey to launch an investigation to disprove it.

Comey's recounting has even led New York magazine's Jonathan Chait to declare himself a “peeliever,” a term that probably describes a growing number of Americans right now who think Trump's reaction to the book lends credence to the allegation.

[heterosupremacist]

x wrote:

Which Monkee was a bedwetter?
All of them?

[x]

Comey's recounting has even led New York magazine's Jonathan Chait to declare himself a “peeliever” ...

Unfair. I think that was actually in reference to Chait's fantasies about Justin Bieber ...