From the news: “President Donald Trump will consider allowing Russian investigators to question U.S.-born investor Bill Browder, former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul and others after President Vladimir Putin floated the idea, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday.”

While the idea of allowing a foreign entity to question an ambassador should be a complete non-starter, I am also disappointed in the willingness of the current administration to establish some sort of moral equivalency between the US and Russian governments. As a former law enforcement officer, I am well aware that our criminal justice system is far from perfect. But in general, in this country many officials do make an effort to adhere to the rule of law and to protect the rights of citizens who are suspected of criminal acts. No such protections exist in the Russian system, and the Russian criminal justice system is designed solely to maintain the power of the ruling party. Allowing Russian investigators to question a former US ambassador would simply support the Russian propaganda narrative (and the current administration narrative) that the west is hopelessly corrupt and that we would be better off if we were more like Russia.

White House: Trump will consider letting Russia question investor, former ambassador

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/18/trump-russia-browder-mcfaul-questioning-731616

July 20, 2018