Putin criticises US for charging Donald Trump

I doubt it will help Trump's cause - indeed, he doesn't really need extra help - but Vladimir Putin thinks the charging of the former president is a sign of how rotten the US is. There speaks a man who when he goes off certain people, like his opponents who dare to speak out against him, they tend to come to grizzly ends. Putin didn't say he thinks Trump is a victim of a witchhunt but he clearly can't understand what all the fuss is about. By charging Trump with criminal offences, America's democracy is being damaged. That's Putin's view. Democracy is a big word and I don't think Putin has much concept of what it means for a country to adhere religiously to democratic values. The charging of Trump with offenses under a system in which no one, not even the president of the United States, is above the law. is the finest example of democracy at work. In Russia, of course, the president could never be charged with a federal offence because no one would dare to consider such an option, let alone take the first step. That's the big difference between the democracy that Putin claims to honour in his country and the democracy that underlines the American constitution. But I'm sure Trump will be happy to know that his old mate Vlad still backs him. **Buy my new spy thriller, SHADOW LIVES, from Amazon or Rowanvale Books.