This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

So we now know that in addition to Donald Trump having invited Russia to hack Hilary Clinton's emails and Russia having done so, at least five members of Trump's inner circle, Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn and Jeff Sessions, have all lied about their interactions with Russian officials, some of which they now admit were intended to dig up dirt on Clinton. To add insult to injury, Orrin Hatch thinks Americans' concerns about the Trump-Russia connection are "irrelevant," "a bunch of bunk" and "overblown."

If Clinton's campaign had done even a fraction of what Trump and company have done, Hatch would be screaming bloody murder. Clearly, neither he nor the Republican Party have an ounce of integrity left. GOP obviously no longer stands for "Grand Old Party"; it's starting to look as though it stands for "Government of Putin."

Blair Bateman

Provo