We’ve devoted quite a bit time and energy at RedState pointing out Trump’s rather ugly appearing links to the Kremlin. During his time of financial peril, which could be any day ending in ‘y’, Trump’s business empire was kept afloat by Russian cash. His former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, had extensive ties to the Russian mob and actually seemed to have been involved in Russian mob money laundering scheme. Trump’s foreign policy adviser, Carter Page, was actually on the payroll of the Russian state owned petroleum company, Gazprom. His national security adviser, retired General Michael Flynn, sat at the head table of the RT.com gala, RT.com being the Kremlin’s official English language outlet. While Trump’s connections to the Kremlin are the most obvious, they aren’t necessarily the deepest or most extensive.

A couple of days ago I posted on the close ties John Podesta, allegedly the front runner to be Hillary Clinton’s chief of staff, and his brother, Tony, have with Putin cronies. The Podestas aren’t the only Clinton confidants getting fat on Kremlin cash.

The Clinton campaign has been complaining bitterly about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s possible ties to WikiLeaks’ daily dumps of campaign chairman John Podesta’s emails. My new investigative report, “Clinton’s Shadow Diplomat: Thomas Pickering and Russia’s Pipeline Sales to Iran and Syria, exposes Hillary Clinton’s own damaging ties to Russia and Iran while she was secretary of State. Her Foreign Affairs Policy Advisor Thomas Pickering was a paid director for the Russian company Trubnaya Metallurgicheskaya Kompaniya (TMK) from June 30, 2009 to June 26, 2012. TMK is majority-owned by Russian billionaire oligarch Dmitry Pumpyansky, a close Putin ally.

I discovered extensive proof of TMK’s business dealings in Iran and Syria while Pickering was on its board, including TMK sales of oil and gas pipelines to Iran that were specifically prohibited under U.S. laws and executive orders. Pickering was deeply involved with TMK. According to TMK records, he attended 143 of the 145 board meetings. Pickering is estimated to have been paid more than half a million dollars for his service to TMK from 2009 to 2012, based on TMK’s compensation rules. He has since claimed to have donated it all to an unnamed charity.

Clinton’s, President Obama’s, and Pickering’s interests converged during the time Pickering was on TMK’s board of directors. Clinton had announced the Russian “reset” in March 2009; Obama pleaded with Iran for a new beginning two weeks later; and Pickering joined TMK, which was publicizing its sales to Iran and Syria in numerous documents, in June of that year.

Thomas Pickering, if you will recall, was Hillary Clinton’s ambassador to Israel who suggested that the United States foment Palestinian riots in order to win concessions from Israel on various issues.

I’m not going to rip off the whole story with lengthy excerpts, read it for yourself. It is eye-opening in the utterly Clintonesque way another Clinton adviser parlayed access to Clinton into a lot of money from Putin’s inner circle and who is poised to take a senior position in a future Clinton administration.

This is the tragedy of 2016 and why I’m #NeverTrump and #NeverHillary. There is really no difference between the two except for the public persona. Both are crude, vulgar bullies who treat staff like toilet paper. Both are grifters of Biblical proportion. Both are dishonest to their core and neither seems to be able to differentiate the truth from their active fantasy life. Both are secretive in the extreme. Both will use their influence and power for self aggrandizement. Neither have a value system of moral lode star beyond what feels good for them at the moment. Both are horrible judges of character. Both are wildly incompetent, though Trump has yet to run up a body count.

While Clinton slags on Trump for his ties to the Kremlin… ties that we know about… she, herself, and her inner circle have conflicts of interest that dwarf Carter Page’s speaking fees that remain concealed from public view. But the upshot is the same. Vladimir Putin is electing our president.