Bestselling author Elizabeth Graham, an authority on the Trump-Putin relationship, asserts that Donald Trump's political dishonesty—including bribery, graft, and malfeasance—has driven the United States into a state of moral decline, even as citizens seek truth, justice, and the American way. In her Substack post titled "Corruption," Graham writes that successful anti-authoritarian movements attack corruption while reclaiming patriotic symbols, framing the regime as dishonest and morally rotten.
Graham points to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a federal law enacted in November 2025 requiring the release of records related to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. The legal deadline for full disclosure was December 19, 2025, but Graham argues that Trump has evaded transparency through distractions, including wars and sensational news cycles. She cites a CBS News report from January 8, 2026, noting that attention has shifted to the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General amid the indefinite wait.
Graham also highlights Trump's alleged bigotry, citing the closure of USAID to stop aid to Africa and an estimate from The Lancet that 15 million people could die by 2040 due to this policy. She criticizes Trump's treatment of immigrants, contrasting it with America's founding principles as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, though she acknowledges the hypocrisy of Thomas Jefferson owning slaves.
On foreign policy, Graham notes that Trump's public plea to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop attacks on Lebanon was ignored, as reported by MSN and The Daily Beast on June 7, 2026. She contrasts this with Trump's repeated promises to end the war in Ukraine in one day, which CNN fact-checked in April 2025, noting he made the claim 53 times.
Graham cites the American Bar Association, which in March 2026 described an unprecedented pay-to-play culture in the Trump administration, exchanging government benefits for financial contributions. She warns that if key reforms are not passed and Trump is not held accountable, this corruption will destroy Americans' faith in democracy, exactly as Vladimir Putin desires.
Graham's book, From Democracy To Democrazy: A Warning To All Americans, available on Amazon, draws on her two decades of experience in Russia and other authoritarian countries. She argues that Trump's similarities to leaders she encountered overseas are not partisan commentary but based on lived experience.
