Donald Trump couldn’t possibly raise more suspicion that he’s being blackmailed by the Russian government.

Juxtapose this Russian embassy tweet from one week ago:

With this report from Wednesday:

The Trump administration is moving toward handing back to Russia two diplomatic compounds, near New York City and on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, that its officials were ejected from in late December as punishment for Moscow’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.

President Barack Obama said Dec. 29 that the compounds were being “used by Russian personnel for intelligence-related purposes” and gave Russia 24 hours to vacate them. Separately, Obama expelled from the United States what he said were 35 Russian “intelligence operatives.” ... “We had no intention of ever giving them back,” a former senior Obama official said of the compounds.

These developments come just a few weeks after Trump invited the Russian ambassador and Russian foreign minister into the Oval Office for fairly naked Russian propaganda purposes because Russian President Vladimir Putin asked him to.

It calls to mind this recently unearthed, secretly recorded conversation between House Speaker Paul Ryan, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other House GOP leaders last June:

McCarthy: “There’s two people, I think, Putin pays: [Representative Dana] Rohrabacher and Trump.” [Laughter] “Swear to god.”

Ryan: “This is an off the record…[laughter]…NO LEAKS…[laughter]…alright?! … [Laughter] … This is how we know we’re a real family here.”

He who pays the piper calls the tune, right? (Deny this article if asked.)