There may be individuals in the US government who want a military confrontation with Russia and who think a war could get the US out of the economic crisis, says Prof. Daniel Kovalik from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Tensions between the US and Russia continue to escalate, whether it is the conflict in Syria, US sanctions against Russia, or NATO’s encroachment on Russia’s border.

RT asked Daniel Kovalik how the aggressive posture toward Russia affects relations with the US.

New US sanctions 'destructive,' hinder improvement of bilateral relations – Russian Foreign Ministry https://t.co/g9OF7t8TjEpic.twitter.com/psrRUt9q8q — RT (@RT_com) June 20, 2017

Daniel Kovalik: I think you’re going to see the whole so-called 'Russia-Gate' scandal is going to disappear because I think there is scant evidence, as you say, that anything of substance happened in terms of alleged Russian hacking, or meddling with the election. What you’re going to see is a move instead toward investigation and to whether Trump abstracted justice by trying to somehow interfere with the investigation of the 'Russia-Gate' scandal.

RT: Hillary Clinton, who lost the election, claimed Russia played a part in the election. Do you think she sees Russia as the reason to why she lost the election or is she merely using Russia as a scapegoat?

DK: I do believe that she’s using it as her scapegoat. We know this from a book called “Shattered: [Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign,”] written by some folks who worked on the Clinton campaign, and knew, and talked about the fact that she and her campaign concocted this whole 'Russia-gate' idea after she lost the election in order to essentially deflect attention from her own shortcomings as a candidate. The interesting thing is that right after the election – before she thought up this Russia scheme, she in a moment of candor said what really destroyed her campaign in the 11th hour – was the James Comey letter three weeks before the election, in which Comey said he was still investigating her for her unsecured personal e-mail server.

RT: What’s your take on the recent hostility over in Syria between the US and Russia?

DK: I am very concerned…It looked like there was some chance early on in Trump’s administration for a rapprochement with Russia – something that I think just makes common sense, frankly. Now I do believe, because of the pushing of this Russia-Gate scandal – both by the Democrats and by the media – it seems that the Trump administration now feels it’s got to prove it didn’t collude with Russia by now being antagonistic toward it.

So now you see that the Syrian plane was shot down by US forces over Syria, which upset the Russians. [Earlier this week,] a US fighter jet intercepted a plane, which was flying the Defense Minister of Russia, somewhere over Kaliningrad. So you see that tensions are mounting, and this is exactly what a lot of us fear. That is why I’ve been speaking out against; this is why I wrote this book, The Plot to Scapegoat Russia, because I fear that no matter what happens with the 'Russia-Gate' scandal – again even if it disappears, which I think it will – this hostility that has been built up against Russia will remain. I think it is pushing us closer to a confrontation, that I don’t think any of us want…

Lavrov: Moscow still waiting for explanation from Washington over downing of Syrian warplane https://t.co/UeMrlOtbj8pic.twitter.com/I4d3BklFUQ — RT (@RT_com) June 21, 2017

…I think there are two things going on. One is political. There may be a more nefarious explanation as well, and that there are some people in the US government who have wanted a confrontational stance toward Russia to justify our continued military build-up. I think there may be even some who want a military confrontation with Russia. The economic system is in crisis, and I fear there are some people who may think a war will get us out of it. Obviously, I oppose such reasoning. But I think you can’t count out the fact that there are people pushing in that direction.