What If Trump Has Been a Russian Asset Since 1987?

[babylonsister]

https://politicalwire.com/2018/07/08/what-if-trump-has-been-a-russian-asset-since-1987/

What If Trump Has Been a Russian Asset Since 1987?
July 8, 2018 at 10:35 pm EDT
By Taegan Goddard

Jonathan Chait: “The media has treated the notion that Russia has personally compromised the president of the United States as something close to a kook theory. A minority of analysts, mostly but not exclusively on the right, have promoted aggressively exculpatory interpretations of the known facts, in which every suspicious piece of evidence turns out to have a surprisingly innocent explanation. And it is possible, though unlikely, that every trail between Trump Tower and the Kremlin extends no farther than its point of current visibility.”

”What is missing from our imagination is the unlikely but possible outcome on the other end: that this is all much worse than we suspect. After all, treating a small probability as if it were nonexistent is the very error much of the news media made in covering the presidential horse race. And while the body of publicly available information about the Russia scandal is already extensive, the way it has been delivered — scoop after scoop of discrete nuggets of information — has been disorienting and difficult to follow. What would it look like if it were reassembled into a single narrative, one that distinguished between fact and speculation but didn’t myopically focus on the most certain conclusions?”

***************************************

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/07/trump-putin-russia-collusion.html

Will Trump Be Meeting With His Counterpart — Or His Handler?

A plausible theory of mind-boggling collusion.
By Jonathan Chait

[whistler162]

1. What if water was wet or the sun rose in

the east!

[mgardener]

2. Follow the money

After his numerous bankruptcy, where did Trump get his loans from? US banks would not loan him money
He would not release his tax returns.
He is hiding where and who he got his money from.

[FakeNoose]

27. True - but the USSR was broke in 1987

There were no crazy-rich oligarchs until after the Soviet regime fell in 1989-90. Communism suddenly went away, and it magically changed everything.

So yeah, Trump would have danced for the money but they didn't have any to give him then. Trump was probably doing business with the mob though. The feds have known about his money-laundering for the mob for a very long time.

Here's another fact: Fred Trump Jr. (Cheeto's father) died in 1999 so the inheritance kicked in. He was back to being a multi-millionaire and it took him a few years to lose the inheritance money. THAT'S when he became desperate because no banks would talk to him about loans.

[ProfessorPlum]

3. What if indeed? https://themoscowproject.org/

https://themoscowproject.org/

[AlexSFCA]

25. fascinating (and terrifying website)

thanks

[Control-Z]

36. Yes. Thank you for posting this link.

I've bookmarked it to start visiting it regularly.

[hedda_foil]

37. Wow! There's big money and big Dem guns behind The Moscow Project!

Fina?ly, we're fighting back in a way that can make a real difference. From their About section.
https://themoscowproject.org/about/

ABOUT THE MOSCOW PROJECT
The Moscow Project is an initiative of the Center for American Progress Action Fund dedicated to analyzing the facts behind Trump’s collusion with Russia and communicating the findings to the public. The Moscow Project’s team employs a multi-disciplinary approach towards its work, leveraging a unique combination of experience and expertise gained on Capitol Hill, at the State Department, and in private industry to examine this complex and sprawling series of events stretching back decades.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

4. K & R

The everyday average citizen can’t even begin to comprehend the gravity of this situation.

[get the red out]

5. No

It is hard for me and I consider myself rather informed.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

6. Counterpart?

David Frum tweet:  ‏ "Regular reminder that Donald Trump’s core competency is not dealmaking with powerful counter-parties. It is duping gullible victims."

[Raster]

9. No. When arrogance, stupid financial choices, and extremely bad management...

...just about sank the foul ship tRump*, someone saved his bacon in a very big but very discrete fashion. Someone with influence. Someone with money. Someone with enough money and influence that they could remain hidden in the background pulling tRump* strings. Someone, say, with a highly trained sense of spotting hidden "talent," and then that same someone with experience recruiting and then manipulating their puppet.

Make no mistake, tRump* will be meeting his HANDLER. There is a damn good reason there will be NO AMERICANS PRESENT, other than tRump*.

This is a mid-coup review.

[NewJeffCT]

30. He's been bailed out multiple times

At least once was by a saudi prince, who bought the Trump yacht for 8-10x over what Trump had paid for it. (bought it for around $10 million, sold for around $80 million, I believe)

[Raster]

34. I believe you are correct...

...now why would a Saudi prince bail tRump* out and in such a "grand" fashion?

[Girard442]

7. If Trump is a Russian asset now, then he has been for a very long time.

[Raster]

8. HANDLER!

Donald J. tRump* HAS BEEN A RUSSIAN ASSET SINCE 1987.

[PJMcK]

10. K&R plus a nugget from within the article

This is a great article with very detailed analysis. Thanks for posting the link, babylonsister.

The always pro-American and patriotic National Rifle Association is deeply involved with the Russian election interference:

The FBI is investigating Alexander Torshin, a Russian banker who built ties to Republicans and allegedly funneled campaign funds to the National Rifle Association, which spent three times as much to help Trump as it had on behalf of Romney four years earlier.

If only we could have faith that the investigative reporting and various law enforcement investigations along with the private lawsuits will bring down Trump and all of his enablers. Alas, our future is murky.

[kentuck]

11. We can't wrap our minds around that possibility.

At the very least, he is a "rogue" leader, allied with Putin and Russia.

[superpatriotman]

12. Melanie is his local handler

She is FSB if anyone is.

[dalton99a]

13. It's foolish to dismiss that possibility

In fact, there is a strong likelihood given what we know

[bucolic_frolic]

14. Theories and parts of theories

have been floated in the press about Russia and the US for decades.

I know I read an article as such, in the 70s, 80s, 90s ... can't find it.

But it postulated that we were becoming more like the Soviet Union, and they were to become more like us. That Russians were very poor, and were more desirous of a consumer lifestyle, that we were overconsuming while the rest of the world was starving. That we had pristine environmental laws while other countries were dumping grounds. It was only reasonable, thought this article, that pollution was to be visited upon us, while the rest of the world began to clean up their environment. Also was the idea that capitalists would take over the Soviet Union, that democracy here would stumble, while it would (of course) flourish in a free market Renaissance.

Bits of this or that have been mentioned passingly for years in articles. They seemed out of place at the time, and not worthy of archiving. Someone was seeding the press with ideas? dunno

[DeminPennswoods]

15. Definitely read the whole article

It's long, but it ties a lot of things together. It also has a handy visual of all the connections between Trump and Putin.

[Botany]

18. From the NY Mag article

The first intimations that Trump might harbor a dark secret originated among America’s European allies, which, being situated closer to Russia, have had more experience fending off its nefarious encroachments. In 2015, Western European intelligence agencies began picking up evidence of communications between the Russian government and people in Donald Trump’s orbit. In April 2016, one of the Baltic states shared with then–CIA director John Brennan an audio recording of Russians discussing funneling money to the Trump campaign. In the summer of 2016, Robert Hannigan, head of the U.K. intelligence agency GCHQ, flew to Washington to brief Brennan on intercepted communications between the Trump campaign and Russia.

[elmac]

20. and this info was all kept hush hush from the American people

before the election. If a repug was president and a Dem was working with Russia they would have plastered this news all over the networks. Taking the high road gave us 4, probably 8 years of a Russian agent pretending to be president.

[Botany]

21. I think that information is some of which that even Trey Gowdy and other republican have ....

.... now gone silent on the Trump/Russia. Maxine Walters saw this stuff in the winter of
2017 and went nuts and said once the American People* see the proof they will demand that
Trump be ripped from office.


* I give up the 20 to 30% who go to his things like his "Bund Rally" in Montana last week.

[ewagner]

16. Long but well documented read....

What is documented is damning....what is speculated is more plausible than the twitter-driven explanations.

Chait makes a good point: If Putin and Russia were successful in manipulating the 2016 election, why would they stop now? Why wouldn't they hack the 2018, 2020 elections?

That's where we have to focus. If the repubs keep control of both houses, we're screwed.

[babylonsister]

17. The problem is their interference in the midterms.

If that happens, we will be well and truly screwed.

[certainot]

19. and limbaugh's radi chorus might as well have been used for a decade at least

trump studied talk radio in 2014 - who told them to do that?

in 2008 manfort was cochair of the mccain campaign and limbaugh wouldn't support mccain until he picked palin

in 2009 limbaugh usedd russian-hacked emails to create climategate and derail obama at copenhagen

in 2011 limbaugh spent weeks trying to get the US to default

clearly now limbaugh is trump's most important ally keeping the dittohead teabag base in line and r-con reps intimidated

[hedda_foil]

38. I've wondered since Limbaugh suddenly emerged from nonentity who funded his program to begin with.

Does anybody here know? Could Russia be in the mix?

[certainot]

39. it was cia friends, ABC roots, william casey

drudge was an internet feeder for a long time, from the MIC side.

until around the 2008 election limbaugh was all the gop barking dog, but there was a break- maybe the cons wouldn't pay him what he was worth and he got a better offer.

then came breitbart in 2007 or so, bannon and russia. breitbart died young of a heart attack....

[The Blue Flower]

22. I am very concerned about the outcome of the summit

I have the feeling that the R senators who were there during the 4th of the July were there to pledge their fealty to our new overlords in advance.

[keithbvadu2]

23. Putting money into Trump was the best investment Putin ever made.

[debsy]

24. What really frosts my ass is...

...it took this long for somebody to report on information that was available BEFORE the election. I came to the conclusion outlined in this article back in 2016 based on information that had been available before dumpster was even anointed the Republican candidate.

[AlexSFCA]

26. trump is a money laundry for putin

[Scurrilous]

28. K&R

[Mc Mike]

29. Excellent compilation article. Full of good info.

This piece, I'd add to, (in parentheses):

Russia’s hacking appears, in short, to have been common knowledge within the campaign. Despite that, Trump repeatedly denied that Russia had any involvement with the email hacking, suggesting China or a 400-pound man might be the true culprit. (He repeatedly tells the public that Putin said he didn't hack our country's elections. 'I asked him, he said he didn't conspire with me to put me in power. Believe me.' ) Trump and his advisers also made at least 20 false public denials that they had any contact with Russian officials during the campaign. (That's 20 specific false public denials, he's made more general 'witchhunt' denials hundreds of times. While simultaneously, openly, praising Putin, giving him what he wants in every case, openly meeting with him with no US gov officials or media attending.)

[Gothmog]

31. Evan McMullin-trump/putin bears hallmarks of an intel officer's relationship with an asset

Link to tweet

[moondust]

32. The bond seems unbreakable.

All the reports from the intel community and Congressional committees about Russian interference and meddling here and in Europe don't seem to affect his deference to Putin, suggesting it may indeed be a relationship developed over the long term.

[yortsed snacilbuper]

33. Follow the money and sex!

[librechik]

35. All apparent evidence that a child could instantly see says yes.

we got played. And nobody wants to admit it. Because the one clear alternative is nuclear annihilation.


Obviously we seem to prefer a bloodless turnover. So the iluminati (speaking metaphorically; I'm not a true believer!) is looking to just seamlessly replace our illusion of democracy with their dumbass oligarchy and corruption, worldwide, with no relief in sight. Ever.

Nice.

[garybeck]

40. have you seen the movie Manchurian Candidate?

if not i suggest you do... the older version with frank sinatra