Beware the dark art of Russian blackmail - WaPo

[ffr]

In 1999, Russia’s prosecutor general — the rough equivalent of a U.S. attorney general — vowed to investigate corruption allegations involving the family of then-President Boris Yeltsin.

Then a funny thing happened. Russian TV began showing grainy video footage of the prosecutor, Yuri Skuratov, cavorting in the nude with two young women. Some observers expressed skepticism that the man in the video was actually Skuratov. But any doubts were put to rest by the head of Russia’s internal security service, who declared that his agency’s experts had confirmed the prosecutor’s identity. The man who made the statement was Vladimir Putin, and his words sealed Skuratov’s political fate. The corruption probe faded away, and a few months later a grateful Yeltsin appointed Putin to the office of prime minister, and later as his own successor.
<snip>

Putin learned well. As president he soon cracked down on both the freelance spies and the journalists, but he never forgot his early lessons about the uses of kompromat, from the Russian for “compromising material.” Discrediting an enemy, he realized, can be far more effective than throwing them in jail, so the culture of kompromat has continued to thrive under his rule — though it’s now primarily deployed in the services of the Russian state.
<snip>

It’s good to see him come around. But if this is indeed what Trump believes, why does he continue to preach the need for a friendlier relationship with Russia? Is a government that operates the way that Putin’s does — spreading lies in the shadows — really the one that you want as an ally? One can’t help but wonder. - Washington Post

All consistent. Putin would want something to have on any rival. He took recordings of HRC's conversations when she was there, so are we to believe that tRump simply goes back to his hotel room and reads books while at the Moscow Beauty Pageant? From the guy who would stroll through their dressing rooms while they were dressing?

High probability Putin's got dirt. And now he's got his puppet-in-chief. Probably why he smiles so much.

[Jacob Boehme]

1. Trump and Pootie will soon declare..

We can only buy Lada motor vehicles now.... Ugh!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lada

[UTUSN]

2. R#5 & K for, I could do without those damnable faces