LET’S BE CLEAR: Despite vociferous denials to the contrary, Donald Trump and his associates worked in concert with Russian operatives to achieve the White House. Once there, he put Putin’s aims above his own country’s, if not his own.
We now know that Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, special adviser, and slumlord-cum-bringer of peace to the Middle East, is, ahem, complicit. His clumsy and egregiously illicit attempt to implement a secret means of communication between the Trump administration and the Kremlin, along with the White House’s non-denial of this bombshell allegation—does any serious person believe Trump & Co. went to such extraordinary lengths to discuss Syria, a country whose pitiable refugees they went to equally extraordinary lengths to ban from entering the United States?—confirm what some of us have long suspected: Yes, there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Vladimir Putin.
The picture is now crystal clear, the betrayal of country impossible to wish away.
This is the worst scandal in the history of the Republic. If his actions do not match the legal definition of treason—we are not at war with Russia, at least officially—Donald Trump is a traitor to his country, a Baby-Boom Benedict Arnold. And his name should eclipse that by-gone redcoat’s in the annals of infamy.
The list of collaborators in the Russia Story is literally too long to tweet. But Roger Stone exchanging DMs with Guccifer 2.0 or Paul Ryan knowing about Russian money financing GOP campaigns, is, relatively speaking, small potatoes. The (well-done) steak in the Russia Story are the men who took meetings repeatedly with Sergei Kislyak—the Russian ambassador and chief spymaster—and his FSB associates.
We know these meetings took place, we know that these meetings were highly unusual, and we know that the Americans who participated in these meetings lied about doing so—under oath, in the case of Jeff Sessions.
Let’s take a look at the six villains whom we know for sure participated in those meetings:
Paul Manafort is Bond-villain-level bad. He’s spent most of his adult life as a Washington-based lobbyist for unsavory foreign leaders like Mobutu Sese Seko, Jonas Savimbi, Ferdinand Marcos, and Viktor Yanukovych, as well as various Russian oligarchs and Pakistan’s ISI. He raked in a boatload of money from his recent misadventures in Ukraine, and his own daughters (allegedly) believe he’s an actual murderer. It was after he became chairman of the Trump campaign that the Russian meetings took place, so it stands to reason that he was the man who initiated the collusion, probably at the behest of his Russian whoremasters.
Mike Flynn was a lobbyist for both Turkey AND Russia throughout the campaign, which he failed to disclose. Again: highly illegal. He participated in all the known Kislyak meetings. Trump did not want to fire him despite manifold warnings of his unsuitability, and defends him to this day, texting him to “stay strong” a few weeks ago. Wherefore this loyalty to Flynn, a known crook? Perhaps the more operative question is: Was Flynn Trump’s handler, or just his consigliere? Which man was actually in charge?
Jeff Sessions, the first senator to endorse Trump, participated in the notorious meeting with Kislyak at the Mayflower Hotel, as “citizen journalist” Seth Abramson explains:
(MEGA-THREAD) The plot to sell America's foreign policy for foreign oil _and_ steal an election in the bargain began at the Mayflower Hotel. pic.twitter.com/XkoFpmMAeJ
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 24, 2017
He had several encounters with Kislyak, and lied about them under oath during his confirmation hearing. Perjury is a felony, which, as an attorney—as the ATTORNEY GENERAL—he must know. Why did he misrepresent himself before Congress, if he’s not guilty of something greater?
So proud of my Ivy League daughter…brains and beauty channeling her Edie Sedgwick. On Instagram @samichka_ pic.twitter.com/mpQxhr3mh3
— Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212) May 15, 2017
Michael Cohen, Trump’s loquacious personal attorney, is a prominent figure in the Steele dossier (which, it should be noted, he claims is spurious). Whether or not he met with Russian operatives in Prague, as Steele reports and Cohen vehemently denies, he certainly participated in a meeting with Trump business associate Felix Sater at Trump Tower, at which the lifting of sanctions was discussed, and delivered the results of that meeting to Flynn. He’s as intimately involved with Trump/Russia as he is with his daughter’s lingerie-modeling career.
Jared Kushner took all the meetings, as well as God knows how many phone calls with Kislyak. He also met, covertly, with the CEO of Vnesheconombank, a sanctioned Russian state bank, the day after his secret Trump Tower rendezvous with Kislyak. His idea to use Russian diplomatic facilities as a “backchannel,” which he mistakenly believed would circumvent the NSA finding out, was so brazen that even the many-chinned Russian ambassador was taken aback. Either Kushner was the mastermind behind the whole operation, or, more likely, he was given an assignment by his father-in-law (“Figure out a private way for us to talk.”). The consensus among spooks is that what he did is punishable under the Espionage Act. Oh, and he also lied on his SF86…twice… which is a felony…twice: 10 years in the slammer.
Dear Jared Kushner: Lying on the SF-86 security clearance form is a crime. Michael Flynn hired a lawyer. You may also want to hire a lawyer.
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) April 25, 2017
Whether Donald Trump is an active participant or useful idiot, whether he initiated the collusion or was talked into it by Manafort and Flynn, whether there was actual quid pro quo or just kompromat, his firing of Jim Comey (at Kushner’s behest, supposedly), his attempt to woo the directors of various intelligence agencies to disavow the Russia Story, his non-denial of Kushner’s latest backchannel attempt, and his decision to lawyer up and convene a “war room” to combat Trump/Russia allegations, are not behaviors that bespeak of innocence.
He’s already caused immeasurable harm to NATO, lifted some of the sanctions, and invited his Russian whoremasters into the Oval Office; total lifting of the sanctions is only a matter of time. The pertinent question is: What, aside from the election, did Putin give him in return?
That Trump will go down is inevitable; it’s either him or the republic, and the republic will stand. The only question now is how soon, how exactly all the moving parts fit together…and how many of his deplorable associates will come tumbling after.
Thank you for all you’re doing, Greg. Keep it up. I continue to follow you with healthy skepticism (I’m always awaiting further information and access to clear evidence), but I admire how you have gradually advanced this story. Of course if any of this turns out to be irrefutably true, it is unacceptable to say the least and we need to coalesce to do all we can to reverse the corrosive effects of the venomous Trump saga.
Thanks, Paul. As I’m not the first to point out, the story has lagged in the MSM because it’s so audacious that people have trouble accepting it is real. Meanwhile, stories continue to normalize what is, by any measure, egregious corruption. Jared was corrupt BEFORE this revelation…he lied, twice, on his security clearance form, which is a double felony. He has zero experience, and would not be at his job were he not the boss’s son-in-law…a walking definition of nepotism. MSM should bring this up ALWAYS, in EVERY story, but does not.
An effort to have an intelligent discussion is in order here. First, I admire your passion, although I believe it to be misplaced. Such passion is good for the debate.
Second, I am interested in how the Russians (Putin and the FSB) rigged the election in Trump’s favor. Thus far I have seen no evidence of such an operation and, I simply don’t buy the narrative about the troll farms and fake facebook accounts, etc. It seems more than a stretch to peddle what is, at best, something the Russians (and Chinese and Israelis, etc) engage in every four years. This is not new nor somehow increased in its potency because of some yet unknown secret mind control weapon that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin debuted in 2016. Please don’t mistake my skepticism for dogma or partisanship. If Trump conspired with Putin to “steal” the election, then I want to know. So far however, there is no hard evidence of this. Moreover, there is no soft evidence either…at least in your presentation. Well, even Robert Mueller has produced little more than a string of process crimes – few of which relate to Russia, Trump or the election. Even the special counsel’s indictment of the 12 Russian intel officials is little more than window dressing. He knew before filing the charges that he would never have to prosecute any of the cases (except the one company which showed up in court – Concord Management – and the Mueller team moved to delay discovery). At least explain the narrative. And one last question: If it was (and is) paramount to prove that the Russians did indeed perpetrate the “hack” of the Dems servers, why would the DNC fail to provide those servers to the FBI post haste. The headline would’ve read: “FBI Confirms Russia was Behind Breach of DNC Servers”…or would it have? I just don’t understand why the Dems would fall in their own tech security firm and deny the FBI access, thus denying their own chance to have the weight of the FBI’s forensic cyber crimes unit in their corner. Please help me understand.
Third, it was not only Manafort and Cohen who made obscene sums of money representing slugs like Yanukovych, was it? There were other consultants who were working for Manafort, right? How did the Special Counsel refer to fhem? Who owned that firm? Was their name Podesta? How Is it that the Russian and Ukrainian billionaires were benign philanthropists when donating to the Clinton foundation and paying heavy fees to the Podesta Group, yet when these same players are connected to Manafort, suddenly the tone and description shifts dramatically. And was it not Robert Mueller himself that implemented project Pelican?…just asking. Please help me see past what appears to be blatant hypocrisy and ass-covering.
Finally, the entirety of the FISA-gate scandal is never mentioned in any of your posts that I have read thus far and, that scandal does have a logical narrative, perpetrators with motif (which they communicated clearly in texts and conversation), and a clear set of actions which were illegal and seriously damaged Donald Trump during the campaign. I have read the transcripts of testimony, the text messages, the reports, etc. and yet Robert Mueller (and you as well) appear to have no knowledge of any of this serious criminal conduct. Please explain how it is possible to accuse a Trump associate of collusion and conspiracy to defraud the US electorate while a foreign agent submits reports to the FBI that were paid for by the opposing campaign and opposing political party – the supposed intel comes from…Russians close to the Kremlin, and the FBI and DOJ officials who know none of the “dossier” has been confirmed…present it to a FISC judge as vetted intelligence from trusted sources…to obtain a FISA warrant for surveillance on a political opponent of the current administration and the intel’s benefactor??!! Go ahead. What is your analysis of the above?
I just have to say that there is a hell of a lot more hard evidence that the Dems and Obama administration “colluded” to interfere with the election than vice versa. School me. Straighten me out. Educate me. All I am interested in is truth. All else be damned.