Remember the fear that Trump was workings for Putin? that has sort of been lost in the Shuffle,Perhaps Trump's planned Saturday night wrestling match with Putin on National Smack down drew our attention away. Some might think hostility over the attack on Assuad's base proves Trump is not Pautin's Pawn? It is unrealistic to think Trump is a real agent for Moscow. I never actually thought that. I did think he may have been manipulated into helping them as the recipient of their messing with the election without having to do anything for them. That would still make him beholden to them. All of the possibilities are still poem. They are still being investigated nothing has really been taken off the docket.
A Russian agent really was trying to recruit an American business man Carter Page. That we for a fact. That same Carter page became foreign policy advisory to Trump. That is also a fact.[1]
Somehow the Russian attempts gained notice by the FBI they began watching Page with the supposition that he might be an agent:
From the Russia trip of the once-obscure Mr. Page grew a wide-ranging investigation, now accompanied by two congressional inquiries, that has cast a shadow over the early months of the Trump administration. At a House Intelligence Committee hearing last month, the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, took the unusual step of publicly acknowledging the investigation of Russian interference in the election, which he said included possible links between Russia and Trump associates.[2]Even at that point Trump's then campaign manager, Paul Manafort, was already under criminal investigation for reconfigure money from pro Russian group supporting Putin in Ukraine. That would have helped Trump's campaign there's a connection, Wili leaks had already started postimng emials obtained by Russian intelligence from Democratic party, That clearly helped trump win, These are facts, [3]
It's odd that the Russians sought to help Trump, you would think they would dread having the conservative in office, The KG B actually tired to sway the election against Reagan in 1982 (the 1984 election) [4] Putin blames the US for it's long string of anti-communist electiopm tamperimng and backimg of converter metabolites,some in Soviet block, and the Arab Spring and lames Sec of state Clinton for anti-Putin machinations why would he not see the more conservative Trump as moreof the same? Could there be a connection in Trump's pick for secretary of state, (Tillerson) a business contact who had been awarded honors by Putin? The New Yorker's article is a must read fopr understanding the Russia connection. [5]
In seeking to understand where we are so far in discovery we cam;t overlook the Washington post's article. [6]That article lays it all out in vast panorama with charts shoeing the huge complex collusion of Team Trump imn Russian connections, Just a very small sample: The article goes on with a vast layout listing the players on the team and their involvement. The Russian connection is already as complex as Watergate.
Major Player:
Ret. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn 
Former national security adviser and former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Flynn resigned as the NSC head after The Washington Post reported that he misled Vice President Mike Pence and others on the true nature of his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, saying he had not privately discussed U.S. sanctions.
TIMELINE
2013 | Flynn meets Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak on a trip to Moscow. Read more
Dec. 10, 2015 | Flynn is paid more than $45,000 by Russian-government-backed RT for his participation in a Moscow panel honoring the news agency. At a related gala, he sat at the table of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Also in 2015, he was paid more than $22,000 by Russia-related entities for two speeches in Washington. Read more
Before Nov. 8, 2016 | Flynn contacts Kislyak, according to Post reporting. It's not clear how often they communicated or what was discussed. Read more
December 2016 | Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, Flynn and Kislyak meet at Trump Tower for 20 minutes. This was just before the Obama administration sanctioned Russia for interfering in the 2016 election. Read more
Dec. 29, 2016 | Flynn places five phone calls to Kislyak, who was being monitored by U.S. intelligence agencies. The same day, President Obama announces the sanctions. Putin chooses not to retaliate. Read more
Jan. 12, 2017 | Post columnist David Ignatius reveals that conversations took place between Flynn and Kislyak. On Jan. 15, Vice President Mike Pence says on "Face the Nation" that Flynn had assured him that he and Kislyak did not discuss sanctions. Read more
Jan. 24, 2017 | Flynn tells FBI interviewers that he did not discuss sanctions with Kislyak, contradicting transcripts from intelligence officials who monitored the calls. Two days later, acting attorney general Sally Q. Yates tells the White House counsel that Flynn had discussed sanctions and could be vulnerable to blackmail by Russia. Trump fired Yates Jan. 30 for refusing to enforce his travel ban. Read more
Feb. 8, 2017 | Flynn tells a Post reporter that he did not discuss sanctions with Kislyak. The next day, he waffles; a spokesman says Flynn "couldn't be certain that the topic never came up." Also that day, Pence learns from a Post story that the White House knew in January that Flynn and Kislyak had discussed sanctions. Read more
Feb. 13, 2017 | Flynn is fired after news reports revealed that he misled Pence. Read more
March 7, 2017 | Flynn files paperwork to register as a foreign agent because of lobbying work potentially benefitting Turkey. Days later it is revealed that his lawyers twice alerted the White House counsel during the transition that Flynn may need to register, meaning the nation's top national security voice was also being paid to represent the interests of another country. Read more
March 28, 2017 | The Post reports that the Trump administration unsuccessfully tried to block Yates from testifying in a House Intelligence Committee hearing after her lawyer told the Justice Department that her testimony would probably contradict statements by White House officials. Committee chair and former Trump adviser Devin Nunes canceled the hearing. Read more
Ret. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn
Former national security adviser and former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Flynn resigned as the NSC head after The Washington Post reported that he misled Vice President Mike Pence and others on the true nature of his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, saying he had not privately discussed U.S. sanctions.
TIMELINE
2013 | Flynn meets Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak on a trip to Moscow. Read more
Dec. 10, 2015 | Flynn is paid more than $45,000 by Russian-government-backed RT for his participation in a Moscow panel honoring the news agency. At a related gala, he sat at the table of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Also in 2015, he was paid more than $22,000 by Russia-related entities for two speeches in Washington. Read more
Before Nov. 8, 2016 | Flynn contacts Kislyak, according to Post reporting. It's not clear how often they communicated or what was discussed. Read more
December 2016 | Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, Flynn and Kislyak meet at Trump Tower for 20 minutes. This was just before the Obama administration sanctioned Russia for interfering in the 2016 election. Read more
Dec. 29, 2016 | Flynn places five phone calls to Kislyak, who was being monitored by U.S. intelligence agencies. The same day, President Obama announces the sanctions. Putin chooses not to retaliate. Read more
Jan. 12, 2017 | Post columnist David Ignatius reveals that conversations took place between Flynn and Kislyak. On Jan. 15, Vice President Mike Pence says on "Face the Nation" that Flynn had assured him that he and Kislyak did not discuss sanctions. Read more
Jan. 24, 2017 | Flynn tells FBI interviewers that he did not discuss sanctions with Kislyak, contradicting transcripts from intelligence officials who monitored the calls. Two days later, acting attorney general Sally Q. Yates tells the White House counsel that Flynn had discussed sanctions and could be vulnerable to blackmail by Russia. Trump fired Yates Jan. 30 for refusing to enforce his travel ban. Read more
Feb. 8, 2017 | Flynn tells a Post reporter that he did not discuss sanctions with Kislyak. The next day, he waffles; a spokesman says Flynn "couldn't be certain that the topic never came up." Also that day, Pence learns from a Post story that the White House knew in January that Flynn and Kislyak had discussed sanctions. Read more
Feb. 13, 2017 | Flynn is fired after news reports revealed that he misled Pence. Read more
March 7, 2017 | Flynn files paperwork to register as a foreign agent because of lobbying work potentially benefitting Turkey. Days later it is revealed that his lawyers twice alerted the White House counsel during the transition that Flynn may need to register, meaning the nation's top national security voice was also being paid to represent the interests of another country. Read more
March 28, 2017 | The Post reports that the Trump administration unsuccessfully tried to block Yates from testifying in a House Intelligence Committee hearing after her lawyer told the Justice Department that her testimony would probably contradict statements by White House officials. Committee chair and former Trump adviser Devin Nunes canceled the hearing. Read more
Sources
[1]Scott Shane.Mark Mazzetti, and Adam Goldman, "Trump adviser's Visit to Moscow Got FBI's Attentions," New York Times (April 19, 2017) on line version URL:
[2] Ibid
[3] Ibid.
[4] Even Osnos, et al, "Trump. Putin, and The New Cold War." The New Yorker, (March 6. 2017)
URL:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/06/trump-putin-and-the-new-cold-war
(accessed April 20/17)
[5] Ibid.
[6] Bonnie Berkowotz, Denise Lu, and Julie Vitoklvkaya, "Here is what we know so far about team Trump's ties to Russian Interests," Washington Post (March 31, 2017)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/trump-russia/?utm_term=.7ed5cf084cf0
(accessed April 20/17)
[7] Ibid.
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