Well then, let us do some speculation within the realm, or close to, realistic. If you want to call it a conspiracy theory feel free, I call it speculating using what I have observed and learned.
First I want to point everyone to a good book about hacking of the 2016 election ,”The plot to hack America “ by Malcolm Nance. Mr. Nance is an Intelligence expert with I think 36 years in the Business most of that in the Navy.
Something I learned from Mr. Nance’s Book Russia will use different groups working to the same end, like a Submarine wolf pack of World War II. I want you to keep that in mind for a minute as I go along. One of the arguments I have received from Donald Trump is along these lines: “ First you say Russia compromised Donald Trump, then you say they compromised General Flynn, then it is they tried to go through Donald Trump Jr, and then it is Papadopoulos. Which one is it? Get your story straight!” Well here is my answer. All of the above probably.
Let’s start with the Big Orange One himself, Donald Trump. As a business person and celebrity in America, Trump would definitely be on Russia’s list of people to compromise. Trump has connections so they would know he could be useful for future purposes. I think it is quite possible that Trump was compromised somehow; I am not saying it is a pee pee tape or something like that. There are plenty of other things in Trump’s pass to use not to mention just using his own ego and ambitions against him. Trump is rumored to have laundered money for some pretty unsavory characters in the past, borrowed money from foreign banks because no legitimate US bank would do it, has business dealing with Russia according to his offspring, and would love to do business in Russia in the future. Any of the those things listed would be enough to use as leverage. Heck, Russia could have hacked his tax returns and say they would release them to the public if he didn’t cooperate and Trump would hop for them. But what started out as a compromised Businessman by a branch of Russian intelligence which could have been handled at lower levels has risen to Kremlin, Putin level. So Trump is such an asset he is the most compartmentalised part of Putin’s attack on America. Why? Because it would be too risky to trust the identity of one of Russia’s most valuable assets to anyone and the less people who know the stronger the secret. So let us put Trump above all but the top Russian intel people.
Now we go down the food chain in Russian intel to the agencies themselves like FSB, GRU and such. All have the same marching orders to use the 2017 Presidential election to cause chaos in America and damage it’s democracy as much as possible. Why? A weak USA is what Putin wants because he is tired of the US getting in his way around the world.
So now we have separate Russian intel agencies working separate but to the same goal. We have cyber warfare groups hacking to get information that can be weaponized, cyber warfare people working with political scientists and such to create propaganda to target different groups in the US to pit them against each other, and an effort to sabotage Hillary Clinton’s Campaign, to demonize her. You also had Russian intel people below the highest level of the Kremlin with the knowledge of DNC and Podesta email hacks wanting to use those emails to hurt Hillary Clinton but needed a way to get them to the public without the trail leading back to Russia directly. One group chose to work through a lower level Campaign worker who was also part of Trump’s foreign relations team, and that is Papadopoulos. Another group worked through Donald Trump Jr. and still another group worked through Wikileaks and Roger Stone Jr. The question is why were these not jumped on and worked from the beginning by Trump team? Because only one, possibly two people who were part of the Trump Campaign knew what the real game was and already had the “in” Russia was looking for, and since Trump being compromised was “ a need to know” basis controlled by Putin, the lower level Russian intelligence guys could not be told to back off. Manafort, was sent not just to handle the Trump Campaign but to assess if it was worth shifting the Russian intelligence operation from just dividing America to cause social unrest, but to work to get Trump elected. Manafort assessed that if he could convince the Republican Party’s stance on Russia then the effort to elect Trump should go forth. If Trump one, unfortunately he did, then Trump would lift sanctions with GOP controlled congress approval. They even had a backup plan if Trump lost and Trump himself laid the groundwork for that as Russia bombarded social media with divisive propaganda. Trump said that if he lost it was because the system was rigged. He knew his supporters would be livid if he lost and would believe it was their patriotic duty to stop Hillary Clinton from being sworn in, even if it meant armed insurrection.
Manafort, and maybe Donald Trump, himself ( most likely actually) had the big picture of what Putin was doing. Manafort probably had the lower level Russian Operatives contacts gently rebuffed as not to bring unwanted attention to the real scheme and that is why he sat in on Don Jr’s meeting with the a Russian operator on the Clinton dirt. I bet these approaches to the Trump Campaign by lower level Russian operatives made Manafort sweat, knowing that it could expose everything.
Things that really complicated matters for Manafort besides Russian intel groups working independent of each other on the same problem was US intel agencies discovering Russia was trying to hack the election and was responsible for hacked DNC emails, Trump’s ego and tweeting habit not to mention his temperament, and the disorganization of the Trump Campaign itself. After the election Trump’s reaction to Russian hacking US and denying it sent up a red Flag, the Steele Dossier, and Jared Kushner. Kushner seeking a back channel using the Russian embassy was a red flag. But you say Manafort wasn’t working for the Campaign then. Not officially but he was still working as an adviser and as Trump’s handler.
The biggest mistake of all was Trump firing Comey and giving an interview where he actually admitted he fired Comey to get rid of the Russia thing.
Why do I believe Manafort was Trump’s handler? The man is indebted to Russia three ways to Sunday. This was Manafort’s chance of cleaning his slate with a Russian Oligarch and setting himself up for a big future. Plus, Manafort is the very definition of compromised where Russia is concerned. He organized a protest in the Ukraine that nearly got American soldiers killed and I bet it was more than just that, stuff he knows would get him sent away for life.
Right now Manafort is trying to figure out his next move. He knows Mueller has got some goods on him, but he doesn’t know exactly what. Manafort is hoping Trump will do something to save him as that is his only way out without going to prison. The problem is that if Trump pardons him not knowing what Mueller has, then Trump is cooked. Because if there is a pardon and congress looks into what Mueller dug up after, Trump will be the one facing the music. If Manafort rolls on Trump, he rolls over on Russia and that makes him a target of some bad people. Putin doesn’t mind being suspected of messing with US Election, he does not want it proved. Putin is vindictive. Plus, if Manafort implicates Trump, Trump will more than likely be impeached and the next President will have to be tougher on Russia and the Russian economy cannot take more sanctions without setting of social unrest in Russia. Manafort is between a rock and a hard place and there is no indication Trump is willing to risk his skin to save his old campaign manager.
So that is my speculation and you can take it or leave it. I am not saying that this is what happened, only it looks to me what happened. Now we are in uncharted waters with are only hope Mueller is left to do his job, and that justice is served. The problem is we have an unstable person in the White House who may very well choose to burn it all down when the truth is finally revealed. I pray everything works out for the best because I really want to read the final report on the 2017 election to find out what really happened.
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