I really don't think tRump is a Russian spy.

[rogerashton]

I don't think the Russians would want an incompetent spy, and he is clearly incompetent. But it seems they did want the US to have an incompetent president.

That's a good example for the saying: be careful what you want. You might get it.

[tirebiter]

1. He's a monkeywrench not a spy

His designated purpose is to fuck up.

[Sculpin Beauregard]

2. Lift sanctions in Crimea, and launder money, too.

[QC]

3. Yeah, he's always struck me more as stooge than spy.

Bannon, Manafort, and the others, though...they know exactly what they're doing.

[PA Democrat]

18. Hey QC, love your Celtic cross photos

Any idea the location of those photos? The one looks like Clonmacnoise Ireland and another either Clonmacnoise or Glendalough.

[smirkymonkey]

22. One of them looks like the cross at Monasterboice.

The one with the damaged tower in the background.

[PA Democrat]

23. I think you're right. The round tower at Clonmacnoise is also damaged

at the top, but the top edge is pretty even all around. I've never been to Monasterboice, but would love to go there.

[smirkymonkey]

32. I went on a Rick Steves tour around Ireland.

It was great! We saw so many wonderful places that you would normally never see touring on your own. I loved that we stayed in little family run B&B's instead of chain hotels. It was such a lovely trip!

[PA Democrat]

33. B&B s are wonderful and are a great way to meet Irish people.

My husband did all the driving on our trips and he was a pro at navigating the narrow and winding roads after the first couple of days. We used Rick Steves' guide books in addition to the Lonely Planet ones. They were a great tool although we did still manage to get lost a few times on some pretty shaky roads.

I was amazed how much the Irish people knew about American politics and every single person we spoke with was immensely relieved when they learned we were not conservatives. Haven't been back since Trump has been elected, but you should have heard the locals talking about him because he had recently purchased his golf club in Doonbeg. They thought he was an ass and said his body guard carried around hand sanitizer for him to use immediately after he shook hands with the locals. They were very insulted.

[smirkymonkey]

34. It's amazing how well educated and knowledgeable they are about many things, especially

politics. I also love their sense of humor! They definitely don't mince words!

[QC]

24. Thanks! In order, they are in

Sligo, Monasterboice, and Glendalough. Snapped those on a trip a couple of years ago. I hope to get back to Ireland soon. It's a magical place.

[PA Democrat]

25. Magical is the word I use to describe it as well.

I've been to Glendalough, but not to County Sligo or to Monasterboice. We have spent most of our time on the west coast and have rented a house on the ocean in County Clare for a week for a part of the three trips we have made. Our last trip we climbed Croagh Patrick in County Mayo on a gorgeous clear sunny day. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget.

And I love the Irish people as much as the country itself. I hope you make it back to Ireland too!

Slainte!

[QC]

30. I had to get to Sligo to visit Yeats, a favorite of mine.

Next time I hope to get to Clare, since I have ancestors from there. Not sure which village...still looking into that.

[MedusaX]

4. He's a willing co-conspirator who sought the support of a foreign government to illegally

Obtain access to cyber based data which was then utilized as ammunition in target based active measures designed to influence the 2016 election outcome.

This was achieved through a network of transaction based relationships in which payments, in the form of currency and policy decisions, were exchanged for data, services, campaign funding, inaugural donations, etc.

[uponit7771]

6. Right, he didn't think he'd get caught

[still_one]

26. Ya nailed it medusa

[doc03]

5. He is too damn stupid to be a spy.

[Caliman73]

7. He isn't a spy. He is a tool.

He may not even be working in concert with them in a traditional sense. He is just easy to manipulate.

[Demsrule86]

8. This is their favorite kind...high up on the food chain and not so bright.

[Abu Pepe]

9. Depends on your definition of 'spy'

He is a Russian asset. And a witting one.

he might even be guilty of espionage.

But he isn't a spy in the sense of being a trained officer of an intelligence agency.

[rogerashton]

10. Well, maybe.

As I understand it, most spies are untrained -- made spies by fraud and blackmail -- and often do not know what side they are working for.

Certainly he is not a trained Russian agent.

My point was that the Russian expectation in getting him elected was not that he would do their bidding, but that he would weaken the US. They didn't take into account the real possibility that, in doing so, he would blunder into a Russo-American war.

[Abu Pepe]

12. I think that is right

I would go even beyond that and say they never thought he would get elected and we're doing what they could to fuck with HRC, who Putin hates.

[SticksnStones]

11. He's been laundering Russian money through his properties for decades

It's NY AG Schneiderman's eventual RICO charges that will bring him down.

[blogslut]

13. He is a money launderer.

He fronts for criminals on a global scale.

[octoberlib]

14. I don't think he's a spy .I do think he hired hackers and launders Russian money, though.

I also think he's compromised.

[bettyellen]

16. Well he allowed Flynn in top secret meetings knowing he was working for Russia so he enabled spying.

[octoberlib]

17. You're right.

[bettyellen]

20. And he's been laundering money for years- it's a slippery slope, but I imagine

Since he got away with all those mob ties he figured he could keep doing it w foreign mobsters.

[Vinca]

15. He's a tool, not a spy. Like that other guy, he's too dumb to be a spy.

[Leith]

19. He's a Useful Idiot

and a dupe. He doesn't have the brains to knowingly do important work for the Russian, aside from helping them launder money through real estate. Even then, he must have thought that it was his awesome powers of negotiating that got him double what that property was worth.

[Wounded Bear]

36. This, in spades...

Besides, I'm pretty sure he's in hock to Putin and the Russians up to his fat neck.

[stevenleser]

21. Spy is the wrong word. Intelligence (Asset/Dupe/Tool/Compromised person) - pick one or more.

A spy refers to an agent who actively seeks to obtain information on or sabotage/attack enemy assets and report back and obtain additional assignments.

In the conduct of their duties, spies use people who are assets, dupes, tools and compromised persons.

[nycbos]

27. He wouldn't be smart enough to pull it off

One of the tactics the Russians use is to use unwitting pawns. That seems more likely

[HoneyBadger]

28. Read the Dossier again and connect the dots

He has had high level moles in the DNC and the party for 8 years. Tulsi is supposedly one. He is not just a spy, he is running things.

[vlyons]

29. Trump is a criminal, who colluded with Russian mobsters

For a long, long time, Russia has been ruled by criminals. During the Soviet era, many in the Communist leadership were very corrupt, funneling rubles to themselves, their families, and their cronies. When the soviets fell and Yeltsin set up the "republic," Russian oligarchs who were basically mobsters too over many of the industries. The same is true today. Trump is not a spy in the classic sense of stealing atomic secrets. But he has colluded for years in laundering their illegally gained money through his real estate properties, casinos, and other businesses. Moreover, I would not put it past him to sell out military technology, provided he got a kickback somewhere. It's called pay to play.

[Thomas Hurt]

31. FF45 is not spy for ideological reasons

but to gain power and celebrity and more money I think he would sell out his country.

I think he made a deal with Putin, not personally, to attempt to help him, knowing it was a not a sure thing, and what he traded was ultimately tillerson and pulling the sanctions, also not sure thing.

[VOX]

35. He brings chaos and makes us question the very reality of the United States.

He sows confusion, rancor, anger, contempt, powerlessness, and eventually has a nation so fatigued and divided against itself that it's no longer a superpower contender. And without a single shot fired.

What more could a hostile power ask of a stooge?