TPM: With Kushner Revelations, the Worst Case Scenerio Comes into View
As always, Josh Marshall nails this.
Begin quote:
We’ve heard it claimed that this secret channel to Moscow Kushner and Flynn wanted to set up was to discuss the situation in Syria. That is simply not plausible. At least it couldn’t have been just about Syria as there are numerous legitimate ways to do that. If the conversations were about Syria and ISIS, which I find dubious, they must have included other topics which had to be hidden from the US government, the intelligence agencies and US military.
The most plausible ‘bad’ story behind the Trump/Russia mystery has always been some kind of financial preferment to members of the Trump family in exchange for lifting the sanctions put in place after the Russian annexation of Crimea and subsequent low-intensity incursions into eastern Ukraine. This wouldn’t come out of the blue. It would probably come in the context of some ‘deal’ over Syria or Ukraine or perhaps some agreement about global counter-terrorism cooperation. As I’ve written, there is a more ‘innocent‘ explanation as well. It may not be any quid pro quo. It could simply be years of doing business with Russians and people from other parts of the former Soviet Union which has made Trump inclined to see their needs in a sympathetic light. His hostility toward the sanctions regime could also be driven by the fact that, with his dependence on Russian and FSU investments and purchases, they likely hurt him directly.
This chart, let me be clear, is not a statement of fact. It is an effort to illustrate a series of patterns which are the subject, the subtext, of many of the reports about the Trump/Russia story and indeed the investigation. It looks at what each side wants, what each side seems to be getting. President Trump’s efforts to destabilize NATO and the EU are the most clear. These things are happening. The election hacking and subversion did happen. We know the Trump Organization has taken vast sums of money from Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union over the last twenty years. Whether there’s any explicit quid quo pro today is what we don’t know. When people talk about collusion, this is the pattern of actions they’re looking at and trying to confirm.
End Quote.
There is a lot more at this link.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/with-kushner-revelations-the-worst-case-scenario-comes-into-view
= new reply since forum marked as read
I made the same observation about the cliquishness just a couple of days ago in a post. I was singled out due to my low post count and late join date. It is very hypocritical IMHO to single out people based on their post count. Everyone has to start out at zero posts, so I'm not sure why some people feel superior just because they have been here longer or have more posts. It is certainly not a very progressive attitude. I'm thankful that there are people, like you, that have been kind and welcoming. Have a great day longship, I will be on the lookout for your posts in the future. 
If ones OP gets neither, the effort is wasted.
Thank you my friend.
I think this needs exposure here. Josh Marshall has one of the most intelligent Democratic sites on the Net.
I am shocked by the lack of general support for this post. This is the shit that matters.
My best to you.
That's why I tend to post in the mornings, hopefully to catch the morning coffee crowd (morning covfefe crowd? 
).
I just don't know why Josh Marshall's post did not take hold today. It is a puzzlement.
My best back
As well as hiding documents. POTUS has no claim to be above the law, which Nixon basically claimed until his death. "If the President does it, it is not illegal." (Or some such.) However, SCOTUS ruled otherwise.
Attorney/client privilege only goes so far. And hiding documents from a legal investigation is never legal.
