How the Trump Jr. meeting fits into the larger Putin game plan (CNN) -Very interesting!
How the Trump Jr. meeting fits into the larger Putin game plan
-----------
NOT A LONG PIECE, PLEASE READ IT ALL FROM THE SOURCE::
http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/16/opinions/trump-jr-meeting-putin-game-plan-opinion-mowatt-larssen-goodman/index.html
---------
OR THESE EXCERPTS:::
Many in the media have focused too narrowly on how Donald Trump Jr.'s June 2016 meeting with a Russian lobbyist and lawyer in Trump Tower looks bad.
But what the media, the public and investigators should really focus on now is what happened after the meeting. The key is to think more broadly, including asking two questions.
First, assuming this was an overture by Russian intelligence agencies, despite the Kremlin's denials, what would the Russian government most likely have done next?
Second, how should we then interpret subsequent actions of the Trump circle in light of the actions the Kremlin would have pursued? The answers to those questions suggest that the alleged collusion between the Trump circle and Putin's team could well have continued far beyond June 9.
(snip)
We have focused on how the meeting bears all the hallmarks of a Russian intelligence operation and, in particular, a test to gauge whether the Trump campaign would be open to assistance from the Russian government.
In that event, Moscow got a green light. The only problem with the Russian attempt, according to Trump Jr. and the Russian lawyer, was that the quality of the information on Clinton was poor. Trump Jr. and his team apparently wanted more.
So why would the Kremlin provide nothing of value to the Trump principals and disappoint them, especially when we know that by May, according to the US intelligence report, Putin had in his possession what he needed from the DNC server?
The logical explanation is because their intention was to establish interest in the Trump campaign's receiving compromising material, not in satisfying their appetite for it. The information that was reportedly passed at this meeting has the feel of representing intelligence "feed material" to establish interest in more, higher quality information in the future.
Coincidentally, perhaps, it was only after the meeting that the DNC emails began to leak as part of a large scale influence operation to affect the presidential election.
(snip)
Rather than notify authorities about the Russian overture, they kept it mum and denied any Russian contacts when asked. In early July, according to Politico, Carter Page was dispatched to Moscow. The Trump team would have had to know, at the very least, that Page would be approached by Russian intelligence agents. The campaign and Page long refused to say whether he was authorized to travel to Moscow, until the news media discovered that the campaign did indeed authorize the trip.
