Dropping the Mask

Evelyn Farkas, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense under Obama until 2015 (specializing in  Russian affairs), has revealed that she was an impetus behind the dissemination of intelligence intercepts supposedly implicating the Trump campaign in coordinating with Russia before last fall's election. Here is a must read and watch video of Farkas and Democrat Senator Stabenow on the Morning Joe show a while back ... Powerline Blog Entry.

It is not too much of a stretch now to piece together what might be behind all the polemics that are taking place in Washington over the Trump-Russia connection. Let me offer my surmises:

- Probably back in the 1990s the Trump operation was in deep dodo because of being over extended with U.S. banks and desperately needing working capital, Trump turned to Russia and was rewarded with some hefty loans from Russian oligarchs (likely close to Putin).

- Since this reprieve allowed Trump to return to be a successful real estate investor ... along with many other popular ventures, these Russian backers were likely repaid in full with a handsome profit. However, these transactions would likely show up on Trump's tax returns around the turn of the century. This is one reason Trump refused to release his tax returns which would suggest a certain coziness with the Russians ... and possibly other embarrassments.

- When Trump was running for President, he felt that, as bad as Putin and company were, they could be a valuable ally in America's likely hot war with the radical Islamic forces around the world. This was because Russia had been having their share of problems with Muslims in places like Chechnya.

- However, Trump's previous business relationship with the Russian oligarchs presented a political problem for Trump ... a problem that the Democrats were all to happy to exploit ... belatedly. The NSA and likely the FBI were surveilling Trump's campaign people (maybe incidentally while tapping others) and had hard evidence of contacts ... probably mostly innocent. However, Trump was very sensitive to this possible PR snag and took pains to separate himself from anyone who could be so implicated -- Manafort, Flynn, Carter Page and a few others.

- Since the Democrats were confident of a Hillary win, they did not heavily exploit this information before the election ... possibly worried that their own Russian dealings might come to light. However, a Trump win threw them into a panicky smear mode and, with the urging of people like Farkas and Obama's last minute release of these Trump intercepts throughout the intelligence community, it was pretty clear that Trump's job as president would be made far more difficult ... and it has.

- But the real shocker is that much of these intercepts have been unmasked ... or the names of Trump associates and likely Trump himself have not been hidden in the text of these intercepts ... a serious felony ... and one that had to be expected with Obama's general release of these intercepts. The question is ... who did this? Or was it more than one Obama loyalist. In his questioning of FBI Director, James Comey, Representative  Trey Gowdy let it be known whom he suspected among Obama's reports: Brennan of the CIA, Clapper of the NSC, Sally Yates from Justice and/or Ben Rhodes of the White House.

So, is the Trump-Russia connection a "nothingburger" as Ted Cruz and others have implied? Unless some insidious connivings are revealed in these NSA intercepts (already repeatedly denied by Democrats), I am inclined to agree. Except of course for the unmasking of the Trump people in these intercepts ... which should land one or more Obama lackies in jail.