I don't think those are the right questions in this case. Flynn was surely relaying Trump's own message to Putin. So can they pin the message to Trump?
This is a major situation. If Trump put Flynn up to it, how does anyone defend him? It places the candlestick in the kitchen with Colonel Mustard. It taints the entire election.
It now appears likely that Trump was in cahoots with Putin via Flynn. This was always the unanswered question. How was Trump communicating with Putin? The answer appears to be, via Flynn. And he was caught in the act of relaying a message. "Don't worry about the sanctions Obama is placing on your Embassy staff, the GRU and the FSB for trying to influence the election. We will rescind them once we are in control." Or words to that effect.
Is this beyond the scope of Trump's own actions? No. It's exactly aligned with them. Trump loosened the sanctions imposed by Obama within weeks of gaining power: "The Treasury Department on Thursday announced the loosening of sanctions on Russia's spy service that were imposed by former President Obama for Moscow's intelligence operations targeting the 2016 presidential election. A notice posted on the website of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the department's sanctions enforcement unit, stated the sanctions on Russia's Federal Security Service, the security and intelligence agency known as FSB, were eased." http://freebeacon.com/national-security/trump-loosens-sanctions-russian-spy-agency-linked-election-hack/
It's pretty obvious. Flynn was the intermediary between Trump and Russia.
Don't be surprised if Flynn disappears. Or is disappeared. Even if no one from the US is willing to do the deed, Putin is. It's what he does. Car crash? Inadvertent swallowing of polonium?
They are already working on Trump's motive. The dossier from the head of MI6's Russia desk provides it. And he is already hiding from Putin. Some elements of the dossier have already been confirmed. http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/10/politics/russia-dossier-update/
We also know that the head of the CIA backed the decision not to give a security clearance to Flynn's henchman. There's obviously a good deal going on behind the scenes. I am wondering how many of the surrogates might also be involved. Putin couldn't possibly have compromising information on Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich, could he?
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