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In the wake of Russia's attack on our election last year, Americans have come up to speed quickly on the basics of how Russia espionage operates. In the words of former CIA director John Brennan during his May testimony:
“I know what the Russians try to do [...] They try to suborn individuals and they try to get individuals, including U.S. persons, to act on their behalf either wittingly or unwittingly.”
Even a basic read of what took place in the Trump campaign based on what we learned from the George Papadopoulos plea agreement has the makings of a Russian spy novel. After the young Papadopoulos traveled to Italy and propitiously stumbled upon a Russian professor who proceeded to establish Trump’s interest in Russian help, a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer made an approach with similar offerings to Don Jr. just months later.
Now that Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, has indicated her willingness to testify about the resulting June 9 Don Jr. meeting before the Senate Judiciary Committee and also Robert Mueller—which ostensibly could provide the ultimate leverage point for Vladimir Putin. During such an interview—which the Judiciary panel hasn't agreed to since it was offered on the condition it be made public—Veselnitskaya could either corroborate Don Jr.'s evolving story on the interplay, or she could entirely blow it up, potentially incriminating Don Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort, all of whom were present on June 9. Eventually, Don Jr. admitted that he was promised dirt on Clinton but also claimed he never got any at the meeting and that Veselnitskaya primarily wanted to talk about dissolving the Magnitsky Act. But whatever she reveals, her answers have the power to help inform public opinion as well Mueller’s prosecutorial direction on the importance of the meeting and whether it was truly criminal in nature.
In a new interview with Bloomberg News, Veselnitskaya is already dropping hints about what she might reveal.
A Russian lawyer who met with President Donald Trump’s oldest son last year says he indicated that a law targeting Russia could be re-examined if his father won the election and asked her for written evidence that illegal proceeds went to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. [...]
“Looking ahead, if we come to power, we can return to this issue and think what to do about it,’’ Trump Jr. said of the 2012 law, she recalled. “I understand our side may have messed up, but it’ll take a long time to get to the bottom of it,” he added, according to her.
That's just a glimpse, folks, and it could either be the most explosive thing Veselnitskaya has to relay or the least explosive. And frankly, that may all come down to how Vladimir Putin wants her to play it—although we can’t know that for certain.
But let's remember that nothing seems accidental about this meeting, its content, its timing, or its attendees. Rather, it seems perfectly intentional.
The courting of Papadopoulos started in mid-March, by late April he learns of "dirt" on Hillary Clinton, and by early May Papadopoulos' contact is offering "cooperation" from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).
One month later, on June 3, Rob Goldstone emails Don Jr. with a promise of dirt on Clinton. Don Jr. is immediately receptive and the infamous June 9 meeting commences between him, Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort and a Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya and her entourage.
So between March and June, the Kremlin seemingly moves from getting its hooks into a Trump national security aide to landing a meeting with three of the campaign's most influential players.
It looks like a textbook case of Russian operatives suborning Trump campaign officials whose futures are now potentially in the hands of Vladimir Putin and how much he wants to hurt or help Donald Trump. And that determination, if it is in fact being made, would relate directly back to how valuable Trump is proving to be to him.