This is an interesting take, Peterr; I would add the final* knife-twist — a triple Salchow, if you will — of Putin acknowledging Biden as President-elect, because with that + SolarWinds, the math means Putin spent his resources _not_ so much electing Trump this time.** [Gee, it’s almost like IRA trolls are not enough, and one needs all that collusiony collaboration with campaign operatives sharing polling data and optimizing stolen info releases with non-state hostile actors and such. Notwithstanding that Putin’s trolls didn’t need to create American personae so much this time, what with GOPers — our own government officials — taking the words and documents out of his mouthpieces and their hands. But I digress-ish.] In other words: Biden will be POTUS, we were plenty busy hacking away at US resources, “interfering” in a common parlance, perhaps, but didn’t bother to get you elected this time — which means, by the way, that we _did_ get you elected last time. ~~ brushes smooth the ice shavings ~~

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*Of _this_ chain of signification; what else is in store between the two … we’ll (maybe) see. Also, my interpretation of Putin’s acknowledgement of Biden was him just telling the GOP, “Stop wasting the money we are laundering through your causes on vexatious litigation, move on to something cheaper — your ability to pay us back is waning. Learn to propagandize on a budget, FFS.”

**Unless some aspects of the espionage were indeed used towards coercing outcomes, but were thwarted (or arrived too subtly). One can’t help but think of what they might have liked to have done in/re 2016 (or perhaps later, did) with the tools Schulte stole (for them) and laundered through WL. It’s almost like all the DNC et al. hacks/ elections interference these last cycles were noisy cover for this larger operation to pwn all sides of our government — besides, of course, that such an operation would include the part which involved electing Trump, so he could smash the locks, break the windows, and firesale the rest.

It’s pretty chilling that they’ve got all of this key gov+ data as a hedge against new, toothsome sanctions… and with all of the geopolitics we must repair, oh my.

great piece Peterr. I wholeheartedly agree w/you. I never thought Trump would consider Putin playing him.. I don’t think he could ever see that. The shame yes but w/his many yes men serving the front lines? they’ll say it’s not true or something. Gosh so many are thinking Trump opened it up to Putin. You know what I still can’t figure and it really bothers me? The fact that some GOP Senators went to RU on the 4th of July. No idea why, how come but we paid for it. Just makes me sick.

oh yeah: It really made me feel……..pleased w/myself because I knew every single political figure you mentioned! IDK, silly but it’s comforting that I come to the right places: like Emptywheel.

I agree with Molly Pitcher. Trump is aware and actively doing damage to the nation. His “crazy” act is an act. He may well also be crazy, in the way narcissism is illness, but narcissists can also be highly effective and successful individuals. Narcissism is also a mental illness that generates less sympathy than others. Narcissists are assholes.

What gets me is that in the end he is hiding very little. His silence of the last week says it all. There is nothing in fact for him to say except, “it is what it is”. From the moment he invited the Russians to hack mail servers during the 2016 election he has said clearly for whom he is working. His supporters have endless rationalisations for his behavior, but in the end everybody knows their agenda: white supremacy, low taxes, minority rule.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxd23UVID7k

It is the progressive movement that requires deeper analysis. I remember when the film The Manchurian Candidate came out. There were many reactions to that film, and it was a great film, but of the reactions among liberals, like members of my family, was that that story was just one more example of right-wing fear-mongering designed to incite the population to war against Russia (or Cuba or China … ). Now, since it is patently obvious given Trump’s silence of the last week that he indeed is the Manchurian Candidate, it seems critics have difficulty saying it clearly. He Works For Them. Because invoking the Manchurian Candidate makes us into the right-wing creatures we so detested ?

The truth of the Trump – Putin connection must come out if there is to be any hope of saving the country. Only if the truth comes out and is spoken clearly can Americans understand the existential risks to a democracy, when self-interest and injustice are raised to the level of national political program.

Nobody puts Donald in a corner – except Donald.

Donald’s reach is limited, but he has a predator’s eye for the vulnerable. He is immensely narcissistic, which reduces his capacity for self-assessment to nil and makes him vulnerable to more advanced predators like Putin. He can rationalize his way out of any hole, though, and he will smile at having lifted hundreds of millions from his would be followers – whom he despises as chumps – and kept it among the family. That’s his career in a nutshell.

I think what we have seen is just the first and second act, and there will be a final act that still will be played out.

Well past Inauguration Day Trump has a lot of information Putin can still use, he can do a lot of mischief that is useful to Putin, and Putin’s leverage grows, even though Trump’s usefulness as an asset will be greatly diminished.

Trump is going to be in a nightmare situation where he is going to have a hard time ducking contacts from Russia, but he will have lost the legal insulation of the presidency, and he will have every reason to believe the US government is listening to the Russians. And, he will be left wondering if the Russians are just setting him up to tighten their hold on him.

What is he going to do if a Russian businessman approaches him with a slightly shady business deal and hints that Putin has smiled on the deal? Obama, Bush and Clinton would have no problem playing things by the book, but how does Trump keep the US government into the loop without implicating himself or risk angering Putin?

What is he going to do if some potential Saudi investor starts digging for information on what the US is doing in Syria, and that information is possibly useful to Russia?

I doubt Trump really knows what is classified and what is not, but after Inauguration the simple act of finding out will be fraught for him. He does know, however, that Putin has no reason to wipe his ledgers clean.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/19/us/politics/trump-sidney-powell-voter-fraud.html

According to the NYT: In a meeting at the White House on Friday, the president weighed appointing Sidney Powell [as a Special Counsel], who promoted conspiracy theories about rigged voting machines, to probe voter fraud…Most of his advisers opposed the idea, two of the people briefed on the discussion said, including Rudolph W. Giuliani the president’s personal lawyer, who in recent days sought to have the Department of Homeland Security join the campaign’s efforts to overturn Mr. Trump’s loss in the election….Mr. Giuliani joined the discussion by phone, while Ms. Powell was at the White House for a meeting that became raucous at times, according to one of the people briefed on what took place. Other administration officials drifted in and out of the meeting, two of the people briefed said, and the White House counsel, Pat A. Cipollone, pushed back on the ideas being proposed.

Ms. Powell accused other Trump advisers of being quitters, according to the people briefed….

Trump is motivated by greed, revenge and denial.

My guess is the first motivation got him into Putin and the third one is where he lives. Trump’s in either so in deep or just wants to ignore the threat. My guess it’s probably both.

Revenge will be unleashed to anyone that finds the truth regarding the other two.