Probably.
Not so much a patsy, more of a dupe. And in this he’s no different from all American politicians, incuding the President, who have been outsmarted and outthought by Putin for years.
Trump supporters don’t care. They’d rather have a Russian puppet strongman in the White House than Clinton.
WTF. Does Trump not think he’s pushing his “I’ve avoided political suicide” luck too far?
Oh, I know Trumpeters don’t care. He didn’t shoot her on 5th ave. But any independent should really be like “wait, what?” now.
Unless they are pro-hacker, I guess.
If this is ok, I guess Hillary should get some hackers to find those tax returns.
I’m no fan of Trump’s, but you’re taking his remark out of context.
His next sentence, see, was him explaining that he doesn’t merely hope they do this; he thinks they’ll be rewarded mightily for doing so.
If a nervous man tells me he hopes I’ll murder his wife – sure, that sounds pretty bad. But if he adds that I’ll be rewarded mightily for doing so? That’s totally different!
Stop putting words into Trump’s mouth, please. 
Using your analogy, he offered somebody to kill his wife… and then stated other people will pay up, not Trump himself.
See? No transaction between Trump and the killer, so no harm, no foul!
So Donald Trump’s entire candidacy is basically “Throw Momma from a Train” now.
I’m seeing that quote become the top headline at places like TPM, Daily Kos, HuffPo, Washington Post, NY Times… but nowhere to be seen on FoxNews.com right now.
Just to nitpick your nitpick, you’ll see I was careful never to specify that Trump – or the nervous man – was the one who’d pay up.
(Actually, given what else we know of Trump, does he have a horrifyingly plausible defense? ‘No, the Russians would never make a deal with me; I’m Donald Trump, it’s common knowledge that you’ll never receive a payment for helping me out.’)
I have to agree with this quote from the NYT piece. Yes, it’s from a Clinton campaign person, but still…
It’s buried but it’s technically there.
Potential Fox Headline: “Clinton entices Russians to hack email; Trump unfairly accused.”
Just remember everyone. This person gets access to national security briefings starting Friday. Maybe he’ll invite the Russians to read those too!
“You wouldn’t believe what I heard this morning. Wouldn’t believe it. Hillary, Obama… it’s a mess, all going wrong. Did you know that <secret>? I knew that before they told me - loser briefings conducted by losers who watch CNN!”
Invite? Hell, he may personally wrap them around Putin’s lumpy dong with a big gold bow.
“Like FDR, Trump Teams Up With Russia Against A Threat To Peace And Freedom.”
Trump is essentially all transactional, no strategy.
The Donald’s thinking: “Security briefings? What are those worth in dollar terms? Who would pay for them?”