# Leaked report of Russian blackmail of Trump **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 10, 2017, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846 "2017-01-10T23:59:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 29
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/561 "2017-02-14T20:14:38Z")
I am glad Fynn is gone. His crank world view and closeness to trump combined with serious national security experience made him the most dangerous person in the Trump administration. At the same time I am a bit baffled as to why he was fired; by the standards of this administration what he has been accused of doing doesn’t seem all that terrible. Obviously there is more to the story. I also wonder what their strategy is for keeping him quiet since he probably has a lot of dirt that could damage Trump especially wrt Russia. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/562 "2017-02-14T20:49:50Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > I am glad Fynn is gone. His crank world view and closeness to trump combined with serious national security experience made him the most dangerous person in the Trump administration. > > At the same time I am a bit baffled as to why he was fired; by the standards of this administration what he has been accused of doing doesn’t seem all that terrible. Obviously there is more to the story. > > I also wonder what their strategy is for keeping him quiet since he probably has a lot of dirt that could damage Trump especially wrt Russia. One article that I read noted that the Russia connection is, so far, the only topic that Trump has taken seriously. Three people from his organization have quit/been fired over it. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/563 "2017-02-14T20:54:48Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > I am glad Fynn is gone. His crank world view and closeness to trump combined with serious national security experience made him the most dangerous person in the Trump administration. > At the same time I am a bit baffled as to why he was fired; by the standards of this administration what he has been accused of doing doesn’t seem all that terrible. Obviously there is more to the story. I’d guess that Bannon (and I’m assuming he’s the one making the decisions) hopes that Flynn’s departure will slow down or even derail investigations into overt cooperation/collusion with Putin’s people during the campaign and after. The odds seem pretty strong that there is more to discover along those lines, and that Flynn was not the only actor. > [@Lantern](#): > > I also wonder what their strategy is for keeping him quiet since he probably has a lot of dirt that could damage Trump especially wrt Russia. That’s a really good question. Flynn is a true believer, but even he won’t be content to sit in some trailer park in complete exile from the moving and the shaking. Will Bannon find some way that Flynn can continue as a paid operative on their mutual project (eradicating Islam and democracy, basically, and not necessarily in that order)…? ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/564 "2017-02-14T21:50:59Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > I also wonder what their strategy is for keeping him quiet since he probably has a lot of dirt that could damage Trump especially wrt Russia. Flynn’s been feathering his nest with consulting and speaking gigs for foreign governments since Obama fired him from the DIA job. He’ll do just fine without selling his story. (He’s also pretty batshit crazy - never trust an ideologue to do the right thing.) Edit: Since he’s crazy, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him spill the beans, but only in a “see? I was just protecting the homeland!” way. His resignation letter makes it pretty clear he doesn’t think he messed up at all. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/565 "2017-02-14T22:06:28Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > At the same time I am a bit baffled as to why he was fired; by the standards of this administration what he has been accused of doing doesn’t seem all that terrible. Obviously there is more to the story. > . He apparently lied to Pence about it, which led to Pence making a formal denial on the news shows. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/566 "2017-02-14T23:16:17Z")
Foreign Policy: [The Kremlin is starting to worry about Trump.](http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/13/the-kremlin-is-starting-to-worry-about-trump/) > [@](#): > > With Trump in the White House, moreover, Putin has lost his monopoly over geopolitical unpredictability. The Kremlin’s ability to shock the world by taking the initiative and trashing ordinary international rules and customs has allowed Russia to play an oversized international role and to punch above its weight. Putin now has to share the capacity to keep the world off balance with a new American president vastly more powerful than himself. More world leaders are watching anxiously to discover what Trump will do next than are worrying about what Putin will do next. Meanwhile, using anti-Americanism as an ideological crutch has become much more dubious now that the American electorate has chosen as their president a man publicly derided as “Putin’s puppet.” > > What the Kremlin fears most today is that Trump may be ousted or even killed. His ouster, Kremlin insiders argue, is bound to unleash a virulent and bipartisan anti-Russian campaign in Washington. Oddly, therefore, Putin has become a hostage to Trump’s survival and success. This has seriously restricted Russia’s geopolitical options. The Kremlin is perfectly aware that Democrats want to use Russia to discredit and possibly impeach Trump while Republican elites want to use Russia to deflate and discipline Trump. The Russian government fears not only Trump’s downfall, of course, but also the possibility that he could opportunistically switch to a tough anti-Moscow line in order to make peace with hawkish Republican leaders in Congress. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/567 "2017-02-14T23:41:14Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > No, it’s still speculation anyway. > > And it’s worth noting that some of the speculation is piled on top of itself. Meaning, that it only has this connotation because you’re already convinced from other speculation that there’s something to it. For example, there’s nothing inherent in Trump not releasing his tax forms that’s points specifically to anything Russia-related. But to a guy who is already convinced that Trump is hiding something about Russia, that’s “evidence” of something shady involving Russia, as you can see from this thread. And the same goes for all sorts of other “evidence”. You’re lumping everyone together and saying that everyone believes X and the reason they believe it is Y, but X and Y are things you’ve decided on your own. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/568 "2017-02-15T00:08:28Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Foreign Policy: [The Kremlin is starting to worry about Trump.](http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/13/the-kremlin-is-starting-to-worry-about-trump/) If this is true (and I have no idea if it is), then I’m somewhat cheered that it wasn’t only the American electorate that misjudged how catastrophically stupid it was to get Trump into the Oval Office. At least we’re no dumber than the Kremlin. That’s something anyway. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/569 "2017-02-15T01:50:43Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > I meant that they’re exaggerating Trump’s faults. And you turned that into comparisons with Hitler. Gotcha. Anyhow, people have exaggerated Trump’s faults. _Awwwwww_, the poor _baaaaaybeeee!_ It’s so rough out there. And some people on a message board did it. This will surely discredit liberal criticism of Trump now and forever. 😛 > [@](#): > > I can engage with people who can recognize and understand obvious hyperbole when they see it. Dude, the reason Godwin’s Law is necessary is that people DO compare other people, particularly powerful political figures, with Hitler. Hyperbole isn’t so recognizable when you’re still describing stuff that happens with some regularity. It’s like when Paul Ryan said he ran a marathon in under 3 hours. People who aren’t world-class athletes _do_ that. It wasn’t directly obvious that he was exaggerating, so people challenged him on it, rather than just assuming he was bullshitting us. > [@](#): > > If it’s a problem for you, then pass on my posts and engage with people that you find more worthwhile. Gotta admit, that’s awfully tempting. I believe in replying to arguments from other points on the political spectrum, whether their arguments are good or bad. But what I find in your posts is less of an argument than a tangle of ‘I said’ - ‘you said’ - ‘he said’ nonsense. I don’t feel too bad about skipping that. So seeya. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/570 "2017-02-15T02:50:22Z")
> [@](#): > > [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/14/us/politics/russia-intelligence-communications-trump.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=span-ab-top-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&\_r=0](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/14/us/politics/russia-intelligence-communications-trump.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=span-ab-top-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0) > > WASHINGTON — Phone records and intercepted calls show that members of Donald J. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and other Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election, according to four current and former American officials. That’s not Russian businessmen or Russian ambassadors. That’s _ **senior Russian intelligence officials** _. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/571 "2017-02-15T03:59:26Z")
And it does feel like this is what it was all about, at the end of the day: Tit - [Trump signs bill killing SEC rule on foreign payments - POLITICO](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/trump-sec-rule-foreign-governments-235013) Tat - [How Russia sold its oil jewel: without saying who bought it | Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-rosneft-privatisation-insight-idUSKBN1582OH) ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/572 "2017-02-15T05:34:31Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > That’s not Russian businessmen or Russian ambassadors. That’s _ **senior Russian intelligence officials** _. Trump knew for weeks that [Flynn was in communication with the Russians](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/14/democrats-russia-trump-investigation-michael-flynn)before an after the election. HE KNEW. He was briefed on this. And yet he let him stay on as National Security Advisor. He let Pence go out and promote the lie that Flynn had no contact with the Russians. A lie that Trump KNEW was a lie. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/573 "2017-02-15T05:40:06Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > He apparently lied to Pence about it, which led to Pence making a formal denial on the news shows. That’s the official story but why does this one lie out of so many matter so much? Pence was understandably angry but why does Trump care about that? Trump only looks out for himself. Pence knows that he could become President at some point and his top priority is to stay clear of the Trump scandals particularly on Russia. But Trump and Bannon understand this too and the better Pence looks, the more vulnerable Trump becomes. Their incentive is to drag Pence into their muck as thoroughly as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/574 "2017-02-15T05:44:18Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > He let Pence go out and promote the lie that Flynn had no contact with the Russians. A lie that Trump KNEW was a lie. Except Pence never said that Flynn had no contact with Russians. Pence said that in Flynn’s conversation with the Russian ambassador sanctions were not discussed. He said that on Jan. 15th, based on what Flynn told him. Your article says that the White House (and Trump) was briefed by the FBI on the contents of the conversation on Jan. 26th. Note the dates. Then feel free to revise what you wrote. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/575 "2017-02-15T05:47:25Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > Except Pence never said that Flynn had no contact with Russians. > > Pence said that in Flynn’s conversation with the Russian ambassador sanctions were not discussed. He said that on Jan. 15th, based on what Flynn told him. > > Your article says that the White House (and Trump) was briefed by the FBI on the contents of the conversation on Jan. 26th. > > Note the dates. Then feel free to revise what you wrote. Trouble is, I don’t believe one fucking word that comes out of the White House. Nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/576 "2017-02-15T06:23:10Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Trouble is, I don’t believe one fucking word that comes out of the White House. Nothing. That’s fine. But why would you post an article as some kind of backing for your belief that “He let Pence go out and promote the lie that Flynn had no contact with the Russians. A lie that Trump KNEW was a lie.” when the article does not say anything to support that? ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/577 "2017-02-15T07:00:25Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > That’s fine. But why would you post an article as some kind of backing for your belief that > > “He let Pence go out and promote the lie that Flynn had no contact with the Russians. A lie that Trump KNEW was a lie.” > > when the article does not say anything to support that? For gods sake. He let Pence go out and promote the lie that Flynn did not discuss sanctions with the russian ambassador. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/578 "2017-02-15T12:23:46Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > For gods sake. He let Pence go out and promote the lie that Flynn did not discuss sanctions with the russian ambassador. I think the point he’s making is that the President had only found out that Flynn had discussed sanctions with the Russians after the Pence denial. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/579 "2017-02-15T12:28:49Z")
Yeah, because Flynn went rogue and started negotiating with the Russians _all on his own_. Anybody believe that, I got bridges to sell. Big bridges, YUUUGE bridges. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/580 "2017-02-15T12:32:52Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > That’s the official story but why does this one lie out of so many matter so much? Pence was understandably angry but why does Trump care about that? Trump only looks out for himself. > > Pence knows that he could become President at some point and his top priority is to stay clear of the Trump scandals particularly on Russia. But Trump and Bannon understand this too and the better Pence looks, the more vulnerable Trump becomes. Their incentive is to drag Pence into their muck as thoroughly as possible. I don’t know if it’s true that Trump only looks after himself or not, buy even if he does, this embarrasses, not just Pence, but the whole administration, which is bad for Trump, and it also shows that Flynn is the kind of person who’s willing to lie to cover his ass at the expense of Pence, which means he’d do it at the expense of Trump. All the other lies and spinning… crowd size at the inauguration, bad facts about terrorism and immigration, and so on, are lies against the outside to try to support the administration. This is a lie against the administration. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846.md?page=28) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846.md?page=30)