So what was "The Grand Bargain" with Russia?

[catbyte]

I think it's Vlad forgiving that thing currently infesting the White House's debt.
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Link to tweet

Volker told Congress that he and other experts thought Trump had a grand bargain with Russia to weaken US national security and kill thousands of Ukrainians.

“I think hanging over everyone’s head...is there's some grand bargain with Russia where we throw Ukraine under the bus.”

Link to tweet

…
Laura Rozen @lrozen
Replying to @lrozen

Volker on his sense of why Bill Taylor was reluctant to serve as acting ambassador to Ukraine: “I think hanging over everyone’s head on the expert community is, is there some grand bargain with Russia where we throw Ukraine under the bus.”

[sop]

1. That's a breathtaking revelation

[triron]

12. Yeah but lots of us already knew this.

Seth Abramson wrote about it in his books. Really nothing new except that it's appearing to testimony (which is quite
important).

[sop]

17. Yeah, it's shocking to see this as sworn congressional testimony from Trump's own guy

Rather than being viewed as some conspiracy theory, the Trump/Putin connection is now credible and on the record. It can be aggressively pursued during the public impeachment hearings. This could damage Trump more than anything else.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

2. Trump Tower Moscow

Trump Towers Istanbul is sufficient to explain his actions with Turkey and the Kurds.

The hope for a Trump Tower Moscow is sufficient to explain his actions regarding Putin.

Donald Trump is an evil, self-centered creature. He withheld funds that he didn't allocate, with no thought whatsoever of the existential threat to millions of people, just to get covert propaganda to help himself.

[Lock him up.]

3. ''to help himself'' and Putin

Same with Turkey.

And what did he discuss in private meetings with his puppetmaster again?

Will it only be known in History books?

[OAITW r.2.0]

4. It's out in the open now

This suddenly changes the whole picture of what this is all about....Putin is calling US policy through Donald Trump. Trump is compromised, big time.

[Botany]

5. Speaker Pelosi: All roads lead to Putin

n/t

[Hortensis]

6. THIS. But RUSSIA's part is the huge issue. Ukraine, military control

of the Middle East. Putin's plan for invading and taking over all the breakaway states from the prior SovUn.

In 2017 Trump was reportedly seeking a "grand bargain" with Russia, but of course it started well before with Putin and Trump. Before he was ever elected, analysts of repute could think of no honest reason Trump would be supporting Putin so strongly and wondered openly if he'd been compromised or..

In 2018, the New Yorker reported that Saudi, Emirati nations, and Israel under its far-right government, wanted Trump to give Ukraine to Russia in a "grand bargain." These nations encouraged Trump's betrayal of us and our allies to Russia, and of course we see what's since happening with Syria, the Kurds, Ukraine, broken Iran nuclear deal, and much more.

Haaretz: “Ron Dermer, the Israeli Ambassador to the United States and one of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest confidants, said that the Israeli government was encouraging the incoming Trump Administration to coöperate more closely with Putin, starting in Syria, with the hope of convincing Moscow to push the Iranians to leave the country. ... Like M.B.Z., Netanyahu made courting Putin a priority, particularly after Russia’s military intervention in Syria in 2015.”

“Separately, a former U.S. official recalled having a conversation after Trump’s Inauguration with an Israeli Cabinet minister with close ties to Netanyahu in which the minister pitched the American on the idea of “trading Ukraine for Syria.” The former official told me, “You can understand why Russia’s help with Syria is a far higher priority for Israel than pushing back on Russian aggression in Ukraine.”

You know, whatever our orange clown puppet hoped to get out of this is NOTHING, a curiosity, to what he's trying to give away. Putin plans a new world order, with the U.S. a broken democracy and Russia and China as the superpowers, China of course only because Putin has no choice.

[Mersky]

13. This wider angle view of the tRump-putin-ukraine-syria nexus

Makes me shudder. I'm gonna chew on this topic for days - is an eye-opening post, Hortensis.

[Hortensis]

14. At least it's afternoon, not late at night.

Have a donut.

[Mersky]

15. LOL

Yup, actually got up early today, and had a half donut already - cinnamon sugar cake. Am trying to, eh, pace myself on such things as DU, etc. Last night was just a Wednesday night... too much to do today.

But first things first: what in the world has gone wrong since Tuesday, and your post here is a pretty good start.

[Hortensis]

16. "What has gone wrong since" yesterday. Yes.

Incredible times.

Regarding Barr's about face and distancing the DoJ from the Ukraine scandal, talking head Matthew Miller's take is that they're worried about something big related to Giuliani/Trump/Ukraine that we don't know about yet. Of course, this next shoe-drop wouldn't be going wrong for us. Whoops. Knock wood.

Cinnamon's my fav.

[Baked Potato]

7. Makes a lot of sense

That’s why he’s fighting the taxes so hard?

[KPN]

8. There's absolutely no question about this. All that's lacking at this point is iron-clad proof.

Plenty of circumstantial evidence. I sure hope we get there. I do want to see this maggot go to jail for a very long time.

[wiggs]

9. yes. dems should start talking about it. a lot. this guy is compromised. nt

[wiggs]

10. OF COURSE he's in bed with the Russians. Get it into public hearings, even if circumstantial and

even if not part of articles. Still a strong suspicion with plenty of evidence that goes to NATIONAL SECURITY. Not to be glossed over.

Turkey, Saudis too

[Mersky]

11. K&R

[BuffaloJackalope]

18. I imagine it's something like Trump will do everything Vlad tells him to

And Vlad will keep Trump's dirty little secrets safe in a Kremlin vault.

[maxsolomon]

19. So, the "Expert Community" was wondering about this, but there's no evidence.

Last edited Thu Nov 7, 2019, 06:30 PM - Edit history (1)

We're all wondering about it. Likely, only Trump knows, but he's probably too scatterbrained to be that Machiavellian. "I'll get the sanctions removed, believe me" might be as specific as he's capable of being.

It won't be part of the Impeachment charges.

[Garrett78]

20. Weakening national security should be a major talking point.

Not everyone will naturally make the connection between Trump's extortion campaign and the weakening of national security. It must be pointed out clearly and repeatedly.