So has anyone done a concise analysis of who brought whom onto the Trump campaign?
Because that might tell a greater story regarding Russia.
Right now we have a good--although quite possibly still incomplete--list of names: Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Carter Page, Jeff Sessions, and multiple others. But I really want to know the manner in which they came to be associated with the Trump campaign, and which ones had long term prior dealings with Trump and which ones didn't.
The thing is, back when Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015, people assumed it was a joke and a publicity stunt and he'd be out of the race long before the first primary vote was had. Very few individuals were willing to associate with the Trump campaign at the very beginning. (Remember he actually had to hire extras to cheer for him at his campaign announcement.)
Sadly, we all know the campaign didn't fade. I do recall that one of the very first Washington insiders to publicly endorse Trump was Jeff Sessions, at a time where very few other members of Congress (and I believe no one in the Senate itself) wanted anything to do with him.
We do know that Roger Stone helped bring Paul Manafort onto the campaign, and that both Stone and Trump were mutually associated through prior dealings with Roy Cohn years ago. Notably, Stone had an official role at the very beginning of the Trump campaign as its de facto campaign manager but left a few months later due to some sort of hubbub. Yet he seemed to merely go under the table and continued to heavily support the Trump effort in the media from that point on. But he wasn't succeeded immediately by Manafort but rather by Corey Lewandowski. Lewandowski was a pure punk, but I haven't heard much about any association he had with anyone in Russia. After Lewandowski imploded months later, then Manafort was brought on board.
We also have people like Rex Tillerson, who have very strong ties to Russia but seemed to have been brought on as an after matter following Trump's victory, almost as a gratuity to Russia.
I'd love to have a good yet compact analysis of exactly how and when each of the Russia players came to be associated with Donald Trump, his campaign and/or his administration.
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