Multiple senior Trump administration officials were vulnerable to Russian blackmail
Aaron Rupar at Think Progress
https://thinkprogress.org/multiple-senior-trump-administration-officials-were-vulnerable-to-russian-blackmail-64b4ed680b9a
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By lying about his Russia contacts, Sessions opened himself up to blackmail. Russian officials knew that Sessions wasn’t telling the truth, and could’ve used the threat of publicly exposing him as a negotiating tool. Instead of making decisions based on what is best for the U.S., officials at risk of blackmail can potentially be manipulated to do the bidding of foreign interests.
This is the same situation former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn put himself in when he said publicly, and to the FBI, that he never discussed Russian sanctions with Kislyak before the inauguration. Flynn’s lies were revealed by the contents of intelligence intercepts indicating he did indeed discuss sanctions with Kislyak. Flynn tayed on the job for nearly three weeks after the White House was informed he was lying and hence vulnerable to blackmail.
Donald Trump Jr., former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, and White House adviser Jared Kushner also opened themselves up to Russian blackmail by taking a June 2016 with a Russian lawyer who, through an intermediary, promised to provide them with incriminating information about Hillary Clinton as “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”
The emails prove that the Trump campaign, at the very least, was eager to collude with Russia. But while the Kremlin may have known about the meeting, the American public did not until the New York Times broke news about it more than a year after it occurred.
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