Donald Trump defended Russia's Vladimir Putin throughout his campaign. The media ignored the thickening smoke but seem to be dipping their toes, however timid, into this potentially explosive matter.

Donald Trump connection with Russia troubling



It was evident during the campaign that Donald Trump refused to speak out against Russia's Vladimir Putin. As Putin's misbehavior continued, Trump remained a defender. One must remember the following.

And then today came the motherload. Mother Jones' David Corn wrote dropped the article titled "A Veteran Spy Has Given the FBI Information Alleging a Russian Operation to Cultivate Donald Trump" that is a must-read. He wrote the following.

In June, the former Western intelligence officer—who spent almost two decades on Russian intelligence matters and who now works with a US firm that gathers information on Russia for corporate clients—was assigned the task of researching Trump's dealings in Russia and elsewhere, according to the former spy and his associates in this American firm. This was for an opposition research project originally financed by a Republican client critical of the celebrity mogul. (Before the former spy was retained, the project's financing switched to a client allied with Democrats.) "It started off as a fairly general inquiry," says the former spook, who asks not to be identified. But when he dug into Trump, he notes, he came across troubling information indicating connections between Trump and the Russian government. According to his sources, he says, "there was an established exchange of information between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin of mutual benefit." ...

The former intelligence officer says the response from the FBI was "shock and horror." The FBI, after receiving the first memo, did not immediately request additional material, according to the former intelligence officer and his American associates. Yet in August, they say, the FBI asked him for all information in his possession and for him to explain how the material had been gathered and to identify his sources. The former spy forwarded to the bureau several memos—some of which referred to members of Trump's inner circle. After that point, he continued to share information with the FBI. "It's quite clear there was or is a pretty substantial inquiry going on," he says.

Why is there no rush to exploit this information? I have a theory. I attempted to put out that theory several times. The Republican establishment does not want Donald Trump. They see him as an imposter. My guess is that some calculating establishment Republicans don't mind a Trump victory understanding that he will get impeached. That would give them President Pence, a man that could not be elected if he were the top of the Republican ticket. They would then get the Supreme Court Justice they want as well as restructure public policy to their Ayn Randian desires.