A deep dive into a dossier on the relationship between President Donald Trump and Russia, published by The New Yorker, discusses a memo saying Russia played a role in Mitt Romney not being appointed to secretary of state.

The memo, according to the article, is part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. It includes information from a Russian senior official, according to the article.

The dossier allegedly suggests that Russia had been operating behind the scenes for years with the goal of getting Trump elected as president. It is said to use information from Russian government officials and others.

News of the dossier made a massive splash in the media, not in the least due to the allegation that Russia used video of sexual encounters between Trump and Russian prostitutes to force the now-president to influence policies favorable to that nation.

According to the article, Romney’s hawkish approach to Russia made the country’s government dislike the idea of him being the United States’ top diplomat. The memo indicates that the Russian government asked Trump to nominate someone who would remove U.S. sanctions on Ukraine and push a pro-Russia platform to the head of the State Department.

“In a humiliating public spectacle,” the article states. “Trump dangled the post before Romney until early December, then rejected him.”



On Dec. 13, 2016, Trump gave the nod to Rex Tillerson, then CEO of ExxonMobil. Tillerson had a history of experience in business dealings with Russia while at Exxon.