Why?
That is the burning question of the day.
But first some background information is needed for context.
In Dispelling Confusion with FAQs, I included a section on Devin Nunes, chair of the House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI). Initially I concluded the section with an entry from the Committee’s diary for Tuesday, March 28: a public hearing with the former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan, and former acting Attorney General Sally Yates.
It wasn’t long before that was superseded by this breaking news from Ranking Member Adam Schiff:
Intriguingly, John Schindler immediately interpreted this as a sign of panic in the White House:
Schindler also provided a very pertinent excerpt from Schiff’s impressive résumé:
And the contrast with a totally inept Devin Nunes is very stark indeed:
Okay, I admit it — I got a good laugh out of that one!
Enter Manafort, Stone and Page…
From Dispelling Confusion with FAQs:
Who’s Who in SpyGOP
Paul Manafort was known to Roy Cohn, attorney who worked with Joseph McCarthy and mentor to the young Donald Trump. In the 1980s, Manafort and Roger Stone were partners in a lobbying firm. Trump hired his firm sometime in that decade. jeff Sessions says he’s known Manafort “for decades.” Manafort has lived in Trump Tower since 2006.
Carter Page has a very suspect past with much of it spent in Russia. Back in the States he set himself up as a foreign affairs expert and was hired as such by Rick Dearborn, then Chief of Staff for Jeff Sessions. It was Sessions who introduced Page to Trump.
Roger Stone has an unsavory reputation (to put it mildly) and is a longtime friend of Trump’s. A self-proclaimed “dirty trickster”, Stone is presently under investigation for what would be his dirtiest trick — colluding with the Russians to defeat HRC and put Trump in the White House.
Even a cursory look into the bios of these three gives one a sense of a web of Russian espionage and corruption so entangled as to be impossible for any of them to break free. You can take it as a given that they are all prime suspects in the IC’s KremlinGOP investigation.
So, knowing that, this news from Mother Jones contributing writer, Yashar, was unexpected:
The Daily Edge picks up the story:
What’s this? Is Manafort looking for asylum, protection against Russian vengeance? Can’t be because upsetting the Russians is the means of ensuring you’re the victim of a fatal ‘accident’. So what is he up to?
Half an hour later there’s this from CNN’s chief political analyst, Gloria Borger:
followed another half hour later by this from CNN’s senior congressional reporter, Manu Raju:
So it’s goodbye Jim Clapper, John Brennan and Sally Yates, and hello Paul Manafort, Roger Stone and Carter Page! What on earth is going on?
Schindler refers to the three as Trump’s Kremlin Klowns:
But I have a strong feeling that Mike Flynn has already done a deal, that he’s talking ten to the dozen, which is why the IC investigation suddenly seems to be on turbo-charged roller skates. What do you think, John?
Ignore the National Enquirer bit — it’s a ludicrous attempt at distraction poorly orchestrated by Trump. The real news is Schindler’s assertion that Flynn would flip. He goes onto explain why he thinks so:
It’s also a strong temptation to help yourself when you know the first on a talk spree will the first one to walk free.
Keep your eye on this one — it’s hot and will get very much hotter between now and the day of Trump’s Kremlin Klowns’ hearing.