Documents reportedly leaked by the Kremlin suggest that President Vladimir Putin authorized an intelligence operation in 2016 to support Donald Trump’s campaign, according to the UK Guardian, though no “collusion” is apparently shown.
It has long been known that Russia attempted to interfere in the 2016 election. The report of Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded in 2019 that Russia attempted to interfere to Trump’s advantage, including by hacking Hillary Clinton’s campaign, but that there was no collusion with the Trump campaign.
Critics still questioned whether Russia preferred Trump or rival Hillary Clinton, who had infamously “reset” relations in 2009 — to Russia’s advantage.
The Guardian reported:
Vladimir Putin personally authorised a secret spy agency operation to support a “mentally unstable” Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election during a closed session of Russia’s national security council, according to what are assessed to be leaked Kremlin documents.
The key meeting took place on 22 January 2016, the papers suggest, with the Russian president, his spy chiefs and senior ministers all present.
…
There is a brief psychological assessment of Trump, who is described as an “impulsive, mentally unstable and unbalanced individual who suffers from an inferiority complex”.
There is also apparent confirmation that the Kremlin possesses kompromat,or potentially compromising material, on the future president, collected – the document says – from Trump’s earlier “non-official visits to Russian Federation territory”.
The Guardian says that “independent experts” said the documents “appear to be genuine,” and reports that the Kremlin rejected the allegations.
The Guardian also notes that Trump was already the frontrunner for the Republican nomination by the time the meeting allegedly took place.
Trump went on to slap sanctions on Russians — not just over election interference, but also over the development of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Western Europe. Trump also confronted Russian allies and Russian mercenaries in Syria, and armed Ukraine to resist Russian invasion — unlike the Obama-Biden administration, which had refused military aid.
Since taking office, President Joe Biden has lifted sanctions on Nord Stream 2, renewed the NEW Start treaty with Russia for five years, and met with Putin at a special summit in Geneva, where the media praised their warm relations. He declined to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky prior to meeting with Putin, despite Zelensy’s pleas.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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