Top U.S. national security experts are becoming increasingly vocal about their concerns that Russian President Vladimir Putin is manipulating President Trump, and Trump either is unaware, unconcerned, or complicit.
Veteran spy handlers have judged Trump an easy mark for Putin, who spent years in the KGB sizing up and exploiting a target’s vulnerabilities. They note how easily he falls for praise, as when Putin thanked him and the CIA for helping him thwart a bomb attack plot in St. Petersburg. “POTUS is a [spy] handlers’ dream,” Asha Rangappa, a former special agent in the FBI’s counterintelligence division, said. “He responds, without fail, to praise and flattery and telegraphs his day-to-day thoughts on Twitter. Likewise, said Harry “Skip” Brandon, a former FBI deputy assistant director of national security and counterterrorism. “He often very publicly states he goes by his instincts. If that is accurate, he may be the ultimate unwitting asset of Russia.”
Some are willing to take the accusation further than others:
“Everyone continues to dance around a clear assessment of what’s going on,” says Glenn Carle, a former CIA national intelligence officer responsible for evaluating foreign threats. “My assessment,” he tells Newsweek, “is that Trump is actually working directly for the Russians.”
Full story: PUTIN’S MAN IN THE WHITE HOUSE? REAL TRUMP RUSSIA SCANDAL IS NOT MERE COLLUSION, U.S. COUNTERSPIES SAY (Newsweek)