Not only did the Russians hack into the Democrats’ e-mails in an attempt to influence the election. According to a classified report shared with Donald Trump, the Russians also compiled a dossier of “compromising” information about the president-elect’s personal life and about his finances.
That the Russians released embarrassing information about Hillary Clinton but not about Trump is evidence, according to the CIA, that they wanted to discredit the former but protect the latter. But now some fear that the Russians may have information to hold over the new president’s head, which they can use to blackmail him into going along with their policies.
What the Russians, perhaps, don’t know is that Trump is uncompromisable and un-blackmailable. The American public already knows lots of facts about Trump that might sink other politicians, but none of it seems to matter with our new Teflon president.
From Greg Miller, Intelligence chiefs briefed Trump and Obama on unconfirmed claims Russia has compromising information on president-elect – The Washington Post:
A classified report delivered to President Obama and President-elect Donald Trump last week included a section summarizing allegations that Russian intelligence services have compromising material and information on Trump’s personal life and finances, U.S. officials said.
The officials said that U.S. intelligence agencies have not corroborated those allegations, but believed that the sources involved in the reporting were credible enough to warrant inclusion of their claims in the highly classified report on Russian interference in the presidential campaign.
A senior U.S. official with access to the document said that the allegations were presented at least in part to underscore that Russia had embarrassing information on both major candidates, but only released material that might harm Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton — a reflection of Russian motivation that bolstered U.S. spy agencies’ conclusion that Moscow sought to help Trump win.
The inclusion of such unsubstantiated allegations in the election report, a development first reported Tuesday by CNN, adds a disturbing new dimension to existing concerns about Russia’s efforts to undermine American democracy.
If true, the information suggests that Moscow has assembled damaging information — known in espionage circles by the Russian term “kompromat” — that conceivably could be used to coerce the next occupant of the White House. The claims were presented in a two-page summary attached to the full report, an addendum that also included allegations of ongoing contact between members of Trump’s inner circle and representatives of Moscow.
Illustration: Front cover art for the book For Your Eyes Only (first edition) written by Ian Fleming. The book cover art copyright is believed to belong to the publisher, Jonathan Cape, or the cover artist, Richard Chopping. Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6743547
