Conspiración: Cómo Rusia ayudó a Trump a ganar las elecciones

by Luke Harding

With the recent indictments of Paul Manafort, Richard Gates, and George Papadopoulos, Russia expert Luke Harding lays out the most in-depth look to date at the Trump campaign’s dealings with Russia. Beginning with a meeting with Christopher Steele, the man behind the shattering dossier that first brought the allegations to light, Harding probes the histories of key Russian and American players with striking clarity and insight. In a thrilling, fast-paced narrative, Harding exposes the disquieting details of the “Trump-Russia” story—a saga so huge it involves international espionage, off-shore banks, sketchy real estate deals, mobsters, money laundering, disappeared dissidents, computer hacking, and the most shocking election in American history.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History, Russia, Journalism, Audiobook, American History

426 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 16, 2017

About the author

Luke Daniel Harding is a British journalist working as a foreign correspondent for The Guardian. He was the correspondent of The Guardian in Russia from 2007 until, returning from a stay in the UK on February 5, 2011, he was refused re-entry to Russia and deported back the same day. The Guardian said his expulsion was linked with his critical articles on Russia, while Russia's foreign ministry said that an extended certificate of foreign correspondence was not obtained in time. After the reversal of the decision on February 9 and the granting of a short-term visa, Harding chose not to seek a further visa extension.

Reviews

[Will Byrnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think people are very familiar with the American heroes of the story—or antiheroes if you like—whether it’s Paul Manafort or Carter Page or Donald Trump Jr. But they are less familiar with the Russians. And what we’re talking about here is an alleged conspiracy with two halves. What I wanted to try and illuminate was what the Russians were doing. And I wanted it to be contextual, to explain that if you really want to interpret what happened last year [2016] in America, you need to go backwards almost through a kind of wormhole toward Cold War times and you need to be a sort of student of espionage, and in particular of the KGB method. I wanted to marry some of the contemporaneous stuff that we’ve seen in the news with my own reporting from Moscow. It’s also important to look at how the KGB used to do things in order to understand Vladimir Putin and his methods. Putin operates in the manner of a classic KGB-trained spy. He uses strategies of subterranean influence that were tried and tested during the ’60s and ’70s under [then–Soviet Secretary General] Leonid Brezhnev and so on. I wanted to pull that together. - From The Nation interview

All roads lead to Moscow.

In addition to the media frenzy stirred up by Stormy Daniels and her 60 Minutes interview, the buzz this week is still on for the newly released Russian Roulette, another in the flood of books on Swamp Thing, and his history of questionable, illegal, and traitorous entanglements, particularly those involving a certain mafiacratic descendant of the former Soviet Union. Yes, we have that book at home, and will be getting there, but you may not have noticed that back in November 2017 (or four years in Trump time) another book was released that covered a lot of the same territory, Collusion. I would have called it Yes, Collusion!, but that’s just me.


Luke Harding - image from 5x15.com

When it comes to covering events relating to Russia, Luke Harding has been there and done that. He was the Moscow bureau chief for The Guardian, an English newspaper of note. In an earlier book by Harding, Expelled, also released as The Mafia State, he reports on his time in Russia from 2007 to 2011. I heartily recommend checking this book out to get a fuller flavor of just what sort of monster Puty is, to pick up some clues as to what lies hidden for now, and get a notion of what may lie ahead. Harding was booted out of Russia due to his coverage, revealing maybe a bit too much of the truth about what was going on among corrupt state officials. He has kept up his reporting, both for The Guardian and in books, offering works on Edward Snowden, on the murder of Russian defector Alexander Litvinenko, on Wikileaks, and on other related topics.


Christopher Steele - image from The New Yorker - by Victoria Jones

Collusion looks at the history of connections between Trump, his family and Americans working for and associated with him, and people and institutions in and of Russia. He relies considerably, but not exclusively on the now-famous dossier put together by English private spook Christopher Steele, on further information from Steele, and on information from his own contacts.

In doing this, he describes how contemporary intelligence work is done, some of it at least, the bit about developing potential foreign assets, and makes a compelling case that Swamp Thing is not only connected to Putin, bigly, but is vulnerable to Russian blackmail, with damaging impact on US national security.


What a tangled web we weave – image from a March/April 2017 Politico article by Michael Crowley - All of Trump’s Russia Ties, in 7 Charts

One of the most interesting elements of the book is the history of the Russian connection. Trump had been on Russian radar since 1977 when he married Ivana, a Czechoslovakian. They kept an eye on him through the 1980s. It grew beyond just watching to an earnest interest in 1987, when he was wooed (heaping helpings of flattery were involved) by Yuri Dubinin, the Soviet representative to the UN, to visit Moscow.

we can't say that Trump was recruited in 1987. But what we can say with absolute certainty is there was a very determined effort by the Soviets to bring him over, and that moreover, his personality was the kind of thing they were looking for. They were looking for narcissists. They were looking for people who were kind of - dare I say it - corruptible, interested in money, people who were not necessarily faithful in their marriages and also sort of opportunists who were not very strong analysts or principle people. And if you work your way down the list through these sort of - the KGB's personality questionnaire, Donald Trump ticks every single box. - from the NPR interview

Carter Page speaking at the RIA Novosti news agency in Russia – image by Grigoriy Sisoev

Many of Harding’s chapters follow some of the names we have all come to know and loathe. There is a chapter on Carter Page, titled “I Think He’s an Idiot,” which is a quote from one of the Russians to whom Page is linked. One item of interest is the suggestion that Page, in payment for services rendered to Russian entities, was given inside information on a coming privatization of Russian gas company Rosneft, and a message for Trump, that the Russians had compromising material on him.


On December 10, 2015 General Michael Kelly and Jill Stein were guests at Vladimir Putin’s table for an event marking the 10th anniversary of state-owned TV network Russia Today - image from AP, by Mikhail Klimentyev

The chapter titled “General Misha” looks at General Mike Flynn’s contacts with Russia, and explores his possible motives for working with the other side. “General Misha” is how Flynn referred to himself in at least one communication with his Russian colleagues. The chapter on Paul Manafort, “He Does Bastards,” quotes another source on how Manafort seems drawn to the worst national leaders to assist. There are alarming parallels, by the way, between Manafort’s Ukrainian client, Viktor Yanukovych, and Donald Trump. Both are thugs who got a political makeover from a professional candidate-polisher. Both are remarkably corrupt. Both have authoritarian intentions. Both want to lock up their opposition. Yanukovych actually locked up his political opponents. Swamp Thing must make do with penal envy for now. Yanukovych stole billions from Ukraine. It remains to be seen how much Trump and his fellow looters will have stolen from the American people by the time they are driven out of the country or into jail. Yanokovuch was ultimately booted out in a popular uprising, and now resides, with his billions, in Russia. One can only hope that our corrupt leader is held to account for his crimes.


Viktor Yanukovych and Paul Manafort - image from The Daily Beast

In addition to looking at the specific individuals involved, Harding offers digestible chunks of history. Of great interest is how Russia has grown a cyber warfare capability that exists outside the official government structure. He examines the various ways in which Russian oligarch money finds its way to the West, with particular focus on money laundering through Deutsche Bank and the Bank of Cyprus, and how vast sums of Russian money passed into and through Trump’s real estate developments, gaining Trump not only huge loans at a time when American banks had learned the hard way not to loan him any money, but vast profits. He offers keen insight into the relationship between nominally private institutions and Putin’s government.

He looks at the efforts by Steele, domestic intelligence agencies, and foreign intelligence services to inform the FBI what was going on with Trump before the election, and on the bureau sitting on the fact that they were looking into it, while the sainted Mister Comey was doing his best to tilt the election to Trump by making damaging public statements about Hilary Clinton in an October Surprise political hit. Harding looks at the impact of BuzzFeed publishing the entire Steele dossier, while so many other news organizations sat on the info that they all had.

Trump’s connection with Russia is a national thriller/action-adventure/comedy/horror/surreality show we are all watching at the same time. But just as the after-show gab-fests that follow popular programs can open our eyes to things we might have missed in what we just saw (I am a total junkie for After Trek, which follows Star_Trek:_Discovery), books like Harding’s can fill in details that we may have missed the first or the first several times we read sundry books on the unraveling horrors, read and/or watched the news and/or the political talk shows, or listened to podcasts.


Bosom Buddies - image from CNBC – by John Harwood

It seems likely that Robert Mueller has had to install extra sprinklers, offer his staff gas masks, and reinforce the concrete in his offices to cope with the growing store of smoking guns he and his staff have been collecting. But that is not what Luke Harding is offering here. Collusion brings together a diverse range of relevant information in one place. This is what is going on. These are the players. This is how it came to be. If you cannot detect the scent of combustion in this national crisis, you are probably determined not to. Harding points our noses in the proper directions, offers some post-episode explanations, and provides hints as to where the series is heading. We will all be affected by the outcome, whether or not we are tuned in. It is better to know.

Published – November 16, 2017

Review Posted – March 30, 2018


=============================EXTRA STUFF

Has been moved to comment #1 - looks like GR reduced the allowable character count for reviews.

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an old review--pre-Mueller report--but I'm going to let it stand as it is. I have read the Mueller report carefully--see my review--and I found no reason to change substantially anything I said.

“No collusion, no collusion, no collusion!” Our president may repeat it as many times as he chooses, but anyone with a brain—anyone who strives to be objective—can see that the Trump campaign colluded with Russians. Just look at DJT Jr.'s Trump Tower “adoption” meeting: collusion is evident there. But is it criminal collusion? Does it rise to the level of conspiracy? Is the web of conspiracy confined to the president’s campaign manager, his son-in-law, his eldest son? Or do the spider-silk filaments of conspiracy stretch further, as far as the president himself?

The evidence, often fragmentary, is voluminous and complicated, stretching back forty years, when the Donald, having married Ivana Zelnickova, accompanied her on visits home to the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It almost certainly escalated thirty years ago, when, in 1987, the forty-year-old Trump—who had already begun to talk politics—was given the Soviet red-carpet treatment during his visit to Moscow, where he stayed at “Lenin’s Suite” (which certainly would have been bugged) at the National and visited various sites in the city for a possible Trump hotel. Although the hotel itself was never built, Trump said, in his The Art of the Deal, published later the same year, that “he was impressed with the ambition of Soviet officials to make a deal.”

Soon the evidence becomes murkier, but more interesting, with the crash of 1987, the failure of Trump’s New Jersey casinos, the bankruptcies, the connections with oligarchs, the money laundering charges, and the extraordinary—indeed, statistically remarkable—number of wealthy Russians who purchased the top-floor suites in Trump’s high-end properties throughout the nineties and into the 21st century.

Luke Harding outlines it all for you, in a straightforward fashion, and he is equally good on the campaign itself, from the curious changes to the Republican Platform Committee’s position on Ukraine, through the mysterious dealings with Deutsche Bank, to the recent revelations about “coffee boy” George Papadopoulos. And of course, Harding deals extensively with Christopher Steele and the “dodgy dossier.”

Although I read The Times, The Post, and "Talking Points Memo," and watch Rachel Maddow almost every night, I not only discovered new things, but also found things I thought I knew—particularly about money-laundering and the banks—explained with greater clarity here. (On the other hand, Harding’s ordering principle--which I eventually came to like--can be confusing, for he organizes events not according to when they occurred but according to when they first began to be revealed to the public.)

Unfortunately, though, Harding is better at explaining processes than exploring human character. The definitive account of these fascinating misfits still remains to be written: Carter Page, the hapless Fredo, hopelessly naive and possibly the only real spy in the bunch; Mike “General Misha” Flynn, a bitter Benedict Arnold, a genius at on-the-ground intelligence gathering but also a crackpot conspiracy theorist; and Paul Manafort, a Mephistophelean lobbyist whose specialty was aiding and abetting the worst kleptocrats on earth (Philippines' Ferdinand Marcos, Nigeria’s Sani Abacha, and Zaire’s Mobuto Sese Seko, to name just a few.)

This is, however, a minor criticism. If you are more interested in facts than personalities, if you want to find out more about Trump, collusion, Chistopher Steele and the Fusion GPS “dossier,” this is a good place to start.

I’ll end with an anecdote about Jared Kushner and his meeting with Gorkov, head of the VEB bank. It’s not that important really, but I like it, and it shows that the most cynical Russian operative has more poetry in his soul than the president’s son-in-law will ever have:

Gorkov was well prepared for his meeting with Kushner, as befits a graduate of what was known in KGB times as the Dzerzhinsky Higher School. He flew in from Moscow. On the plane were gifts. There was a piece of art and some earth carefully dug up and transported from the town of Novogrudok in northwest Belarus.

The town was where Kushner’s paternal grandmother, Rae Kushner, grew up. In 1941 the German army arrived. The town’s Jewish inhabitants were rounded up...half were executed. The survivors dug a tunnel...fleeing into the forest.

...Gorkov’s presents were chosen to remind Kushner of his origins...and of his spiritual roots. This subtlety was wasted. In evidence, Kushner said Putin’s messenger had given him “a bag of dirt.” It came from “Nvgorod,” he wrote, spelling his grandmother’s birthplace incorrectly.

[Perry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Men are so simple of mind, and so much dominated by their immediate needs, that a deceitful man will always find plenty who are ready to be deceived. --Machiavelli

Since the first day I took office, all you hear is the phony Democrat excuse for losing the election, Russia, Russia,Russia....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Nov. 26, 2017

"...'collusion,' which doesn't exist. The Dems are using this terrible (and bad for our country) Witch Hunt for evil politics" Id.

"Who ya gonna believe: me or your own eyes?" Chico Marx

Saying it ain't so is no defense in light of all proof to date. [see legal definition of ipse dixit]. No matter how many times or how loudly you say it. An old saying in my profession, which you may well have heard before, goes, "If the facts are on your side, hammer on the facts. If the law's for you, hit on the law. If neither, pound on the table."

The last doesn't usually work. Humans are way too smart to fall for it. Nonetheless we might do so when it serves our duty to zealously represent a client. So, I can't really blame Trump for pounding on the table repeatedly. There isn't much else he can do as the evidence mounts of not only collusion between his campaign staff and the Russian government but of his repeated attempts to obstruct the investigation.

If you want to know the probable path down which the Special Counsel’s Russia investigation will go, you MUST read this book. You will understand, as one example, the relevance and materiality of POTUS Trump’s financials which he has, to date, adamantly refused to make public.

Sad to say: this will be a Dark chapter in U.S. history and if the charges are proven (not even considering what is uncovered by the ongoing investigation), they will likely lead to articles of impeachment by a Republican-led House and removal upon conviction by a Republican-led Senate.

This anti-Kremlin Republican read this book, which succinctly gathers and brilliantly organizes reports and credible evidence proffered to date and adds reliable materials to make a case that is Absolutely Damning, and I am even further shocked and dismayed by the incredulities of those who willfully disregard the current administration's love affair with Vladimir Putin and all the signs pointing to Russia's involvement in helping to elect a President of the United States.

I wonder what their grandparents and great-grandparents would have to say about communist Russia's infiltrations into our political system. And would they be angrier with Russia than they'd be ashamed of their descendants’ willful blindness to the threats imposed upon our shining democracy?

If these ties/links are proven by U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Watergate will seem, by comparison, like it was a trial on jaywalking charges.

Et attention: pas de feu sans fumée, ni de fumée sans feu.


Cozy Bear (Russian hacker group, associated with Russian FSB, responsible for 2016 cyber attacks on DNC servers and emails) and Fancy Bear (cyber espionage group sponsored by Russian gov't and associated with Russian GRU and responsible, along with Cozy Bear, for 2016 cyber attacks on DNC servers/emails)

Written by first foreign journalist to be expelled from Russia since the end of the Cold War due to his unflattering coverage of Russia, including stories on sources of Vladimir Putin's wealth and Putin's knowledge of the London assassination of ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.

"God Bless the United Shursh," Donald J. Trump, 12/6/2017

Наш великий президент

[Margitte · Rating 4 out of 5]

The smoking gun is still missing, but Luke Harding delved deep into any possible source that might proof collusion between Donald Trump and Russia. The author laid out an extensive plot of global, febrile mafia bosses, criminals, money launderers, corrupt politicians and unscrupulous bankers populating the immediate vicinity of The Trump. The author tried to find that missing link between Putin and Trump that had to be there:

Sure, there were ideological similarities: a contempt for international bodies such as the UN and a dislike of the European Union. And, you might argue, Christian-inflected white nationalism.

It is astonishing how quickly the book, published in November 2017, became outdated with all the latest revelation around the information that was fed to Steele by DEM sources since then, exposing a much wider intrigue than ever suspected.

On November 1st, 2017 in an interview with Trevor Noah (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkcKD...), Hillary Clinton admitted that her campaign paid for the 'opposition research', which she recently vehemently denied again. She also denied any knowledge of the dossier, yet, her tweets in the late 2016 time period spins another story:

12.57 AM Aug 7, 2016
Seriously, what is going on with Trump and Russia?

2.58 AM. Aug 08 2016
We have some questions about @RealDonalTrump's cozy relationship with Russia

10.45 AM. August 15, 2016:
We have some questions about Donald Trump's cozy relationship with Russia

2.48 AM. Sep 08, 2016:
The worst part is, this isn't the first time Donald Trump has praised Russian and Putin #NBC Newsforum

11.15 PM. Sep.22, 2016:
Donald Trump's ties to Russia may conflict with America's interest--but they're great for his bottom line

The following tweet showed her annoyance with the press for not releasing the dossier as was planned, since the FBI did not agree on its content, which became clear in the book)

4.13 AM. Sep 27, 2017
What is the deal with Donald Trump and Russia

3.24 AM. Oct 8, 2016
It should concern every American that Russia is willing to engage in such hostile acts in order to help Donald Trump become president

By this time Hillary was furious with the dossier still making its rounds without being published.

1.32 AM - Nov 1, 2016
It's time for Trump to answer to serious questions about his ties to Russia

From the book:
Steele had found prima facie evidence of a conspiracy, but by and large the U.S. public knew nothing about it. In November, the dossier began circulating in the top national security echelons of the Obama administration. But it was too late. The Democrats’ “election surprise,” as it were, had failed. It was a cruel defeat...

(According to various news media website, as well as Clinton's early morning and late night tweets, the dossier were circulating much earlier through intelligence agencies and DEM circles).

... Steele’s sources offered one final piece of devastating information. They alleged that Trump’s team had coordinated with Russia on the hacking operation against Clinton. And that the Americans had secretly co-paid for it.

(There is an irony in this statement by the author. While Trump is accused of collusion, the Hilary camp already paid millions to obtain filth against Trump from the same Russians. The Uranium One deal was also between the DEM officials in office, the Clinton cabal and the Russians. - not mentioned in the book)

Steele wrote up his findings in MI6 house style. The memos read like CX reports—classified SIS intelligence documents. They were marked CONFIDENTIAL/SENSITIVE SOURCE. The names of prominent individuals were in bold—TRUMP, PUTIN, CLINTON. The reports began with a summary. They offered supporting detail. Sources were anonymous. They were merely introduced in generic terms: “a senior Russian foreign ministry figure” or “a former top level Russian intelligence officer still active inside the Kremlin.” They were given letters, starting with A and proceeding down the alphabet

Perhaps the book was post haste, and could have been a much more gripping thriller if it included the latest Senate Committee investigations. However, the author focused on the role of Russians in the Trump campaign (as well as his long relationship with the Russians). He highlights how Hillary's efforts were shipwrecked with the compromised DNC servers. Harding provide enough connections to embed Putin and the Russians firmly and cozily in the 2016 elections. The detail of the Steele dossier was the prime course of the political feast of indecency in this book.

According to Harding , Trump was a human wrecking ball who flattened everything in his path, including the Republican Party's aghast, frozen-to-the-spot establishment. Marco Rubio, Jed Bush, Ted Cruz -- all were batted aside, taunted, crushed.

The author also name the Washington Free Beacon, backed by billionaire Republican Paul Singer, as the original commissioners of Fusion GPS to investigate Trump. The investigation would later continue with DNC funding through their lawyers.

Harding made an effort to extensively profile all the relevant role players in the saga. A gobsmacking parade of murky, dodgy international players, which brings a different perspective to the current events in the USA. One of the interviewees described Carter Page as his most 'wakaddoodle alumnus". According to his sources, Trump was blackmailed by the Russians while Hillary was sabotaged right out of the game.

Although most of his sources are generic, and only allegations made, nobody is providing their intel on a platter, the book provides an disturbing alternative viewpoint to current events. It is a well-written book, destined to feed the opposition to a president who should never have become the leader of the free world, according to his enemies.

The Clinton-cabal was furious with the delay of the dossier. On October 31st, Corn wrote about it for the first time. However, at the same time, The New York Times published a story saying that the FBI hand not found any 'conclusive or direct link' between Trump and Russian officials. With much pressure on the media, after Steele's relationship with the FBI tanked, the unverified document in its entirety was finally published by Buzzfeed in January 2017. Hardy also confirmed that it was offered to various media outlets without success.

Later that month(September) Steele had a series of off-the-record meetings with a small number of American journalists. They included The New York Times, The Washington Post, Yahoo! News, The New Yorker, and CNN.

Among established media organizations there was resentment at Buzzfeed’s decision to publish. Rivals said they had the dossier but had chosen not to reveal it. Columnists bashed Buzzfeed. Margaret Sullivan, of The Washington Post, wrote that there was never a case for spreading rumor and innuendo. Smith had plunged down “a slippery ethical slope from which there is no return.” Ditto John Podhoretz, of the New York Post. Podhoretz said that journalists should be skeptical of all sources, especially “intelligence” ones.

Senate minority leader, Harry Reid peppered the FBI to release the information.
In what was a clear reference to Steele, Reid wrote: “In my communications with you and other top officials in the national security community, it has become clear that you possess explosive information about close ties and coordination between Donald Trump, his top advisors, and the Russian government.…The public has a right to know this information.”...


...As former CIA director Michael Hayden put it to me, the situation was “off the map in terms of what intelligence is asked to do.” “I didn’t envy them,” Hayden said

...The Steele dossier seemed plausible. But unless its key assertions could be verified—that Trump had actively connived with Russians, in particular over the release of stolen emails—it was difficult to see how it might be published. There was no public interest in promulgating wrong information—you ran the risk of looking like an idiot. Plus there was a possibility of legal action.

CNN was the first to report on the FBI investigation into the matter, although they refused to published the lurid salacious, unverified details of the 'honey trap'.

The decision would earn the channel much grief. One of the contributors who explained the dossier’s origins on TV was Carl Bernstein, the original Watergate reporter, now a distinguished-looking white-haired figure of seventy-three. (His erstwhile collaborator, Bob Woodward, still working at The Washington Post, was unimpressed with Steele’s work. Woodward called it an affront to Trump and a “garbage document.”)

In an accompanying article Buzzfeed said it had published this document "so that Americans can make up their own minds." The allegations, it said, had "circulated at the highest levels of the U.S. government." It noted the report was unverified and had some errors.

The author did not mention Trumps allegations of wiretapping, but did mention the other applications to the FISA court to wiretap other people in Trump circles, which seemed to have valid information supporting them. Ample 'evidence' for such application is provided in the book, although Harding had no access to the actual FISA applications, as he admitted in the book.

It is a riveting book. It could have been more in-depth, there was enough information to feed the masses, but was not done. For instance, Christopher Steele mentioned in one of his reports to the FBI that the Russians had incriminating evidence on both Hillary and Donald. He offered this information to the FBI. But the DNC only wanted a dossier on Trump. In that sense the book slightly expose more than just the the Russian-Trump dossier.

It was worth the read. The author did really good research and kept me riveted until the very end. As an experienced journalist he knew exactly how to keep the reader chained to his words. It is an excellent non-fictional read to consider. Well, just another piece of history that needed to be introduced to the alternative archives of world affairs.

[Harry Buckle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply the most important book published this year. Brings clarity to the swirling murk around the US elections and much more. Do not think 'I don't read politics' this book is about matters that affect your life and are material to the well being of both the West and East. I was tempted to stress 'Trust me. As an author my self and an ex MI6 and KGB man'-that's true by the way...but I do not want to take away from the fact the YOU MUST READ THIS- as soon as possible. Despite this review having the paper back logo at the top I bought it from amazon read it over the past hours on my kindle. Some of Guardian man Harding's earlier book was a bit sanctimonious --much like the paper has become. This one is simply brilliant...and it really is : The Most Important Book Published This Year.

[Steven Z. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each day it seems as if the American people are exposed to the drip, drip of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and the possible role played by the Trump campaign in collusion with the Putin government. We hear about Christopher Steele’s “Dossier,” the link between Russian oligarchs and their ties to Putin, meetings with Trump officials, the role of Paul Manafort, a former Trump campaign manager facing indictment, the flipping of a Trump foreign policy advisor to the Mueller investigation, and the latest, a deal between Michael Flynn, Trump’s former National Security advisor and the special prosecutor. The latest twist seems to be conservative House Republicans calling for a Special Prosecutor to investigate the Special Prosecutor. If names like Orbis, Fushion GPS, Gucifer 2.0, GRU, FSB, Sergey Kislyak, Carter Page, Robert Goldstone, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and numerous other names boggle the mind then you might want to consult Luke Harding, a foreign correspondent for the Guardian, new book, COLLUSION: SECRET MEETINGS, DIRTY MONEY, AND HOW RUSSIA HELPED DONALD TRUMP WIN.

For those who are skeptical about Trump’s role in either obstruction of justice, or outright collusion with Russia they should consult Harding’s monograph. In fact, as the confusion that surrounds the collusion becomes clearer and clearer one might say that Harding has done us all a service by preparing a handbook of all the characters, motivations, crimes, disingenuous behavior, outright lies/falsehoods, and other aspects associated with the topic. Harding digs deep using his many sources based on a career that saw him posted to New Delhi, Berlin and as the former bureau chief in Moscow from 2007 to 2011, as well as his contacts in Britain’s MI6 and SIS, as well as the American intelligence community. Further he has followed and written about the likes of Paul Manafort and his machinations in the Ukraine for Viktor Yanukovych long before Trump announced his candidacy, and was also able to interview Christopher Steele. What results is almost a legal brief that points to the guilt of the Trump campaign and the President in collaborating with Moscow, and doing all it could to deflect any investigation of what actually occurred.

Harding begins by providing the background for the “Dossier,” authored by former British intelligence operative Christopher Steele. The famous “Dossier” grew out of Steele’s assignment to uncover the Kremlin’s innermost secrets as they applied to Donald Trump. Steele’s investigation argues a number of points that anyone who has followed this story in any detail has heard numerous times before; from Trump’s public call for Putin to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails, the Wikileaks leak of Clinton emails in June and October 2016, the hacking of Democratic and Republican National Committee computers, with only Democratic information leaked, Trump’s denigration of almost every politician domestic or worldwide, except for Putin who he constantly praises, the fact that Russian intelligence sources have been “cultivating, supporting and assisting Trump for at least five years,” how Trump and his inner circle have accepted a regular flow of intelligence from the Kremlin, claims that the FSB has compromised Trump through his past activities in Moscow sufficiently to be able to blackmail him, and a trail of money laundering and other acts that make one ask, what does Moscow have on Trump that he is afraid to criticize Putin, and constantly denies Russian involvement in the election, in addition to repeatedly interfering in the Mueller investigation? All the answers to these questions are present in Harding’s narrative.

The author takes the reader through the actions of Aras and Emin Agalarov, Paul Manafort, Carter Page, Michael Flynn, Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and a host others along with a short biographical sketch of each. We learn their role in the collusion through their interest and relationship with the Kremlin. Harding explores Vladimir Putin’s motivations and goals as they relate to his hatred of Hillary Clinton, the desire to create chaos and doubt in the American electoral system, and most importantly gain a reduction or lifting of economic sanctions imposed by the Obama Administration due to Russian actions in the Crimea, Ukraine, and the 2016 election. In Donald Trump, Putin found an American politician who could allow him to achieve these goals. The question Harding raises is how do we establish the trail between the two men? The answer he argues lies in following the money.

The entire scenario would seem unbelievable if it hadn’t occurred. Trump and his supporters can scream “fake news” all they want, but indictments are facts and Trump’s behavior throughout points to someone with something to hide. Harding provides an in depth analysis of the Trump-Kremlin tie that dates back to 1987 when the KGB looked on the New York real estate developer as a meaningful target. Harding traces Trump’s relationship with certain Kremlin linked officials, and oligarchs. What emerges is a clear picture of how the Kremlin developed its relationship with Trump that would lead them to support his candidacy for president. Harding explores the role of Donald Trump, Jr. and the infamous June, 2017 meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, former KGB officer Rinat Akhmetshin, and others who offered the president’s son dirt on Hillary Clinton. At first, as in most cases with Trump associates, Trump, Jr. denied the meeting, then said it was about something else, then finally gave in and admitted he met with Russians and was favorable to receiving foreign dirt on Clinton.

Harding follows his own advice and follows the flow of money. Offshore shell companies, multiple bank accounts, tax havens, payoffs, Russian oligarchs, laundering of funds, money disguised as salary or real estate deals, the role of Deutsche Bank, Trump’s New York creditor are all included in Harding’s expose. Harding relies a great deal on Steele’s research and conclusions and believes that roughly 70-90% of what is in the “Dossier” is true, that being the case, it is clear as to why Trump wants to shut down the Mueller investigation. In fact, Harding provides so many plots and sub plots that at times it is hard to keep up with the flow of information, evidence, and characters discussed. For the Trump people it appears that almost every day they have to put out some sort of brush fire that relates to the Mueller investigation be it the testimony of Donald Trump, Jr., Attorney General Jeff Sessions, or the investigative work of Congressional committees. One thing that is clear from Harding’s investigative work – the Trump Organization has been laundering Russian money for years, and without Russian money the Trump Organization’s many financial issues would have proven disastrous.

Harding also explores the relationship between former FBI Director James Comey, the role of the Justice Department, and Trump’s attempts to bring Comey on board in dropping the investigation of Michael Flynn. The author takes the reader through the Comey firing and its role in obstruction of justice which the president even admitted to NBC’s Lester Holt. Harding has gone a long way in disentangling the web of Trump’s financial empire, a structure that appears to rest on a great deal of Russian state funds.

One wonders why certain Republicans have cooperated with Trump’s campaign of fake news and obstruction. Perhaps it is the current tax bill that they are trying to ram through Congress might want to achieve corporate tax cuts and follow the orders of their donors. Be that as it may, if you are interested in learning what Trump is afraid of you to consult Harding’s latest book.

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, nothing new here and even if one is simply looking for a recap or chronology – this book doesn’t help. The narrative is jumbled, hindered by starts and stops. The writing is overwrought with many of the digressions/topics superfluous. And the author’s self-aggrandizement by continually inserting himself into the story serves no purpose except to aggravate the reader.

Pass on this one.

[Radiantflux · Rating 4 out of 5]

3rd book for 2018.

If you have to choose between reading Fire and Fury and this, read this. Harding, using the Steele dossier as a backbone and adding his own personal insights as ex-Moscow correspondent for the Guardian newspaper, paints a vivid picture of Trump's many many links to Russia. If you want to get up to date on what we know the Russia case as of late-2017 this is the book.

Harding does an excellent job of giving a background on Steele and how his dossier became public (despite the FBI sitting on it for months) and Russia's subsequent reaction to it (hint: a lot of Russians died of "heart attacks" in mysterious circumstances last year). Putin has been trying to woo Trump for years (if not decades) and undoubtedly has sex tapes dating back years (not just the one mentioned in the Steele dossier - that's just part of the game). Don Jr. has been going Russia for years too, and is undoubtly compromised. The profile of Carter Page (crazy in love with Russia), Flynn (crusader against Islam promoted above his paygrade), Rex Tillerson (who Putin awarded Russia's Order of Friendship in 2013), and Paul Manafort (sociopath-PR manager for dictators - 10 years working on Putin/Ukraine projects) are highly revealing. Has Harding says it's almost like Putin selected the cabinet.

In addition Trump Tower in NY is apparently the place to live if you are Russian mafia, and Russian mob connections to Trump's businesses are all over the place (is it any surprise that one of his casios was a favorite amongst Russian mobsters?).

The key to me is the final chapter of Deutsche Bank, which despite Trump having defaulted on for 100s of millions of dollars, was willing (through its private wealth fund) to later bail Trump out for additional 100s of millions of dollars. A completely abnormal thing for any bank to do. Given that the Russian branch of Deutsche Bank is known to have laundered more than a BILLION dollars worth of Russian mob/government money you don't have to be much of a conspiratist to wonder what Trump really owes Putin. It's going to be very interesting to see where this part of the story goes in 2018.

A highly recommended book.

[Mehrsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm no fan of Trump, but I guess I am just not convinced that the dossier is real and that Trump is a Russian puppet. I think he's incompetent and all of his people are beyond the pale, but purposeful collusion with Russia? Even after the reading this book, I am not convinced the sins of the regime rise to the level of treason. Don't get me wrong, I think Trump is not qualified to hold this office and will go down in history as our worst president, but I guess I just don't really buy this story. And Harding does not convince me here. I hope I'm wrong and it's all true.

[Cab · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book isn't telling anyone whose been paying attention to the Trump saga anything that they weren't already aware of. It does lay out everything in a type of chronological order that makes it easier to digest outside of what feels like a perpetual crazed Trump news debacle.
Will it convince people that there was collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia? I doubt it. I don't think this would change anybody's mind because things are so devisve. That said, the book doesn't seem to be taking sides but rather laying out on a very readable format the history of Trump and people he's associated with and their ties directly or indirectly to Russia. I liked the format, it made it easy to follow without dragging me into a feeling of dramatic rage.
what I didn't like; it felt like (to me) there was quite a bit of superfluous information that I didn't need or want. Architectural information/descriptions of buildings.

An additional note: if you're looking for something that says definitively here's the proof Trump colluded with Russia! This isn't it. It's obvious that the author is laying out what the information out there is but since nothing has really been concluded in the investigation nothing is definitive here either.
The reader draws their own conclusions.

[Maru Kun · Rating 3 out of 5]

A competent, balanced, well informed and not over dramatic summary of what is known to date about the Trump campaign's interaction with Russian operatives but not offering much new to a well informed Trump watcher. Recommended for anyone needing to catch up on the detail of "L'affair Russe".

[Jonfaith · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was almost as if Putin had played a role in naming Trump’s cabinet. The U.S. president, of course, had done the choosing. But the constellation of individuals, and their immaculate alignment with Russian interests, formed a discernible pattern, like stars against a clear night sky. A pattern of collusion.

More of a collation of reports than an in-depth investigation. Anyone following PBS or public radio won't uncover anything new. It was a book sale purchase and I thought it would distract from the plague and my work turmoil. It wasn't a success in that regard either. The language employed was overly familiar and larded with suppositions and inchoate history.
2.2 stars rounded up.

[Charlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most up-to-date book about the ongoing investigation into collusion between the Trump camp and Russia. After introducing Christopher Steele and the dossier he compiled, this book zipped along, demonstrating how the allegations in the dossier had been proven to be solid intel. We are still waiting on evidence of video tape in which Trump instructs Russian prostitutes to pee all over the bed President and Michelle Obama had slept in while in Russia as well as evidence of the many financial transactions that tie Trump directly to Russia.

One thing I did not realize, even after having read quite a bit about the Trump camp's ties with Russia was that their intelligence agency has been gathering intel on Trump since about 1977. In 1985, the KGB wrote up a training procedure for identifying targets that would help Russian politicians use American targets to gain more power in the world. Some of the questions were as follows:
*What was likelihood someone could come to actual power in US or UK politics- president or prime minister
*Can you find advantage in their personality? Pride, egoism, vanity?
​*Kompromat: Compromising acts including ​illegal acts in financial or commercial affairs, intrigues, speculation, bribes, exploration of his position to enrich himself, and anything else that could make him look bad in front of politicians and the American people.
* Do they like Women? Do they have extra-marital affairs?

Sound like Trump is a good target?

Like in other books, the portrayal of Russian strategy shows it to be very impressive. Donald Trump is no match for Russia. Luckily, we have people in our intelligence agencies who seem to be capable of predicting Russia's motives and actions and can put limitations on our "leader".

One thing I wish this book went into more detail about would be Putin's personal wealth and how he became so wealthy. I think it is hard to understand the Trump Russia connections without at least giving some history of how Russia went from a nation of poor people to seeing the Oligarchs and Putin steal all the money from its citizens. Only then can a reader really grasp what is going on at the root. However, the rest of the book provided a pretty thorough account of the investigation and took readers through the indictments of both Papadopolous and Manafort with increasing pressure on Flynn-- who has now been indicted. Very current and very worth reading.

[Chris Steeden · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Harding’s books. OK, this is only the second one I’ve read, the other being ‘A Very Expensive Poison’ but both have been absolutely compelling. The topic can be extremely convoluted, but his writing is such that it is made very clear and almost reads like a thriller. In this case a spy thriller. Spies, lies and a whole lot of secret shenanigans.

In 2014 the US put sanctions on Russia due to the invasion of the Ukraine. This was crippling the Russian economy and they needed those sanctions lifted. A joint project between Rosneft and Exxon to explore the Russian Arctic had been put on hold. They need this to go-ahead. The best way to do this, of course, is to get someone in as US President that is on their side or has no choice but be on their side then those sanctions can be lifted. The Russian government did not want a mass revolt due to hunger and discontent. Something needed to be done. They did that something.

Just as I started reading this book (I am always late to the party) this came out on wired.com ‘News that paid employees of the Russian government—military intelligence officers, no less—interfered and sought to influence the 2016 presidential election, coming just days before the victor of that election will meet Russian president Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, amounts to nothing less than an international geopolitical bombshell’. No doubt that Russian hackers hacked the Democrats e-mails took out ads on Facebook, created false accounts, spread anti-Hilary messages on Twitter to disseminate information to get Trump into office but how much did Trump personally know? As Harding states ‘…and to the question first asked during the Watergate hearings in 1973 by Republican senator Howard Baker: What did the president know and when did he know it?’

Harding goes over who wrote the revealing dossier published in full by BuzzFeed and the reaction it got. It is just an amazing spiders web of intrigue, intelligence and false information. He details how many top US personnel that were close to Trump like Carter Page, Rex Tillerson, Wilber Ross and Paul Manafort had very close links with Russia. Not forgetting Donald Jr. and Jared Kushner of course. What I wanted from Harding was indisputable facts but unfortunately some of his writing falls into the form of student union politics and due to this it undermines, in my opinion, a very interesting piece of research. There was no need for it and this is why I gave it a 3 when it should have easily been a 4-star book.

At the end of it all does Harding find the smoking gun? I’ll be on the park bench with a copy of the Washington Post and a brown envelope that contains the answer to that. Noka.

[Owlseyes]

There is nothing concrete, just zero, nothing at all
...
It s simply some kind of hysteria
...
give them a pill

V. Putin

Collusion: How Russia Helped Trump Win the White House by Luke Harding – review

in:https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...

https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...



OMG!!! Jill Stein too???https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/12/19...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/gu...

[Veronica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been following the trump campaign and his presidency very closely. I’ve literally read all the reports from every source I could find, and this book threads all that information together into a coherent story. Harding manages at the same time to add texture and personal antidotes because he was a journalist based in Russia for 4 years from The Guardian English newspaper.

If you want to understand how a Russian intelligence operation got trump elected, read this book.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good book, but I’d recommend for anyone interested to read “Russian Roulette” beforehand.

[Westminster Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my opinion, this has all the “pop” that Fire and Fury didn’t. This book is more focused on the intelligence community, including Christopher Steele. There is a lot of background showing business ties between Donald Trump and Russian business men. There is a lot of suggestion of possible involvement between the Trump’s organization/family and Russian intelligence personnel.

Find Collusion: secret meetings, dirty money, and how Russia helped Donald Trump win at the Westminster Public Library.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is a LOT I could write about this book... mostly criticism... but I'll restrict myself to a few representative examples.

Like many, I've been following the Trump-Russia/Russia hacking story. I like to get different points of view, so I picked up this book from the public library.

First, some praise. Mr Harding clearly knows the ins-and-outs of Russia well. There are long passages where he documents the activities of a multitude of unsavory characters, many Russian, some not. Harding's accounts of Paul Manafort and Carter Page helped me understand the interest in these two. These sections appear to be authoritative.

But it is clear that Mr Harding REALLY doesn't like Donald Trump, and this comes through as some very unfair treatment in page after page. It seems that it isn't enough for Mr Harding to present his case. He has to demean Mr Trump time after time. One example: "One had to be awed by Trump's nose-thumbing response. Even by his sophistical and treacherous standards, it was quite something." (p 304) Passages like that make the book less credible overall.

Harding is big into innuendo and BS. Like a lot of other Trump critics, he ascribes an unproven motive to Trump, and then proceeds to interpret Trump's words and actions as if his assumption is true. Harding simply ignores other, plausible explanations. A well-known example of this is Trump's "invitation" for Russia to produce Hillary's 33,000 missing e-mails. Critics cite this as evidence of Trump's collusion with Russia. I always thought Trump was simply making an off-the-cuff joke in front of a friendly audience. There's really no proof either way, but Harding cites this as prima facie evidence of Trump's Russian involvement.

Another one is with NATO. I think Trump was doing what Trump does: trying to change the dynamic of the relationship, get NATO off its collective duff, and get our allies to pick up their share of the costs. Trump is anti-bureaucracy, remember? Critics on the left, including Harding, see Trump as trying to undermine NATO for Russia's benefit. Then, when Trump doesn't publicly browbeat Putin in the same way, that's more evidence that Putin has something on Trump. The real answer could be that Trump doesn't have leverage over Russia like he has over NATO, and so his approach with Russia will differ from what it is with NATO.

Harding likes to leave questions hanging: "Was Moscow blackmailing Trump?" (p. 325) Well, were they? Mr. Harding doesn't prove that they were, not even close. He only suggests that they might be. He likes innuendo and the juxtaposition of facts that aren't necessarily related. Wilbur Ross has business dealings in Cyprus, "a jurisdiction that the US State Department said was prone to 'money laundering'. And where 'international criminal networks' were active." (p. 287) You could describe New York City the same way, couldn't you? So what? Harding makes no case that Ross did anything improper. But he might have, right? He just likes to leave that scurrilous odor in the air.

I could go on at greater length, but I won't. Harding could be right about Trump, and Steele, and a host of others. Or he could be dead wrong. Or he could be somewhere in between. I suspect "somewhere in between" is correct, but exactly where in between is what we really need to know. Unfortunately, Harding undermines his own credibility so often when he leaps from what he can prove to wishful conjecture that I can't put any faith in his conclusions about Trump.

Documentation is really lacking throughout the book, by the way. There are no footnotes or end notes. Rarely is there sourcing within the body of the text. At the end, he takes a page and a half to tell us that a lot of his information comes from conversations with a lot of people, mostly unnamed, including "a lot of journalists". Given the current sorry state of journalism, that makes his case weaker, not stronger.

He leaves out a lot, too, although some of this might reflect information that became public after the book was written. Lisa Page, for example, was lauded as a fine member of Mueller's investigative team without mentioning her involvement with Peter Strzok and their strong bias against Trump. (p. 272)

In conclusion, I don't have a lot of confidence in this book, although I think some parts of it are pretty good - primarily the parts that delve into the histories of Putin, the KGB, the GRU, and some of the other Russians whose names are difficult for English-speakers to keep straight. Too much of the book is BS from a guy who really wants some things to be true that may very well not be true. Overall, this book is a disservice to readers who seek a more objective take on the whole affair.

Addendum: Now I've read some of the other top reviews of this book. People tend to read what confirms their pre-existing beliefs. That's not a criticism. It's just a fact. Therefore, a lot of people who read Collusion are really liking it. Most people who don't already buy into the collusion thing probably won't read it. I'll just repeat my belief that the foundational premises for Harding's thesis are speculative at this time (February 14, 2018). Y'all could be right, or you could be wrong. Keep an open mind. Just because you don't like the guy (Trump), that doesn't mean he's necessarily guilty of these accusations.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read.

Just lacks referencing and notes. 4 stars.

[Jeff Gassman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goes into detail...

I liked the detail and back stories Luke went into. Lots of good info here, basically impossible to say Trump had nothing to do with Russia when that's who saved his hide.

[Constance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enlightening! An easy and comprehensive read that brings together all the various revelations I've heard and read in the media, Thank you.

I am recommending this book to my friends and relatives. It is understandable to me now why trump is so supportive of Putin.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luke Harding is a former Russia correspondent for the Guardian of the UK. He was eventually expelled from Russia for writing articles critical of Putin. This book will not help him get his Russian visa back. I have sat back and watched this Trump-Russia thing unfold with a skeptical eye, thinking Trump too moronic to pull it off (although Putin seems pretty smart). This may still be the case, but this work of investigative reporting is pretty damning. And much that was allegation last year when it was written (lots of words like 'allegedly' used in this one) have been admitted to by Trump's (best) people or by Trump himself subsequently, after being previously denied. If the accusations are true, unfortunately, the plot is so complex that I don't see it making a dent on US politics as most people will be too lazy to investigate and see it as a nothingburger and all the people in jail as martyrs. If false, it's still a fascinating (some would say libelous) read.

[Julie K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strhující příběh o skutečných vztazích Trumpa s Ruskem. Jedná se komplexní a hloubkové zpracování ruské infiltrace v USA. Kniha stojí nejen na kvalitním výzkumu britského důstojníka z MI6, ale i různých svědeckých výpovědí a odhalených emailů. Díky tomu nám autor poskytuje ucelený příběh "ruského přátelství". Jedná se tedy o knihu pro náročnější čtenáře, ale i přesto bych ji doporučila všem, jenž mají zájem dozvědět se více o ruské politice či o Donaldu Trumpovi a jeho obchodních machinacích.

[Jonas · Rating 4 out of 5]

🤔

[Andrew Van Horn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a fast read, and it provides backstory about many of the people referenced in the news.

[Felix · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the book doesn't really reveal anything new for those who been following the Trumps campaign weird relationship with Russia it does lays bare how deep the Republican party and a significent part of American society have sunk.

Perhaps the most interesting parts for most people are the segments about Deutsche bank and the influence of oligarchs on United States based real estate. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and in Russia every layer of society seems to have been co-opted by the FSB and ultimately Putin.

As a foreign with a deep respect and appreciation for America (for all it's warts i still think the country has been a great force of stability and good in the world) this is a hard and frankly disheartening read. Nonetheless its an important one for everyone facing the new reality the beginning of an unsettling period in history.

[J.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will Trump be impeached and convicted of working for a foreign country? Will Ivanka, Kuchner and Trump jr also find themselves on charges? Judging by the revealations in this book it would appear most likely. Only time will tell. Regardless, it was a bloody good read.

[James Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luke Harding, a former Moscow correspondent for The Guardian, takes all we knew about the connections between Donald Trump's business and campaign connections with Putin's Russia through the end of October, adds background going back to the 1980's that was new to me, and puts them in one place.

The result is damning. The research is exhaustive. The book is not without fault, and it was clearly written in haste. One principal appears by last name without introduction. Others come back into the narrative dozens of pages after their introduction without any point of reference. There are a few leaps in logic, made necessary by the opacity of the Putin regime. There are inferences supported only by circumstantial evidence.

But circumstantial evidence is evidence, and the sheer volume of it here is overwhelming. The principle of Occam's Razor applies. The simplest explanation is the most likely.

One comes away without a shred of doubt that Donald Trump owes the survival of his business to dirty money from Russian oligarchs, that Russia aided his campaign, and that his campaign was aware of and encouraged this involvement. Collusion it is.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harding lays it out pretty well. And what is it that he lays out? That the Steele document is well sourced. How characters like Manafort, Page, Flynn, and others are all evil baffoons, on the take. How Trump hired people who were part of his criminal network. The fact that our current President made his fortune laundering money for Russian gangstars and like all Russian mobsters, really wants to be liked by Putin. How these same mobsters funded and helped Trump by various means throughout the election. How all Russian roads lead to the Kremlin and therefore Putin.

There are two depressing aspects to this whole La Fair Russe - 1. the Steele Memo will forever provide a wealth of explanation and suspicion for Trump supporters (ie. the second shooter on the grassy knoll for the JFKers); 2. Russian scheming is working because the GOP has never really been against the Soviet project nor socialism - their ideology is exposed as a strawman farce.

Harding's research is being proven and born out by the Muller Investigation. He will not need to update the book very much once this whole thing is finally exposed.