Why Did Trump Send Jared Instead of Flynn? (and a disturbing thought)
May 29, 2017

 
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The biggest news to break last week appears to be the fact that last December, then president-elect Trump directed his son-in-law Jared Kushner to meet with Russian Ambassadors Kislyak at Trump Tower in NYC, after which he arranged to meet with him in Moscow to establish “back channel communications with the Russian [I keep wanting to say “Soviet”] government.” And truth be told, in any other presidency, this wouldn’t be that big a deal. Incoming administrations try to open lines of communications with foreign governments all the time. But there are a number of things that are unusual about this particular contact to attract the Media’s attention: 1) Kushner did not disclose at least three contacts with Russia when applying for his National Security Clearance; 2) Kushner arranged for Trump’s communication go through the Russian security agency instead of our own; 3) The Russian Vnesheconombank Bank was also in attendance, and 4) This was just two months after Team Trump was informed that Russia was suspected of meddling in our election.

Conservative columnist for the NY Times, Kim Strassel compared president-elect Trump’s opening a back-channel with Russia to then candidate Obama sending an envoy (William Miller) to Iran to establish a back-channel of his own in 2008. (Hilariously, if you Google this exchange, the top two results are “Strassel schools stacked anti-Trump panel” and “Joy Reid schools NYT columnist.” Who won definitely depends on your political leanings.)

Both of them have solid points to make. Strassel is right that opening back-channel communications with a “hostile” nation isn’t new or prohibited. But Reid is right to ask why Trump sent his son-in-law… a 35 year old real estate mogul with no political experience… to Russia to establish a dialog with a nuclear superpower a mere two months after it was revealed they meddled in our election, agreeing to set up communications through The Kremlin instead of our own embassy? At the very least, he was naive and taken advantage of. At worst, it was a deliberate attempt to evade U.S. intelligence monitoring their communications.

Last Friday, the Washington Post reported that it was Kushner who requested the meeting with Russian Ambassador Kislyak in Moscow during their December 1st meeting at Trump Tower in NYC. But no one thinks Jared took it upon himself to meet with the Russians. He was doing someone’s bidding. Remember this meeting was kept secret (unlike Obama’s communication with Iran), only discovered via leak from someone inside the White House. Flynn was too high profile if you’re looking to do this in secret. “Who can we send?” Hmm.

The Post also reports Kislyak was “Taken aback” by Jared’s request… not to meet in Russia, but to meet in Russian government facilities instead of the U.S. Embassy where WE control the security & surveillance. This is unheard of.

Also in attendance at this meeting: the CEO of Russian state-owned Vnesheconombank. As mentioned last March (Update #5), VEB was under sanctions over their money laundering of Russian funds to bankroll the opposition in Ukraine (the plot thickens.)

But the REAL questions *I* have that no one seems to be asking is…

WHY JARED? And why now/then?

Trump had already named Michael Flynn as his National Security Advisor even AFTER acting AG Sally Yates revealed Flynn had LIED to Trump and his transition team about his connection & contacts with Russia & Turkey. If Trump didn’t trust Flynn enough to send him to Russia, he certainly never should have appointed him National Security Advisor. And if he DID trust Flynn, then why send his inexperienced son-in-law to establish a secret line of communication with a country that just violated our democracy? Seriously?

As previously mentioned, a month later, “Blackwater” founder “Eric Prince” attempted to establish a secret back-channel with Russia via the Saudi’s. Why would he need to do this if Kushner had already done so the month before… unless of course that wasn’t the purpose of Kushner’s visit?

Kushner himself, thinking he was fit for the task, already shows a ridiculous (and possibly dangerous) level of hubris (the same hubris we are seeing as Trump offloads a disturbing number of his duties onto Kushner and him not saying “No”, including holding meetings with other heads of state as Trump’s personal representative, speaking on behalf of the entire US government.) Former NSA/CIA Director General Michael Haden blasted Trump’s stupidity and Kuchner’s hubris in an interview on CNN yesterday, saying:
 

“What manner of ignorance, chaos, hubris, suspicion, contempt, would you have to have to think that doing this with the Russian ambassador was a good or appropriate idea?”

 

Jared… like Trump… is also the son of a wealthy real estate mogul who inherited his father’s business, so I’m sure Trump sees a lot of himself in Kushner (one disturbing thought is whether Ivanka does too?) But as Trump’s own sons… Eric & Lyle… er, Donald Jr demonstrate, it takes more than being born on third to get people to respect you, so I’m sure Jared is the son Donald never had. And because of this, I’m also sure Jared has the same wildly inflated ego of his father-in-law whom believes he’s capable of doing absolutely anything with perfect skill despite not having an iota of experience.

And perhaps that’s why Trump sent Jared instead of Flynn. If so, is that’s Trump’s basis for deciding who’s qualified to perform such extremely delicate missions of national security… whether or not he sees himself in them? (after all, he did ignore all the warnings about Flynn and picked him anyway because they shared their despise of Hillary Clinton.)

A mission such as establishing communications with a foreign government is tailor-made for the STATE Department, and at the time (December 1st/2nd) Trump was still in the throws of picking his “Secretary of State”. He had narrowed it down to three candidates: Moe, Larry & Curly… er, Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney. I actually thought Romney had a chance if Trump decided to pick Mitt as an olive branch to all the Conservatives who opposed his candidacy, but of course Trump’s inner toddler won out (as it always does) and we learn Trump was just playing with Romney, getting his rocks off watching him grovel.

Establishing communications with a foreign government is almost the definition of the State Department’s duties. So why not wait until he appointed a Secretary of State before attempting to establish diplomatic relations with Russia?

Not to start any conspiracy theories, but maybe it was because it wasn’t necessary? Maybe they ALREADY HAD an established relationship with Russia? And what if Putin saw the chaos as Trump floundered trying to pick someone to run the State Department… probably the most despised U.S. government agency in Russia after Hillary Clinton ran it and openly supported Putin’s opponent in their last election… and SUMMONED Trump to send someone to Russia for a little chat. Trump can’t go himself (would raise too many questions), so he sends his mini-me, wunder-kind Jared Kushner (a “private citizen” not yet employed as part of Trump’s staff) as his representative.

And next thing you know, barely a week later on December 10th, just days after Jared’s return from Russia, Trump was announcing he was picking former Exxon CEO (and Russian “Medal of Friendship” winner) Rex Tillerson to be his Secretary of State. “Who?” everyone asked. Trump made absolutely NO mention of Tillerson before his big announcement. He wasn’t even on Trump’s “short list”, and as far as anyone was aware, they had never even met. And now suddenly, Trump was appointing him “Secretary of State”? Tillerson already had a relationship with Putin and had done business in the country for decades. And since being appointed to head the most important agency in the Federal government (yes, more important than Defense), Tillerson has had no qualms with his boss’ proposed gutting of his entire Department.

It’s a terribly disturbing thought, and I know it flies in the face of my well-documented hatred of “Conspiracy Theories”, but it’s a nagging thought I just can’t shake, and a perfectly plausible suspicion that makes an awful lot of sense and answers a lot of questions that no one seems to be asking. So, I will: Did Russia “summon” Trump to send an envoy to Moscow? Did Trump send someone as unfit for such an important task as Jared because he was “a private citizen” not subject to many disclosure laws or security rules? And during that visit, did Russia hand-pick Tillerson to be Trump’s Secretary of State?

If… like I suspect… Russia practically bankrolled bankrupt-Trump’s “self funded” political campaign and now has enough dirt on him to send him to prison for a VERY long time, every foolish move this administration seemed to make during the transition starts to make sense. But now that Trump has the power of the presidency at his disposal, he thinks he can push back, even fire the man investigating him (Comey) to break the grip his buddy Vlad has over him. (Yeah, I despise conspiracies, but you must admit, this one has you thinking, doesn’t it?)
 
 

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May 29, 2017 · Admin Mugsy · No Comments - Add
Posted in: mystery, National Security, Politics, Right-Wing Hypocrisy, Scandals, Seems Obvious to Me

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