"Trump-Putin Bromance: Election Hacking, Oil Drilling"

"The president’s deference to Russian energy interests is a disturbing signal of weakness before the Putin regime."

"Any analysis of Russiagate, and the fateful phone calls between Michael Flynn and Russia’s ambassador to the United States, must address the critical fact that U.S. sanctions on Russia are severely damaging Vladimir Putin’s economic power. In particular, these sanctions - imposed by Barack Obama, supported by Hillary Clinton, and repeatedly questioned by Donald Trump and Rex Tillerson - are blocking a lucrative long-term oil agreement between Russia and ExxonMobil, a deal whose value is underscored by a little-noticed 1988 declassified CIA document.

As law enforcement and congressional investigations go forward, a key issue is whether there were pre-election discussions between the Putin and Trump camps involving the possible lifting of these sanctions, just as Russia was seeking to influence the election in Trump’s favor.

The apparent hook for Flynn’s multiple phone calls with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak was Obama’s December 29 imposition of new sanctions against Russia, penalties imposed in the wake of U.S. intelligence findings that Russia had aimed to tilt the election to Trump by hacking emails and spreading disinformation. Although transcripts of the calls from intelligence community intercepts have not been publicly released, the Washington Post reported that some senior U.S. officials interpret Flynn’s words as signaling that Moscow could expect a lessening of the sanctions. Thereafter, Putin announced that Russia would not impose retaliatory sanctions, a decision that Trump then praised on Twitter."

David Halperin and Kert Davies report for the Huffington Post February 20, 2017.

SEE ALSO:

"A Back-Channel Plan for Ukraine and Russia, Courtesy of Trump Associates" (New York Times)

"Amid Russia Scrutiny, Trump Associates Received Informal Ukraine Policy Proposal" (Washington Post)

"Pursuit of Shady Oligarch A Test Of DOJ Integrity Under Trump" (MSNBC)