Karma Can be a Bitch!

Just a couple of hours before President Obama was to make the farewell address for his presidency, an explosive breaking news report that the Russians had gathered compromising information on Donald Trump hit the airwaves.

The website Buzzfeed has published the entire alleged report, emphasizing that the dossier “includes specific, unverified, and potentially unverifiable allegations.”  CNN reported that a synopsis had been briefed both to the President and the President-elect.  According to CNN, the allegations came “from memos compiled by a former British intelligence operative, whose past work US intelligence officials consider credible. The FBI is investigating the credibility and accuracy of these allegations, which are based primarily on information from Russian sources, but has not confirmed many essential details in the memos about Mr. Trump.”

To read the entire report, click here.

Trump immediately tweeted that the report was “fake news”, and Kellyanne Conway claimed that Trump was “not aware” of any briefing on the matter.

The dossier reportedly has been circulating in journalistic, intelligence, and political circles in Washington for months, and David Corn of Mother Jones published a story about it (without details) on October 31.

One obvious question is whether the FBI or US intelligence services have been able to substantiate or discredit the allegations.  It’s a sticky and tricky problem:  How can these agencies effectively investigate allegations against the man who is or will be their boss?  Is it even possible?  And if they find something, how would it be disseminated? Or would it be suppressed?

If nothing else, this shows yet again the potential for these murky connections between Trump and Russia to sow doubt and mistrust in and within the US government and public.