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The Trump-Russia Investigation Thread: Mueller Goes Terminator Edition

Reaction..

  • Huh?

    Votes: 2 6.3%
  • Seriously?

    Votes: 6 18.8%
  • ... are we in some crappy technothriller?

    Votes: 23 71.9%
  • WTF?

    Votes: 1 3.1%

  • Total voters
    32
Manafort needs a new word for how FUCKED he is and a transcription of case numbers for the various court cases of the Trump-Russia investigation or those related to it (thank eagle109, who is currently suffering right now)
Remember when Manafort's incompetent lawyers unintentionally released rather damning evidence? As in 'a literal step away from the constitutional definition of treason' damning? As in 'giving Russia the keys to the US internet population' damning? Yeah, Manafort is needs new words to describe how fucked he is.

Also, just in case you want to know which court cases are part of this investigation, I'll give you what eagle109 has remembered off the top of his head:

At the top of my head from the District Court of District of Columbia (DCDC), the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA), and the Southern District of New York (SDNY) district courts:

- Michael Cohen with SDNY (Case No. 1:18-cr-00602-WHP is on the various finance violations, and No. 1:18-cr-00850-WHP is lying to Congress; Case No. 1:18-mj-03161-KMW is "Cohen v. US" regarding the FBI's warrant-gramted raid on his office/home/hotel)

- Paul Manafort has one in the Eastern District of VA (EDVA No. 1:18-cr-00083-TSE) and one in the District Court of District of Columbia (DCDC No. 1:17-cr-00201-ABJ)

- Rick Gates with DCDC (DCDC No. 1:17-cr-00201-ABJ), and the EDVA (EDVA 1:18-cr-00083-TSE); Gates was indicted alongside Manafort, hence why they share case numbers

- Konstantin Kilimnik (DCDC No. 1:17-cr-00201-ABJ; same reason with Gates)

- Michael Flynn (DCDC No. 1:17-cr-00232-EGS)

- George Papadopoulos (DCDC No. 1:17-cr-00182-RDM)

- W. Samuel Patten (DCDC No. 1:18-cr-00260-ABJ)

- Maria Butina (DCDC No. 1:18-cr-00218-TSC)

- Alex Van der Zwaan (DCDC No. 1:18-cr-00031-ABJ)

- Richard Pinedo (DCDC No. 1:18-cr-00024-DLF)

- Jerome Corsi (DCDC No. 1:18-cv-02885-RJL)

- The Internet Research Agency, et al./Concord Management and Consulting, LLC (DCDC No. 1:18-cr-00032-DLF)

Speaking of Flynn, here's the December 18, 2018 transcript before Judge Sullivan, where Sullivan mentions treason. (Thank you, Luqman Adeniyi of CNN.)
 
Cohen Agrees to Testify to Congress - NY Times
F.B.I. Opened Inquiry Into Whether Trump Was Secretly Working on Behalf of Russia - New York Times, January 11, 2019, 8:18 PM EST and Update
F.B.I. Opened Inquiry Into Whether Trump Was Secretly Working on Behalf of Russia - New York Times, January 11, 2019, 8:18 PM EST, updated 8:26 PM EST
In the days after President Trump fired James B. Comey as F.B.I. director, law enforcement officials became so concerned by the president's behavior that they began investigating whether he had been working on behalf of Russia against American interests, according to former law enforcement officials and others familiar with the investigation.

...

The investigation the F.B.I. opened into Mr. Trump also had a criminal aspect, which has long been publicly known: whether his firing of Mr. Comey constituted obstruction of justice.

Agents and senior F.B.I. officials had grown suspicious of Mr. Trump's ties to Russia during the 2016 campaign but held off on opening an investigation into him, the people said, in part because they were uncertain how to proceed with an inquiry of such sensitivity and magnitude. But the president's activities before and after Mr. Comey's firing in May 2017, particularly two instances in which Mr. Trump tied the Comey dismissal to the Russia investigation, helped prompt the counterintelligence aspect of the inquiry, the people said.

...

Mr. Trump had caught the attention of F.B.I. counterintelligence agents when he called on Russia during a campaign news conference in July 2016 to hack into the emails of his opponent, Hillary Clinton. Mr. Trump had refused to criticize Russia on the campaign trail, praising President Vladimir V. Putin. And investigators had watched with alarm as the Republican Party softened its convention platform on the Ukraine crisis in a way that seemed to benefit Russia.

A Mueller Friday had occurred... despite the shutdown...

_____________________
The constraints that Trump imposed are part of a broader pattern by the president of shielding his communications with Putin from public scrutiny and preventing even high-ranking officials in his own administration from fully knowing what he has told one of the United States' main adversaries.

As a result, U.S. officials said there is no detailed record, even in classified files, of Trump's face-to-face interactions with the Russian leader at five locations over the past two years. Such a gap would be unusual in any presidency, let alone one that Russia sought to install through what U.S. intelligence agencies have described as an unprecedented campaign of election interference.

...

The meeting in Hamburg happened several months after The Washington Post and other news organizations revealed details about what Trump had told senior Russian officials during a meeting with Russian officials in the Oval Office. Trump disclosed classified information about a terror plot, called former FBI director James B. Comey a "nut job," and said that firing Comey had removed "great pressure" on his relationship with Russia.

...

Senior Trump administration officials said that White House officials including then-National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster were never able to obtain a comprehensive account of the meeting, even from Tillerson.

"We were frustrated because we didn't get a readout," a former senior administration official said. "The State Department and [National Security Council] were never comfortable" with Trump's interactions with Putin, the official said. "God only knows what they were going to talk about or agree to."
... there is oh so much wrong with Trump and Co (and his buddies in the GOP) that under any normal circumstances, we would be seeing recalls and impeachments across the board... but these aren't normal circumstances. To quote the ever reliable eagle109 at SB:
eagle109 said:
We all knew the sheer amount of effort Trump goes into wanting "alone-time" with Putin-sempai, but THIS following-up from the NYT article... ARRGH. This is not "[executing] the office of President of the United States", never mind "[preserving], [protecting], and [defending] the Constitution of the United States." And the majority of the GOP in both chambers of Congress are also failing to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic", never mind "[bearing] true faith and allegiance to the same", or "without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion" (because look at the amount of nothing the GOP Chairs of the various investigatory committees did or fucked up, like when Nunes was Chair of House Intel).
 
Mueller Probes an Event With Nunes, Flynn, and Foreign Officials at Trump’s D.C. Hotel - The Daily Beast, January 14, 2019, 8:02 PM EST
Mueller Probes an Event With Nunes, Flynn, and Foreign Officials at Trump's D.C. Hotel - The Daily Beast, January 14, 2019, 8:02 PM EST
The Special Counsel's Office and federal prosecutors in Manhattan are scrutinizing a meeting involving former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, one-time National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, and dozens of foreign officials, according to three sources familiar with the investigations.

The breakfast event, which was first reported by The Daily Sabah, a pro-government Turkish paper, took place at 8:30 a.m. at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 18, 2017—days before President Donald Trump's inauguration. About 60 people were invited, including diplomats from governments around the world, according to those same sources.

The breakfast has come under scrutiny by federal prosecutors in Manhattan as part of their probe into whether the Trump inaugural committee misspent funds and if donors tried to buy influence in the White House. The existence of that probe was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The Special Counsel's Office is also looking at the breakfast as part of its investigation into whether foreigners contributed money to the Trump inaugural fund and PAC by possibly using American intermediaries, as first reported by The New York Times. Robert Mueller's team has asked Flynn about the event, according to two sources familiar with the Special Counsel's Office questioning.

...

"If you're a prosecutor all of the right players are there," said former federal prosecutor Paul Pelletier, referring to the breakfast. "In a lot of ways breakfasts like this are totally normal. It happens all the time in Washington. So, they wouldn't be investigating it if they weren't following the money. The big question would be who is paying for it? It's got to be part of the broader scheme of who is trying to use money to influence the White House."
Nunes... we haven't forgotten about you...
 
Yeah a dear wish of mine be for Trump and allnof his shit flinging cronies to be put against a wall. But realisticly jail will hopefully their future
Actually, everything that has been coming in so far has been well within the bounds of sedition and espionage, and literally a hop away from the constitutional definition of treason (that hop? All congress has to do is define Russia as an enemy). Hell one of Trump's cronies had their judge outright say what he did is treason... and that has never happened before.
 
Trump Discussed Pulling U.S. From NATO, Aides Say Amid New Concerns Over Russia -NYTimes
Senior administration officials told The New York Times that several times over the course of 2018, Mr. Trump privately said he wanted to withdraw from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Current and former officials who support the alliance said they feared Mr. Trump could return to his threat as allied military spending continued to lag behind the goals the president had set.

In the days around a tumultuous NATO summit meeting last summer, they said, Mr. Trump told his top national security officials that he did not see the point of the military alliance, which he presented as a drain on the United States.
... Trump, you are seriously not helping your case here...
 
Aaron what does that have to do with this investigation?

The breakfast has come under scrutiny by federal prosecutors in Manhattan as part of their probe into whether the Trump inaugural committee misspent funds and if donors tried to buy influence in the White House.
BuT tHaT nEvEr HaPpEnS
 
Aaron what does that have to do with this investigation?
Because it is what Putin wants, that's why... and the optics is horrible to say the least.
(___________________)
Whitaker willing to meet with House Judiciary on Feb. 8th, a day after Cohen's hearing.

Inobx: Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker has agreed to appear before the House Judiciary Committee on Friday, February 8th (the day after the Cohen hearing).

The hearing is the first announced oversight hearing with an official from the Trump admin in the 116th Congress.

4:15 PM EST 15 Jan 2019
_____
How Robert Mueller Can Write a Report the Justice Department Cannot Suppress - Lawfare, January 10, 2019, 6:13 PM EST; updated January 13, 2019, 10:29 AM EST
The idea that a major problem is brewing assumes, of course, that Mueller's findings are damning and arguably privileged—and that the damning facts might not emerge because of the assertion of privilege. But that may not be the case. If, for example, the facts are not that damning, or not so damning that they threaten Donald Trump's presidency, they will likely come out because the president's lawyers will want them to come out as a means of putting L'Affaire Russe to rest. If the facts are super-damning, by contrast, Mueller may be confident that no attorney general will stand in the way of their transmission to the public or Congress. It's one thing to be an attorney general who doesn't race to investigate the president for whom he works. It's quite another to be an attorney general who actively covers up findings of monstrous criminality, particularly in an environment in which one can't be certain the reality will not leak.

The facts also might be damning and, in important respects, not privileged. No executive privilege would likely protect the president against evidence that he had, for example, coaxed or encouraged a witness to lie. Executive privilege, after all, only protects confidential communications concerning the president's performance of his duties as president. So Mueller may have confidence that the key evidence can't be suppressed because there's no plausible legal basis to suppress it.

But let's assume, for a moment, that Mueller in fact has the problem that people are worried he does: imagine that the facts he wants to report are damning, that he believes it is important they reach Congress and the public, that he feels he has no legal mechanism to convey them directly, and that he's worried that the document will thus be suppressed. What then?

...

Nothing prevents Mueller from anticipating these concerns and writing an executive summary that contains no classified information, no grand jury information, no executive confidentialities and no material unduly invasive of the privacy of innocent parties. Such a summary might have to be spare, but it could certainly summarize all of Mueller's major conclusions as to the president's conduct. This would produce a document that would be hard to suppress even by an administration keen to do so. He could also write a table of contents that is itself telling to give readers a sense of the broader findings. (Depending on how much sensitive material there is, Mueller could even endeavor to write the body of the report itself in a fashion carefully scrubbed of all such information, relegating that material to appendices. I suspect, though I don't know, that this would be difficult given the elements of the investigation that concern issues of counterintelligence and executive branch management.)

Particularly if Congress knew that Mueller had proceeded in this fashion, it could speedily obtain the summary of his conclusions and then, if the executive branch proved unwilling to turn over the other material, use it as a "road map"—so to speak—to both litigation and also to conducting its own investigative hearings.
_____
Thing 1: a Joint Status Report on Rick Gates, Manafort's former business partner, where Mueller's asking for a delay on Gates's sentencing as he's still cooperating.

Rick Gates still cooperating in 'several ongoing investigations,' Mueller says - NBC News, January 15, 2019, 12:38 PM EST
Former Donald Trump campaign aide Rick Gates is still cooperating in "several ongoing investigations," the special counsel's office said Tuesday, requesting a delay in his sentencing.

Gates, who was the star witness in the financial fraud trial of his longtime partner Paul Manafort, agreed to cooperate with Robert Mueller's Russia probe after pleading guilty last February to financial fraud and lying to investigators.

...

Last November, Mueller also cited Gates's ongoing cooperation in asking for a delay in his sentencing. Gates, who served as Trump's deputy campaign chairman and deputy chairman of the Trump inaugural committee, is facing up to six years in prison under the terms of his cooperation deal.

_____
And Thing 2: The dreaded redactions from the Declaration in Support of the Government's Breach Determination and Sentencing of Manafort, bascially Mueller's "naughty list on Manafort".

Mueller: Manafort worked behind scenes to stock Trump administration - Politico, January 15, 2019, 7:12 PM EST
Mueller accused Manafort of lying to his prosecutors in late November and since then has been providing the court with evidence about a new suite of charges, which are expected to be a factor when a Washington-based federal judge sentences Manafort in March.

In Tuesday's court filing, FBI special agent Jeffrey Weiland provided more information about the fact-challenged statements Manafort allegedly made over the course of 12 meetings with Mueller's prosecutors and in two visits last fall to the grand jury. Mueller's team also produced a 157-page document of exhibits making their case, though nearly everything in the file is blacked out.

Much of Weiland's 31-page statement includes redactions that make it difficult to fully decipher what Manafort is accused of lying about to the Mueller team, though previous court filings indicate the breaches include his contacts with the Trump administration and Konstantin Kilimnik, a Ukrainian associate who has ties to Russian intelligence.

Weiland's statement does provide additional details surrounding a May 26, 2018, text exchange that Manafort had with an unidentified third party who was asking permission to use Manafort's name as an introduction in case the person met Trump.
____
And Thing 3: Cohen's testimony before House Oversight is going to be more than likely a bit restricted.

Mueller Probe Likely to Restrict Michael Cohen's Testimony - Wall Street Journal, January 15, 2019, 3:25 PM EST (paywall'd)
The testimony of Michael Cohen, President Trump's former lawyer, before the House Oversight Committee next month is expected to be highly restricted to avoid interfering with the special counsel's Russia investigation, suggesting the hearing may be less revelatory on certain subjects than anticipated.

...

He also may be limited in what he can say about the continuing Manhattan U.S. attorney's office investigation, which resulted in Mr. Cohen pleading guilty in August to eight felonies—including arranging hush-money payments during the 2016 presidential campaign to stop two women from publicizing alleged affairs with Mr. Trump. Mr. Cohen said Mr. Trump directed him to arrange the payments, which violated campaign-finance laws.

...

Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said last week he planned to schedule a closed session with Mr. Cohen to answer questions related to the Russia investigation. Mr. Cohen likely would be able to speak more freely in a closed session, but it is unclear what restrictions the special counsel might impose in that setting.
_____
Democrats Lose Bid to Keep Sanctions on Deripaska-Related Firms (Bloomberg)

Chuck Schumer forced a vote in the Senate to block Mnuchin from ending sanctions on Oleg Deripaska which failed 57-42 with the Democrats needing an additional three votes. The entire Democratic caucus except Sanders voted to maintain sanctions. Sanders abstained. The following Republicans joined the Democrats in supporting the continuation of sanctions: Boozeman (AR), Collins (ME), Cotton (AR), Daines (MT), Gardner (CO), Hawley (MO), Kennedy (LA), McSally (AZ), Moran (KS), Rubio (FL), and Sasse (NE). Despite the government shutdown mess, the Senate GOP still has the time and energy to do favors for the Russians.
____
Rudy Giuliani says Trump didn't collude with Russia but can't say if campaign aides did

(CNN)Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday that he never denied President Donald Trump's campaign colluded with the Russian government during the 2016 campaign, only that the President himself was not involved in collusion.
____
President Trump Directed His Attorney To Lie To Congress About The Moscow Tower Project - Buzzfeed (and others)
President Donald Trump directed his longtime attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, according to two federal law enforcement officials involved in an investigation of the matter.

Trump also supported a plan, set up by Cohen, to visit Russia during the presidential campaign, in order to personally meet President Vladimir Putin and jump-start the tower negotiations. "Make it happen," the sources said Trump told Cohen.

And even as Trump told the public he had no business deals with Russia, the sources said Trump and his children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., received regular, detailed updates about the real estate development from Cohen, whom they put in charge of the project.
Please note that Mueller hasn't really said anything about Buzzfeed's report other than some details being wrong.
 
Conservative Website First Funded Anti-Trump Research by Firm That Later Produced Dossier - New York Times, Oct. 27, 2017
Conservative Website First Funded Anti-Trump Research by Firm That Later Produced Dossier - New York Times, Oct. 27, 2017
WASHINGTON — The Washington Free Beacon, a conservative website funded by a major Republican donor, first hired the research firm that months later produced for Democrats the salacious dossier describing ties between Donald J. Trump and the Russian government, the website said on Friday.

The Free Beacon, funded in large part by the New York hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer, hired the firm, Fusion GPS, in 2015 to unearth damaging information about several Republican presidential candidates, including Mr. Trump. But The Free Beacon told the firm to stop doing research on Mr. Trump in May 2016, as Mr. Trump was clinching the Republican nomination.

...

It has long been known that Fusion GPS was first hired by Republicans, but it was not known who was the source of the funding. This week, Mr. Trump and his allies seized on the fact that Democrats had paid the firm for the research as evidence that the dossier was part of a political smear campaign.
 
Because it is what Putin wants, that's why... and the optics is horrible to say the least.
Please note that Mueller hasn't really said anything about Buzzfeed's report other than some details being wrong.
He did say it was inaccurate, and even CNN has decided to jump in:



Honestly, I say lets convict Trump in the court of public opinion. Next chance to do that is in under two years.
 
He did say it was inaccurate, and even CNN has decided to jump in:



Honestly, I say lets convict Trump in the court of public opinion. Next chance to do that is in under two years.

Actually, the only part is, to quote a Mueller spokesperson:
"BuzzFeed's description of specific statements to the Special Counsel's Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen's Congressional testimony are not accurate"

However, given what has come out of the Trump-Russia investigation, simply electing him out might not be possible in 2020 as Russia can use the infrastructure they have Trump still in the White House.
 
However, given what has come out of the Trump-Russia investigation, simply electing him out might not be possible in 2020 as Russia can use the infrastructure they have Trump still in the White House.
You do know Russia isn't the only country on the planet with an "Active Measures"-type program, yes? Russia is isolated on the world stage, which - while the U.S. is to a degree as well - NATO and the EU are not. But pressing this to such an extreme is going to push Germany and others into Russia's influence. Its making us look like even more ultranationalist douchebags than we already do. You know what convicting a sitting president - this one of them all - is going to do? Its going to involve civil unrest and people dying needlessly, among many many other fucked up things.
 
You do know Russia isn't the only country on the planet with an "Active Measures"-type program, yes? Russia is isolated on the world stage, which - while the U.S. is to a degree as well - NATO and the EU are not. But pressing this to such an extreme is going to push Germany and others into Russia's influence. Its making us look like even more ultranationalist douchebags than we already do. You know what convicting a sitting president - this one of them all - is going to do? Its going to involve civil unrest and people dying needlessly, among many many other fucked up things.
Yeah, no. Russia is only isolated in the world stage because of the US either having allies (which Russia is trying to get rid of via Trump and co) or bribing (China, for example, with economic prosperity) other nations. Without the US, that all falls apart because no one else really has the economy that isn't attached to Russia (much of Europe is still needing Russian oil and gas to fuel their economies, the US's attempts to create LNG infrastructure is a threat to Russia's oil and gas exports and a threat to their control on the countries that rely on said oil and gas imports)...
 
Yeah, no. Russia is only isolated in the world stage because of the US either having allies (which Russia is trying to get rid of via Trump and co) or bribing (China, for example, with economic prosperity) other nations. Without the US, that all falls apart because no one else really has the economy that isn't attached to Russia (much of Europe is still needing Russian oil and gas to fuel their economies, the US's attempts to create LNG infrastructure is a threat to Russia's oil and gas exports and a threat to their control on the countries that rely on said oil and gas imports)...
Exactly. The US is fine. That's my point. The US is the central arm of NATO. My point is that if they didn't convict Bush, they won't convict Trump. Its a waste of time and unwieldy. What if they fuck up big time and get caught like this BuzzFeed thing on steroids and Trump goes onto win reelection and an actual mandate? And if that's far-fetched, then why are even taking this guy seriously in the first place?
 
Exactly. The US is fine. That's my point. The US is the central arm of NATO. My point is that if they didn't convict Bush, they won't convict Trump. Its a waste of time and unwieldy. What if they fuck up big time and get caught like this BuzzFeed thing on steroids and Trump goes onto win reelection and an actual mandate? And if that's far-fetched, then why are even taking this guy seriously in the first place?
The thing is that Bush was a 'war time president' and the fact that in the grand scheme of things, he's a Grant and not a Trump. Trump on the other hand... well... given how much information that's been connected to him has been going out...

Also:
BuzzFeed are saying that they're sticking to their report and are urging the special counsel's office to specify what is inaccurate. Also please note that the SCO simply stated that some of the Buzzfeed report is disputed, not denied.
 
The thing is that Bush was a 'war time president' and the fact that in the grand scheme of things, he's a Grant and not a Trump. Trump on the other hand... well... given how much information that's been connected to him has been going out...
GRANT?! XD Lol, this guy's granddad collaborated with Nazis, and he himself caused a war that resulted in record-breaking international condemnation. Try again.
They already have. Or do you not trust the SCO anymore now that they're calling out hysterical media?
 
They already have. Or do you not trust the SCO anymore now that they're calling out hysterical media?
You are not reading as the SCO has stated that specifics are inaccurate, not the entire report.

EDITED FOR CLARITY
 
Last edited:
Inside the Mueller team’s decision to dispute BuzzFeed’s explosive story on Trump and Cohen - Washington Post, January 19, 2019, 7:25 PM EST
Inside the Mueller team's decision to dispute BuzzFeed's explosive story on Trump and Cohen - Washington Post, January 19, 2019, 7:25 PM EST
The innocuous exchange belied the chaos it would produce. When BuzzFeed published the story hours later, it far exceeded Carr's initial impression, people familiar with the matter said, in that the reporting alleged that Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and self-described fixer, "told the special counsel that after the election, the president personally instructed him to lie," and that Mueller's office learned of the directive "through interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents."

...

After Carr declined to comment to BuzzFeed, but before the story was published, he sent reporter Jason Leopold a partial transcript of Cohen's plea hearing, in which Cohen admitted lying to Congress about the timing of discussions related to a possible Trump Tower project in Moscow, according to the emails BuzzFeed's spokesman provided. Cohen had claimed falsely that the company's effort to build the tower ended in January 2016, when in fact discussions continued through June of that year, as Trump was clinching the Republican nomination for president.

...

People familiar with the matter said after BuzzFeed published its story — which was attributed to "two federal law enforcement officials involved in an investigation of the matter" — the special counsel's office reviewed evidence to determine if there were any documents or witness interviews like those described, reaching out to those they thought might have a stake in the case.

They found none, these people said. That, the people said, is in part why it took Mueller's office nearly a day to dispute the story publicly. In the interim, cable news outlets and other media organizations, including The Washington Post, dissected its possible implications — even as their reporters were unable to independently confirm it.
 
Because it is what Putin wants
Putin wants what exactly? For the US to pull out of the NATO, or what?

If so, i can only suggest to stop smoking whatever it is you're smoking, because that is just unrealistic regardless of what Putin wants and Putin is known for getting everything he wants, because he doesn't want what he cannot get. Simple, easy to remember.
 
Putin wants what exactly? For the US to pull out of the NATO, or what?
That's one of his goals, yes. Getting NATO to dissolve would make it easier for him to maneuver.
If so, i can only suggest to stop smoking whatever it is you're smoking, because that is just unrealistic regardless of what Putin wants and Putin is known for getting everything he wants, because he doesn't want what he cannot get. Simple, easy to remember.
Here's the thing, Putin isn't exactly 100% realistic as of late. If anything, he's getting at least a bit desperate because of the demographic crisis that he's facing with the Russian people.
 
That's one of his goals, yes. Getting NATO to dissolve would make it easier for him to maneuver.
Since when people make it their goal to achieve something that is all but guaranteed to happen on its own, it's just a matter of time? A significant amount of time, though.

Here's the thing, Putin isn't exactly 100% realistic as of late. If anything, he's getting at least a bit desperate because of the demographic crisis that he's facing with the Russian people.
Demographic crisis is neither a catastrophe(by Russian definition of catastrophe) nor is it immediately relevant. Important, of course, but not the end of the world, not unexpected, and not today.
 
Since when people make it their goal to achieve something that is all but guaranteed to happen on its own, it's just a matter of time? A significant amount of time, though.
NATO dissolving wasn't going to be something that happened on it's own, there is too many vested interests in keeping it and expanding it (and many of those who signed on up to NATO after '91 were former Soviet states that knew that they had to join NATO or loose their sovereignty to Russia again). NATO would only dissolve because it evolved into a European Federation/US alliance.
Demographic crisis is neither a catastrophe(by Russian definition of catastrophe) nor is it immediately relevant. Important, of course, but not the end of the world, not unexpected, and not today.
You are forgetting that it is far more catastrophic than you realize when you plug in the fact that the average life expectancy of a Russian is 55 years for men and not much better for women and the fact that Russia has been increasingly becoming the nation of drunks.
 
NATO dissolving wasn't going to be something that happened on it's own, there is too many vested interests in keeping it and expanding it (and many of those who signed on up to NATO after '91 were former Soviet states that knew that they had to join NATO or loose their sovereignty to Russia again). NATO would only dissolve because it evolved into a European Federation/US alliance.
NATO is purposed to keep Americans in, Russians out, and Germans down. There's a problem though, the only people who actually need Americans to be in are the limitrophes, which serve the purpose of keeping Russians from establishing partnership with European powerhouses, such as Germany.

Here's the thing. Germany doesn't want to stay down. The Europeans are fully aware that one of the strategic goals of United States is to prevent them from becoming a strategic competitor, of which the European Union is potentially capable just fine. Also, this is all good and well, but there's small matter of China, which happens to be on different side of the continent :D

You are forgetting that it is far more catastrophic than you realize when you plug in the fact that the average life expectancy of a Russian is 55 years for men and not much better for women and the fact that Russia has been increasingly becoming the nation of drunks.
As i said, important, but not immediately relevant. As to nation of drunks, well... :D
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