THE INTELLIGENCE COSTS OF UNDERESTIMATING RUSSIA: A WARNING FROM HISTORY
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Questions over the extent and nature of the relationship between President Donald Trump’s administration and Vladimir Putin’s Russia continue to dominate the headlines. In explosive testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday, Thomas Rid and Clint Watts provided detailed information revealing the extent to which Russian intelligence services deliberately targeted the Hillary Clinton campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and the American political system writ large.
Committees in the House of Representatives and the Senate as well as the FBI are conducting investigations into alleged ties between Moscow and Team Trump. These allegations have claimed the career of one national security advisor and forced Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from the investigation. A dark cloud hangs over erstwhile campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Carter Page, Roger Stone, and others involved with the campaign. The saga continues to twist and turn, gathering momentum with each new revelation about pre-inauguration contact between senior campaign advisors and Russian officials or proxies.