Michael, please review your excellent article and correct the typos. I spotted at least three. I understand that your defective keyboard may have contributed to them, and those of us who write without editors or proofreaders can certainly relate. However, some readers may seize on these errors as an opportunity to undermine your credibility. I would hate to see that.
100% agree ....it can undermine credibility and should not happen. The 'bad keyboard' is a true thing as for the last ten days i've been on an old backup macbook while my regular is getting fixed. Not an excuse but I"m getting tripped up by it. Renewe commitment! Thanks!
You may not be aware of it, but I wrote about this at great length in American Kompromat. With the help of former KGB officer Yuri Shvets, I was able to go back to 1980 when Semion Kislin, a spotter agent for the KGB, induced Trump to buy hundreds of TVs for the Grand Hyatt from a KGB front, thereby initiating their recruitment of Trump as an asset. My conclusion is that Trump is an asset.
Hi Craig, nice to hear from you. Would love to talk sometime. Yes -- I'm familiar. My conclusion is similar....kind of turns on the definition of 'asset', as oppose to 'agent'. I go into that in some detail. I seem as having becoome a cooperating asset but not a fully recruited agent -- as of 1987 after the trip. Is that similar to your conclusion? Would e interested in discussing the nuances at some point. Very much appreciate your work on this, which is helpful to my understanding of it.
Yes, I think we are pretty much on the same page. Yuri Shvets gave me a fairly detailed account of KGB protocols for recruiting assets. I still have some unanswered questions, of course, but you can see how they cultivated Trump, bit by bit. And yes, as an asset, not an agent.
trump sure has been nice to putin: no more cyber warfare, a relaxation of sanctions, compliments galore, and disrespect to Ukraine and its fine president, Zelensky (who dressed a little Churchill--and we sure as hell didn't hear about FDR being upset with Churchill's outfit when he stayed in the White house during the war). I refuse to capitalize trump and putin, btw.
According to pollster Doug Shoen's biography, Trump hired him in 1987 to assess Trump's chances for the next presidential election (NY Post, 2023). Trump did make a brief run and claimed it was to boost his real estate career (biographer Michael D'Antonio). Trump teased a run on Oprah, 1988. This was all discussed briefly on PBS Newshour July 20, 2016. I believe that Trump's 1987-88 effort, like the ad attacking US support of allies, occurred after Trump's return from Moscow. Thanks for your detailed assessment. I look forward to more.
Your articles on the KGB’s interest and cultivation of Trump as an asset are very interesting. I appreciate your insights, based on your experience, and chronological analyses of related events.
But the sad and unforgivable fact is that too many Americans have excused tRump from any accountability and are reflexively pro Putin and against Ukraine. It’s beyond pathetic but here we are. So whether or not he is compromised, a large minority (thank god not the majority) of American voters bought the propaganda and gaslighting BS from the orange rapey felon and intentionally want our government to fail for whatever grievance or motivation compels them to vote “R”.
Thanks, Michael for two excellent open-minded articles. I found them extremely educational and thorough. I’m currently writing a related article that will include applying a hypothesis-testing matrix (HTM) to determine the probability that Trump is a Russian agent of some type. The method is described by Morgan Jones, former CIA analyst, in his book “The Thinker’s Toolkit: 14 Powerful Techniques for Problem Solving,” pages 178 to 216.
The basic idea is that HTM works well on complex problems where available evidence is scarce and difficult to evaluate. All potential hypotheses explaining a behavior (such as Trump’s) are the columns. Each row is one piece of evidence. The cells are binary. Is this evidence consistent or inconsistent with the hypothesis? The winning hypothesis is the one that is the least inconsistent with the evidence. A wrinkle I will attempt is using MECE (mutually exclusive collectively exhaustive) to ensure the set of hypotheses is complete and covers all possible hypotheses, at least at a high level. Don’t yet know if an HTM and MECE approach is possible, but will give it a try to help move us all forward.
Interested to learn about Trump's foray into foreign policy in 1987-88 after returning from Moscow (eg, critical newspaper ads). Are current leaders (eg, Sen Schumer) aware of your analysis? If not, they should be made aware.
I was trained to recognize this when I became. U.S. Foreign Service Officer. One of my Soviet colleagues (known to me as such) turned up at my house unannounced one day “as a courtesy” in Algiers (1983-84). I was watching TV with the family and a Marine Security Guard friend. (I wrote a commendatory letter to the MSG chief to say that his guy had acted perfectly: said hello and then not another word, not any). Per protocol I wrote up the meeting with copies to station chief, security officer, etc. The CIA guy told me the visitor was well known to him as a “friendly persuader”. I remember he said he (the Soviet) was a Turkey specialist: what was he doing in Algeria? (I seem to recall the Soviet guy brought a gift of caviar. Since I’d served in Tehran in 1979 [sic] I wasn’t terribly impressed. It was within the rules to accept it.)
Yep for sure. They and we (CIA) kinda did the same sorts of things as far as bing "friendly persuaders" to the other side. Caviar was their go-to, and ours was more basic -- a bottle of johnny walker red (Africa) and black (Asia). Were you in Tehran in Nov 1979?
Michael, please review your excellent article and correct the typos. I spotted at least three. I understand that your defective keyboard may have contributed to them, and those of us who write without editors or proofreaders can certainly relate. However, some readers may seize on these errors as an opportunity to undermine your credibility. I would hate to see that.
100% agree ....it can undermine credibility and should not happen. The 'bad keyboard' is a true thing as for the last ten days i've been on an old backup macbook while my regular is getting fixed. Not an excuse but I"m getting tripped up by it. Renewe commitment! Thanks!
Agreed. There were many typos . A second set of eyes before release may help. Do keep these essays coming!
You may not be aware of it, but I wrote about this at great length in American Kompromat. With the help of former KGB officer Yuri Shvets, I was able to go back to 1980 when Semion Kislin, a spotter agent for the KGB, induced Trump to buy hundreds of TVs for the Grand Hyatt from a KGB front, thereby initiating their recruitment of Trump as an asset. My conclusion is that Trump is an asset.
Hi Craig, nice to hear from you. Would love to talk sometime. Yes -- I'm familiar. My conclusion is similar....kind of turns on the definition of 'asset', as oppose to 'agent'. I go into that in some detail. I seem as having becoome a cooperating asset but not a fully recruited agent -- as of 1987 after the trip. Is that similar to your conclusion? Would e interested in discussing the nuances at some point. Very much appreciate your work on this, which is helpful to my understanding of it.
Yes, I think we are pretty much on the same page. Yuri Shvets gave me a fairly detailed account of KGB protocols for recruiting assets. I still have some unanswered questions, of course, but you can see how they cultivated Trump, bit by bit. And yes, as an asset, not an agent.
Sorry bad keyboard... "I see him as having become...."
trump sure has been nice to putin: no more cyber warfare, a relaxation of sanctions, compliments galore, and disrespect to Ukraine and its fine president, Zelensky (who dressed a little Churchill--and we sure as hell didn't hear about FDR being upset with Churchill's outfit when he stayed in the White house during the war). I refuse to capitalize trump and putin, btw.
What Putin failed to do in 3 years in Ukraine, he managed to do in 3 weeks in the US
According to pollster Doug Shoen's biography, Trump hired him in 1987 to assess Trump's chances for the next presidential election (NY Post, 2023). Trump did make a brief run and claimed it was to boost his real estate career (biographer Michael D'Antonio). Trump teased a run on Oprah, 1988. This was all discussed briefly on PBS Newshour July 20, 2016. I believe that Trump's 1987-88 effort, like the ad attacking US support of allies, occurred after Trump's return from Moscow. Thanks for your detailed assessment. I look forward to more.
That's a very good analysis, Michael. Keep it coming.
thanks for the update
Your articles on the KGB’s interest and cultivation of Trump as an asset are very interesting. I appreciate your insights, based on your experience, and chronological analyses of related events.
But the sad and unforgivable fact is that too many Americans have excused tRump from any accountability and are reflexively pro Putin and against Ukraine. It’s beyond pathetic but here we are. So whether or not he is compromised, a large minority (thank god not the majority) of American voters bought the propaganda and gaslighting BS from the orange rapey felon and intentionally want our government to fail for whatever grievance or motivation compels them to vote “R”.
If you are interested, there are several articles from serious media outlets depicting the American Right's fascination with Putin.
Some wonder how his first wife actually died. Healthy female who fell down stairs and died from blunt force trauma. She knew everything. !!!!
Thanks, Michael for two excellent open-minded articles. I found them extremely educational and thorough. I’m currently writing a related article that will include applying a hypothesis-testing matrix (HTM) to determine the probability that Trump is a Russian agent of some type. The method is described by Morgan Jones, former CIA analyst, in his book “The Thinker’s Toolkit: 14 Powerful Techniques for Problem Solving,” pages 178 to 216.
The basic idea is that HTM works well on complex problems where available evidence is scarce and difficult to evaluate. All potential hypotheses explaining a behavior (such as Trump’s) are the columns. Each row is one piece of evidence. The cells are binary. Is this evidence consistent or inconsistent with the hypothesis? The winning hypothesis is the one that is the least inconsistent with the evidence. A wrinkle I will attempt is using MECE (mutually exclusive collectively exhaustive) to ensure the set of hypotheses is complete and covers all possible hypotheses, at least at a high level. Don’t yet know if an HTM and MECE approach is possible, but will give it a try to help move us all forward.
Apparently so…..
With his narcissistic tendencies & inflated ego…. Prime time candidate for recruitment !!🤬🤮🤔
Interested to learn about Trump's foray into foreign policy in 1987-88 after returning from Moscow (eg, critical newspaper ads). Are current leaders (eg, Sen Schumer) aware of your analysis? If not, they should be made aware.
Excellent essays Michael. Question: How much of the kgb recruitment process changed since the Kim Philby years?
I was trained to recognize this when I became. U.S. Foreign Service Officer. One of my Soviet colleagues (known to me as such) turned up at my house unannounced one day “as a courtesy” in Algiers (1983-84). I was watching TV with the family and a Marine Security Guard friend. (I wrote a commendatory letter to the MSG chief to say that his guy had acted perfectly: said hello and then not another word, not any). Per protocol I wrote up the meeting with copies to station chief, security officer, etc. The CIA guy told me the visitor was well known to him as a “friendly persuader”. I remember he said he (the Soviet) was a Turkey specialist: what was he doing in Algeria? (I seem to recall the Soviet guy brought a gift of caviar. Since I’d served in Tehran in 1979 [sic] I wasn’t terribly impressed. It was within the rules to accept it.)
Yep for sure. They and we (CIA) kinda did the same sorts of things as far as bing "friendly persuaders" to the other side. Caviar was their go-to, and ours was more basic -- a bottle of johnny walker red (Africa) and black (Asia). Were you in Tehran in Nov 1979?