Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #roadtounfreedom
Most recents (12)
In April 2016, I broke the story of Trump and Putin, using Russian open sources. Afterwards, I heard vague intimations that something was awry in the FBI in New York, specifically counter-intelligence and cyber. We now have a suggestion as to why. 0/20
For more elaboration on the thread below, see my Substack piece:
"The Specter of 2016: McGonigal, Trump, and the Truth about America"
open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/t… 00/20
"The Specter of 2016: McGonigal, Trump, and the Truth about America"
open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/t… 00/20
The person who led the relevant section, Charles McGonigal, has just been charged with taking money from the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Follow this thread to see just how this connects to the victory of Trump, the Russian war in Ukraine, and U.S. national security. 1/20
In April 2016, I broke the story of Trump and Putin, using Russian open sources. Afterwards, I heard vague intimations that something was awry in the FBI in New York, specifically counter-intelligence and cyber. We now have a suggestion as to why. 0/20
The person who led the relevant section, Charles McGonigal, has just been charged with taking money from the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Follow this thread to see just how this connects to the victory of Trump, the Russian war in Ukraine, and U.S. national security. 1/20
The reason I was thinking about Trump & Putin in 2016 was a pattern. Russia had sought to control Ukraine, using social media, money, & a pliable head of state. Russia backed Trump the way that it had backed Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, in the hopes of soft control 2/20
1/14 My six books about #Ukraine. I am called upon to answer questions about Ukraine every day. My books, which represent a quarter century of research and thought, often do a better job than I can while speaking live or in short pieces.
2/14 I don't often mention my books on Ukraine, because I feel uneasy promoting things that cost money while people in Ukraine are suffering and dying in this horrible unjustifiable invasion. I will continue to make meaningful donations to Ukraine. If you can, I hope you will too
3/14 My book that is most immediately relevant to the Russian invasion of Ukraine is "The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America." It is a history of the 2010s that links Russia's first invasion of Ukraine (2014) to its interference in US elections (2016).
1/8. Russia has a history of aiming for quick and decisive strikes against Ukraine, failing, then revealing the aims of the operation in media prepared on the assumption of success.
2/8. Such a sequences of events unfolded in 2014 during a Ukrainian presidential election. Russia tried to hack Ukraine's central election commission so that it would present a far-right candidate, who in fact got less than 1% of the vote, as the winner.
3/8. The hack failed, but Russian media had been prepared for its success; and Russian television went on air with falsified results and even digital images that matched what the hack was supposed to produce. (See #RoadToUnfreedom)
24/50 Russian military intelligence penetrated the Democratic National Committee in March 2016 as well as personal accounts of leading Democrats. Stolen emails were then used to discredit Hillary Clinton and aid Mr. Trump. (#RoadToUnfreedom, p. 232).
25/50 George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy advisor of the Trump campaign, is told by Russians in April 2016 that "dirt" on Hillary Clinton is available. He then met with Mr. Trump. He was later convicted of lying to the FBI (#RoadToUnfreedom, p. 240).
26/50 A Russian military intelligence officer bragged in May 2016 that his organization would take revenge on Hillary Clinton on behalf of Mr. Putin (#RoadToUnfreedom, p. 227).
0A/50 Let us recall how Mr. Trump and his campaign, including Mr. Flynn, benefited from Russian support and cooperated with Russian citizens and institutions. Here are 50 ways.
0B/50 The facts in this thread are a matter of public record, and the sources can be found in my book "The Road to Unfreedom." #RoadToUnfreedom #Obamagate
1/50 In 1984, Russian gangsters began to launder money by buying and selling apartment units in Trump Tower (#RoadToUnfreedom, p. 220).
1/10. Ukraine matters today as it has mattered for a century: as a signal of coming political trends. A century ago, it was the center of the wars after the First World War that ended in the creation of the Soviet Union. #SerhiiPlokhii #GatesofEurope
2/10. For Stalin, Ukraine was a breadbasket to be exploited to modernize the USSR. His policies led to the starvation of millions of inhabitants of Ukraine. @anneapplebaum #RedFamine
3/10. For Hitler, Ukraine was a breadbasket to be exploited to create a German empire. His desire to take Ukraine from the USSR brought about the Second World War. #Bloodlands
1/10 After the Mueller report, everyone admits that there was a Russian campaign to elect Mr. Trump president of the United States in 2016. Amidst all the noise and spin, this is worth noting and remembering.
2/10 Many of those who now admit that there was a Russian campaign to elect Mr. Trump knew this in 2016. Why were there zero patriots in his campaign or in his party who said so at the time?
3/10 Now that everyone accepts there was a Russian campaign to elect Mr Trump, we can ask whether it made the difference. Mr Trump's a talented orator who spoke to American problems. But Russia made him possible & tipped the balance. See Jamieson's Cyberwar or my #RoadtoUnfreedom
48/50 In September 2017, a Russian parliamentarian said on national television that the American security services "slept through" as Russia chose the US president (#RoadToUnfreedom, p. 225).
49/50 2017-2018 Mr. Mueller's investigation led to the indictment of Russia's Internet Research Agency, several Russian military intelligence officers, and multiple associates and campaign officials of Mr. Trump. It also produced a report that we have not yet been allowed to read
50/50 In June 2018, Mr. Putin confirmed before the international press that he had wanted Mr. Trump to win. At that same summit, in Helsinki, Mr. Trump said that he trusted Mr. Putin more than his own advisors. (#RoadToUnfreedom, p. 227).
25/50 George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy advisor of the Trump campaign, is told by Russians in April 2016 that "dirt" on Hillary Clinton is available. He then met with Mr. Trump. He was later convicted of lying to the FBI (#RoadToUnfreedom, p. 240).
26/50 A Russian military intelligence officer bragged in May 2016 that his organization would take revenge on Hillary Clinton on behalf of Mr. Putin (#RoadToUnfreedom, p. 227).
27/50 Carter Page, an advisor of the Trump campaign, traveled to Moscow in July 2016. He then worked with success to make the Republican platform friendlier to Russia at the Republican National Convention (#RoadToUnfreedom, p. 214).
0/50 Why we do think that Mr. Trump owes a debt to Mr. Putin? Here are fifty reasons. All of the facts are a matter of public record, and all of the sources can be found in my book The Road to Unfreedom. #RoadToUnfreedom
1/50 In 1984, Russian gangsters began to launder money by buying and selling apartment units in Trump Tower (#RoadToUnfreedom, p. 220).
2/50 In 1986, Mr. Trump was courted by Soviet diplomats, who suggested that a bright future awaited him in Moscow (#RoadToUnfreedom, p. 220).
@TimothyDSnyder 1/50 In 1984, Russian gangsters began to launder money by buying and selling apartment units in Trump Tower (#RoadToUnfreedom, p. 220).
@TimothyDSnyder 2/50 In 1986, Mr. Trump was courted by Soviet diplomats, who suggested that a bright future awaited him in Moscow (#RoadToUnfreedom, p. 220).
@TimothyDSnyder 3/50 In 1987, the Soviet state paid for Mr. Trump to visit Moscow, putting him up in a suite that was certainly bugged (#RoadToUnfreedom, p. 220).
