Seth Abramson Profile picture
NYT bestselling Trump biographer. Lawyer. Songwriter. Journalism professor (retired). More: https://t.co/C61aEoBmYZ, https://t.co/j6EVBmIW3k

Nov 2, 2017, 18 tweets

Trump told Gordon—NatSec Director for his campaign policy office—the words he wanted in the GOP platform on Ukraine.

2/ In an interview with OANN (see YouTube) Gordon is introduced as the "Director of National Security for the Trump Campaign Policy Office."

3/ So at least four Trump aides—and Trump—were involved in changing the GOP platform in a pro-Putin way. The 3 below and an unnamed fourth.

4/ The prior tweet excerpts a Business Insider article by Natasha Bertrand, who's done truly *stellar* work covering the Trump-Russia probe.

5/ Here's the reference to the unnamed fourth Trump aide. Was it Page? Phares? Papadopoulos? We don't know. I suspect Mueller does, or will.

6/ So: Trump issued the order 4 months earlier; 4 aides (at least) were tasked with executing it; they were anxious and aggressive. Hmm...

7/ Don't forget who Rick Dearborn is: before the RNC, the Kremlin reached out to him to set up a meeting—with Putin. newsweek.com/rick-dearborn-…

8/ Donald Trump knew nothing about foreign policy in March 2016 and had no curiosity about it. So who directed him on the platform language?

9/ Was it Manafort (in which case his recent indictments for work he did for pro-Putin elements in the Ukraine ARE campaign-related)? Flynn?

10/ We know this much: Manafort felt he needed to *lie* to media about the campaign pushing for the platform change.

11/ Kislyak skipped the Dems' event—but met with Gordon twice, Page once, Phares once and Sessions twice at the RNC. businessinsider.com/kislyak-sessio…

12/ Let's be clear—not ONE PERSON IN LAW ENFORCEMENT sees no connection between the Kislyak meetings at the RNC and the GOP platform change.

13/ But in case *you're* uncertain—remember Sessions *admitted* he spoke about the Ukraine with Kislyak at the RNC and in his Senate office.

14/ When did Sessions' NatSec team learn Russia had "dirt" on Clinton? April '16. So the seeming quid pro quo at the RNC was 3 months later.

15/ When did the DNC report it was hacked? June of 2016. So a *month* before the seeming quid pro quo at the Republican National Convention.

16/ The fact pattern isn't confusing: Trump's campaign knew Russia committed crimes to get HRC and DNC dirt. It traded policy for that dirt.

17/ And don't forget Veselnitskaya left an "appetizer"—a piece of the Clinton dirt Russia had—at Trump's house (Trump Tower) in June 2016.

18/ As someone who's read thousands of police reports in my life, I'm telling you this fact pattern is so damn *obvious* it's embarrassing.

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