Thread by @TheBastard007

(1) Let’s talk about actual Russian Influence and Collusion. And we’re not talking meme farms here, folks. I mean hardcore, “this-should-be-a-fictional-novel!” stuff. We’ll go back in time to Russia in the late 80’s.

(2) As the USSR was collapsing, one man figured out how to maximize the profit from this. He was so good at it, he actually taught the Russian Oligarchs his secrets. Together, they economically destroyed Russia. That man? Clinton mega-donor Marc Rich.

(3) Rich was not only instrumental in working with the Oligarchs to financially pillage Russia, he was key in working with the KGB to offshore billions of dollars in hidden funds. One such person he worked with was an undercover KGB officer in East Berlin named Vladimir Putin.

(4)Rich eventually was muscled out of much of Russian business by the very Oligarchs he taught how to evade the system, but retained cordial relations with most of them. Including this man – Boris Berezovsky, the Godfather of the Oligarchs.

(5)Fast-forward to the 1991-2 Elections – US and Russia. The US elected Bill Clinton, and Russia elected this man – Boris Yeltsin, first elected President of the new Russia.

(6)Yeltsin’s election brought a sigh of relief to both George Bush and Bill Clinton. He was outwardly very anti-Communist and pro-business. But there was a small problem with that.

(7)The Oligarchs heavily backed and funded Yeltsin, none more so than Boris Berezovsky. This was the best way to continue the financial pillaging of Russia, after all.

(8)By this time, Putin was back in Russia and working in local government in Saint Petersburg. He would eventually find his way to Moscow working various relatively minor government jobs. Keep that thought in mind.

(9)Anyway, Yeltsin’s 1st term was an economic disaster for Russia. The Oligarchs were soon virtually all-powerful, and the country was a shamble. Teetering right on the edge of collapse back into Communism, in fact.

(10) Yeltsin gained a very important ally, however – US President Bill Clinton. While it’s obvious that a US President would do whatever it took to encourage Russia to resist Communism, some of what happened was…less so.

(11) Marc Rich’s wife, a wealthy heiress and songwriter, was Denise Rich at that time. Denise was a massive Clinton donor and friend of the Clinton’s. She visited the White House on dozens of occasions. Some even say there was an affair…

(12) But Marc Rich was persona non grata in America, having been indicted for a host of financial crimes previously by then-US Attorney Rudy Giuliani. But even as an international fugitive from several countries, he had his connections.

(13) Meanwhile, Berezovsky and the Oligarchs were in a panic. Yeltsin’s numbers were tanking, and it was appearing certain that the Communists would win the next election. Fearing total disaster, a plan was formed.

(14) Yeltsin obviously needed help, and Clinton was approached for that help. While nothing too overt could be seen to happen, there just so happened to be a way to backchannel all the help Yeltsin needed to win – The Riches, and the Oligarchs.

(15) The connections were made, and the power of the US Government was brought to bear. Top political consultants, including a Clinton campaign consultant, worked on Yeltsin’s behalf, both inside and outside Russia.

bit.ly/2zO7Ub5

(16) They blanketed the country with pro-Yeltsin propaganda, many say with the aid of US in-place intelligence assets.

(17) Meanwhile, the Oligarchs and Russia obtained a $10 Billion loan from the IMF. The Clinton White House ensured this loan.

(18) This would later be shown to be a complete scam and was never repaid. Yeltsin’s election was almost entirely bankrolled by this “loan”. The IMF was strong-armed by the US into never pursuing this.

theguardian.com/world/1999/oct…

(19) And all of this worked. While the election was hopelessly mired in corruption, Yeltsin nevertheless turned around single-digit approval ratings and convincingly won re-election.

(20) So, a major crisis for the Russian gangsters was averted, for a time. Yeltsin, however, had health problems he never fully disclosed. And he was privately having reservations about the Deal with the Devil he had made.

(21) Soon after the election, Berezovsky and the other gangsters began to sense the tide turning with Yeltsin. Something was wrong, and Yeltsin had begun bringing on people into his administration that were not quite as friendly to the Oligarchs as desired.

(22) This, of course, would not do. A more…reliable apparatus would be needed, while still keeping the Communists from control.

(23) Berezovsky himself began the recruitment drive for just such people and began inserting them into Yeltsin’s administration under thinly-veiled threats of public revelation and worse.

(24) Berezovsky eventually settled on a replacement for Yeltsin that he considered to be a rising star with massive potential - Vladimir Putin, who worked in obscurity in State External Property Management in Moscow. An absolute nobody from nowhere.

bit.ly/2O2sFmf

(25) Putin, meanwhile, saw an opportunity. He became a prodigy of Berezovsky’s, and in 1998 Berezovsky forced Yeltsin to appoint Putin to a Deputy position on his staff. From there, Putin continued to impress both Berezovsky, and also Yeltsin.

(26) Putin’s rise was meteoric. He was appointed in mere months to Director of the FSB, the successor to the KGB. Then, in 1999, Yeltsin appointed Putin as a First Deputy Prime Minister, and the same day, was installed as Yeltsin’s successor.

(27) Yeltsin would later resign “unexpectedly” in 2000, and the Oligarch’s plan would come to fruition. Putin was now the President of Russia.

(28) Soon after, as Bill Clinton’s last act in office, he pardoned Marc Rich of all crimes, to much controversy. His service needed rewarding, apparently.

brookings.edu/opinions/bill-…

(29) The Oligarchs were satisfied, and the US Government was satisfied. Here was the next generation of Russian President, a student of Yeltsin, friend of the Oligarchs and Russian business interests, who would stay the course.

(30) And what was that course? Allow the Oligarch gangsters to continue to strip-mine Russia, while staying compliant and friendly to US interests and global aspirations.

(31) The problem was Putin, who said and did all the right things to the powers that be, but never had any intention of being the next Yeltsin, being in pawn to the Oligarchs, or losing the country to the Communists.

(32) Almost immediately, Putin turned on the power brokers and Oligarchs. Within two years, all of them were either imprisoned or run out of the country. And the relatively cordial relationship with the US ground to a halt.

telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews…

(33) Berezovsky fled Russia in November 2000 and was a vocal critic of Putin for the rest of his life. He received political exile status in England in 2003 and died in 2013. Cause of death, suicide or murder, remains unclear to this day.

reut.rs/2JBIE7l

(34) Putin knew that he needed to co-opt the people in a different direction than Communism, while eliminating any internal threat to his power. He found the source of keeping and holding power in this way.

(35) But Putin would continue his deception with the West. His rather famous “relationship” with George Bush was a prime example, which even Bush acknowledges was a sham in the end.

thehill.com/blogs/blog-bri…

(36) Fast-forward to 2009. Hillary Clinton is confirmed as Secretary of State. Overtures to Russia were made, including the famous “reset button”, but Putin would have none of it. He would not be another Yeltsin, would not strike another deal.

(37) Hillary Clinton’s appointment as Secretary of State doomed relations with Russia due to this history. There would never be any chance with Hillary and Putin. Hillary quickly realized this. Now, only total war would do.

washingtonpost.com/world/national…

(38) Putin, meanwhile, was perfectly willing to exploit US unwillingness to exert strength on the world stage. Putin is a very clever predator, after all.

brookings.edu/blog/order-fro…

(39) Fast-forward to today. Putin is still President, and more popular internally than ever. Putin has never experienced an America that was not trying to control internal Russian affairs. Perhaps until now.

(40) And now comes Trump. Putin likely never believed Trump would be President, like most, yet here he is. Not controlled by deep interests, and beholden to none of the traditional power establishment.

(41) Putin realizes this. And that is why there is hope that we may actually hit the reset button now that disastrous Clinton Administration decisions had all but burned to the ground.

(42) So – thank the Clintons for Vladimir Putin if you wish. He certainly would not be where he is today without them. And understand a bit more about Putin, if you would – we may just stave off the 2nd Cold War if you can.