Thread by @20committee

In my latest column, I compare today's DC Russian penetration problems with the terrible experience the USA had with Kremlin espionage 70 years ago, at the dawn of the last Cold War.

Some lessons and warnings clearly present themselves. /1

observer.com/2018/07/cold-w…

First, the Russian spy network is bigger than you think. And hidden. Public discussions of Kremlin spies represent the mere tip of the espionage iceberg. Most of the turncoats clandestinely working for Moscow will never been unmasked, much less prosecuted. That's reality.

/2

Second, espionage is a tough crime to prove, even when the US Government has gold-standard top-secret intel like VENONA in its back pocket. Does Mueller have something similar today? We may know that answer soon.

/3

Third, Kremlin agents will deny their crimes for as long as they possibly can, evidence be damned. Alger Hiss denied his espionage for Moscow to his dying day, despite being obviously guilty by that point. Trumpers will be no different. Be prepared for endless lies.

/4

Fourth, the risk of charlatanry is real & dangerous. Nobody damaged US counterintelligence more than lyin' Sen Joe McCarthy. Democrats today will wind up creating their own McCarthys if they’re not careful about distinguishing counterintelligence fact from hothouse spy-mania.

/5

However, there's good news too. Most of those caught up in VENONA were committed Communists. They believed in the cause, sometimes more than their lives. In contrast, it’s impossible to imagine any members of Trump’s seedy and greedy retinue taking a bullet for the president.

/6

Last, & importantly, Moscow’s secret helpers today just aren’t that bright. In the 1940s many of them were smart and committed. Today, they're mostly 4th rate morons who barely bother to hide their treachery. And Mueller is coming....it's all here. /7X

observer.com/2018/07/cold-w…