Thread by @moscow_project

THREAD: The Trump Team’s Quid Pro Quo on Collusion
thedailybeast.com/mueller-ready-…

Mueller is reportedly “preparing court filings that are expected to detail Trump associates’ conversations about sanctions relief—and spell out how those offers and counter-proposals were characterized to top figures” on Trump’s team. thedailybeast.com/mueller-ready-…

We’ve been tracking the ongoing stories about sanctions relief—and how they add up to a clear quid pro quo for Russia’s help during the 2016 election.
themoscowproject.org/reports/putins…

To start with, there was the Trump campaign’s decision to weaken the Republican Party platform’s stance on arming Ukraine against Russia’s illegal invasion of Crimea. themoscowproject.org/dispatch/ukrai…

Even if Trump hadn't won, softening the GOP’s stance on Russia was a clear win for Putin—especially given Trump’s repeated suggestions he might be willing to recognize Russia’s invasion of Crimea as legitimate and roll back sanctions. politico.com/story/2016/08/…

Then, during the transition, there were the famous phone calls between Michael Flynn and Sergey Kislyak, convincing Russia not to respond to Obama’s sanctions for interfering in the 2016 election. themoscowproject.org/dispatch/what-…

Mueller’s already told us that those conversations also dealt with things that happened during the campaign as well as the transition, a clear sign he sees the phone calls as part of a quid pro quo. themoscowproject.org/dispatch/what-…

Flynn was also involved in another effort that looked like a clear quid pro quo: the meeting in the Seychelles with representatives of Russia and the UAE during the transition. themoscowproject.org/explainers/sey…

At first, they claimed it was about setting up a back-channel for communications, but that never made sense—after all, the meeting was itself a back-channel communication. themoscowproject.org/explainers/sey…

A more plausible explanation: the meeting had to do with the “Middle East Marshall Plan,” a nuclear-power plan with which Flynn was involved that would require throwing out sanctions on Russia. themoscowproject.org/explainers/sey…

That would also explain why Flynn reportedly texted a business partner that sanctions would soon be ripped up—while Trump was still giving his inauguration speech. politico.com/story/2017/12/…

That would place it as part of a broader attempt by the Trump transition team and the early administration to get rid of sanctions on Russia. nbcnews.com/politics/white…

They didn’t end up ripping up sanctions, but they’ve done as much as they can to undermine every effort to punish Russia for its attacks, making a mockery of Congress’s attempts to do so. foreignpolicy.com/2018/03/01/tru…

It’s all part of Putin’s payout for his investment in Trump, who has spent more than two years delivering on just about all the Kremlin’s top foreign policy goals. themoscowproject.org/reports/putins…