Thread by @blankslate2017

Trump-Ukraine-Russia, a summary: The UKR scandal is part of the #trumprussia scandal. UKR is a front line battlefield in the Russia/Trump/neo-fascist cyberwar vs Western Democracy. It is fundamentally about propaganda & might makes right vs. objective truth and the rule of law.

Here's the story broken down simply: UKR overthrew Putin puppet, Viktor Yanukovych, in 2014. Paul Manafort was Yanukovych's top political advisor. He effectively weaponized Russian active measures to help him win an election in 2010 & jail his opponents. #impeachtrump

Putin’s response to the prospect of a free, independent and pro-EU and pro-NATO Ukraine was to invade it, take Crimea & launch aggressive cyberwar cmpgn vs several western countries: UK, Germany, France, Italy, Austria, & the US and met with some success. #impeachtrump

Putin’s ability to lock into and manipulate far right parties and movements as forces of disruption in western democracies undermined and destabilized the West from within. The crown jewel in Russia’s war against the West was the US election of 2016. #impeachtrump

Russia & Trump conspired to violate US laws, undermine the '16 Election to elect @realdonaldtrump & defeat @hillaryclinton. They both tried to cover it up, primarily by using propaganda to shift blame, confuse the media and public and overpower their enemies.

UKR became an important part of the cover-up. Why? Paul Manafort/Roger Stone & other far right conspiracy theorists. Manafort was fired from the Trump cmpgn in Aug 2016 because his shady UKR connections were outed by Ukrainians. #impeachtrump

Manafort's outing threatened to unravel the entire corrupt Russian intel operation to help Trump win. The media ignored that story (thanks in party to the @nytimes), however, and allowed Russia and the Trump campaign to skate. #impeachtrump

Despite Trump's win, news started to trickle out about Russian involvement in the corruption of our electoral process to benefit Trump. The #steeledossier told the story remarkably well and accurately in real time.

RU & Trump built a counter narrative vs the growing evidence that they colluded to rig the '16 election. The elements of the counter narrative based on Orwellian themes formed by flipping the script. 'Up is Down', 'Black is White', 'You're the puppet. No you're the puppet'.

This approach of leveraging propaganda, projection and fake news presupposes a low attn span populace, a complicit media & the ability to leverage media platforms to message widely. That's America today.

The counter narrative: 1. Crowdstrike - the security firm hired by the DNC to discover the hack, identified Russia as the source. Naturally, therefore, Russia/Trumpers flip that script to say: Crowdstrike hacked the DNC. Inside job.

2. Seth Rich - a young man who worked for the DNC, was murdered in Jul 2016. So naturally, the Russia/Trumpers drag him into their web of lies and say DNC murdered Seth Rich because he ‘saw things’ relating to said ‘inside job’. #impeachtrump

The Russians/Trumpers tried to cover up their crimes. So naturally, the Russians/Trumpers flip the script to say the DNC’s motivation to murder Seth Rich was to cover up their crimes (inside job). #impeachtrump

3. Ukrainian Whistleblowers: Serhiy Leschenko, UKR pol & journalist, @AlexandraChalup, a UKR-American who consulted for the DNC in 2016 + others outed Manafort as a crook + described his RU connections and tactics of propaganda and cyberwar. #impeachtrump

So naturally, the Russians/Trumpers flip the script to say “Ukrainians” conspired with DNC/Clinton to frame Russia for the Russian interference campaign. @DevinNunes & @RudyGiuliani use this messaging almost daily. It's what @realdonaldtrump & AG Barr are trying to push.

4. Christopher Steele: Steele investigated #trumprussia connections & uncovered the election conspiracy in real time. So naturally, the Russians/Trumpers flipped the script to try to discredit the #steeledossier & accuse Steele of conspiring with Clinton to frame Russia & Trump.

If you recall 2017/2018, attacking the Steele Dossier was the primary GOP/Sean Hannity/Fox/Trump talking point in response to the Mueller investigation. [Too bad for them most of the Dossier was validated and few if any claims discredited]. #impeachtrump

5. Biden’s Cleanup of Ukraine: After UKR overthrew Yanukovych & sent him packing to Moscow, @BarackObama appointed @joebiden to run point on western efforts to stabilize a free and independent Ukraine.

@joebiden looked into the issue of corruption & the group said that the corruption friendly prosecutor Viktor Shokin needed to be removed. Shokin refused to investigate corruption among certain UKR companies, including Burisma, the firm that Hunter Biden served as a board member.

Btw the Burisma matters were prior to Hunter Biden’s tenure, so, Biden had no conflict of interests. In fact, Biden arguably went against his son's interests. So naturally, the Russians/Trumpers flip the script to say “Biden fired a Special Prosector to protect his son!

But keep in mind why it’s important for Moscow to undermine this Joe Biden led effort: cleaning up Ukraine meant making it easier to integrate UKR into the EU and perhaps NATO. That pushes UKR out of Russia’s orbit. For Russian nationalists like Putin, that is like a death blow.

6. @rudygiuliani & Paul Manafort - Rudy cut a deal with Manafort to get him to stop cooperating w/Mueller, go to jail in exchange for a pardon dangle & a promise to work the UKR & other angles to undermine the findings of the Mueller probe to set the basis for said pardon.

Manafort buys in & tells Rudy that he can use that as the platform to undermine the Mueller findings. Rudy considers it & makes the connection that he can wrap Biden into this because of his prior involvement in post-Maidan revolution UKR cleanup when he was VP. Trump approves.

From Jan thru Aug '19, Rudy works UKR officials, gets contacts from Russians & perhaps Manafort to reach the shady prosecutor Lutsenko who flirts w/obliging Trump on digging for Biden dirt. A new UKR president is elected in April who is anti-corruption.

@realdonaldtrump, @MickMulvaneyOMB, Pompeo and Rudy put the squeeze on Zelensky, bypass the entire USFP establishment bureaucracy to extort him and the rest we know, which has triggered #impeachment.

7. Lord Barr - As part of Trump’s grand plan to win re-election by undermining the Mueller probe’s findings and changing the corruption narrative to attack Biden, HRC and the Democrats, AG William Barr launches an investigation into the ‘origins of the Russia investigation’.

This is the very issue that @kamalaharris called Barr out on in his May testimony before the Senate. Barr intends to raise conspiracy based accusations against all those that were key to the investigation of the Trump-Russia investigation, undermine, discredit & prosecute them.

The first test case is Andrew McCabe. Barr rigged a prosecution against him, but a GJ appears to have said no. Barr wants to provide a counter narrative under the formal authority of the DOJ to help Trump flip the corruption & criminality script on Dems & ride that to re-election

Why is this impt to @realdonaldtrump? He needs to erase the Fact that he’s an Illegitimate POTUS. For Trump, he cannot win in 2020 with the #trumprussia scandal defining him. He must dominate it.