Pieces of the Russia puzzle are creating a picture

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-business-sought-deal-on-a-trump-tower-in-moscow-while-he-ran-for-president/2017/08/27/d6e95114-8b65-11e7-91d5-ab4e4bb76a3a_story.html?tid=notifi_push_breaking-news&pushid=59a369d9d3e0382e00000007

Pieces of the puzzle are beginning to fit into a recognizable picture.

Is this what was motivating Trump to cozy up to Putin? I suspected he had hopes of financial gain in Russia and wrote about it then, but I thought there was still more there that motivated such an obvious and publicly stated "bromance" between the two. Speculation has been that Russia knows information of his questionable financial dealings they could hold over him. The Mueller investigation may or may not reveal that. In any case, it smells like Trump was being played by Russia and Trump was willing to go along, seeing it to his advantage in business if were not elected.

. It may explain the puzzle of why so many of those with Russian connections and dealings to be a major part of Trump's campaign staff and the West Wing. They were on the same wavelength, at minimum. The Russian interference in the election shows mutual interests flowed both ways whether or not there was collusion or actual coordination.. All of this was speculation in the 2016 campaign but was either considered fake news, conspiracy theories, or, if considered to be true, it was sadly accepted as being OK by those who otherwise considered themselves as red blooded Americans who put America first and voted him into office.

See the posting on this blog 6/19/16 Donald Trump's position on NATO has a Grand County impact,
and Trump's Foreign policy: Make Russia great again 9/8/16