What To DO . . . And Krasnov — Really? March 2, 2025 The company that emails these posts to those of you who subscribe (the free trial period is now in its 29th year, but who’s counting?) encountered some kind of issue that kept Saturday night’s 9pm post from going out. (I retried at midnight, 1am and 10am as well — no luck.) So: I don’t know whether or when this one will reach subscribers, either. (I’m posting it Sunday afternoon.) If you did miss What To Do About Our Debt And Our Dictator, just click. I worked pretty hard on it. And now . . . The Krasnov file, so to speak. A thoughtful assessment of its credibility from “a former CIA Russia specialist who served in Moscow right about the time Trump first visited.” He concludes: One key misconception about espionage is the idea that ‘kompromat’ is the primary tool of recruitment. While kompromat can play a role, coerced agents are often unreliable and difficult to control. A much more effective intelligence relationship is one in which the collaborator sees mutual benefit. Trump’s rhetoric and actions in recent years—his reluctance to criticize Putin, his efforts to weaken NATO, and his alignment with Russian disinformation campaigns—do not suggest someone acting under duress. Instead, they suggest someone who, for his own reasons, has fully embraced the Russian position. Whether or not Trump was recruited in 1987 may ultimately be less important than the fact that today, he is aligned with Putin’s interests. Whatever the origins of that alignment, its current reality is undeniable. Watch 90 seconds of President Zelensky two weeks ago. Yes, he should be thanking us for your support — and has, over and over. But we should be thanking him, too. He and his countrymen have been doing all the fighting, dying, sacrificing, and suffering to protect NATO’s 32 democratic members from aggression.