John Bolton just further kneecapped #Russiagate — it seems

Somebody alert Emptywheel, er Emptymind, her flunky BMaz I mean BPutz, other ex-Kossacks, or better, at least in his case, an ex-Kossasshole, and current general asshole, and BlueAnons in general. I say this based on what Bmaz said related to Marcy anonymously narking on an alleged journo who she has yet to name four-plus years later. Or my ripping him here for Green Derangement Syndrome. Or both of them, to get back to the theme, here for having previous Russiagate wet dreams crushed. (If they actually knew federal law, and the difference between federal criminal and civil law — which they don't — they wouldn't be such idiots.

And, how did Bolton kneecap Russiagate?

He said that in the middle of his neoconning as Trump's national security advisor, the idea of trading arms dealer Viktor Bout for Paul Whelan was discussed — and rejected.

OTOH, parse his words:

“The possibility of a Bout-for-Whelan trade existed back then,” said Bolton, 74, “and it wasn’t made, for very good reasons having to deal with Viktor Bout.”

Does that mean that Russia actually broached it at some level? Or rather, that Trump broached it and Bolton told him no fucking way?

Yeah, Trump joined in on dogging Biden:

“Why wasn’t former Marine Paul Whelan included in this totally one-sided transaction? He would have been let out for the asking,” the former president said. “What a ‘stupid’ and unpatriotic embarrassment for the USA!!!”

But the flighty weathervane might have had different thoughts four years ago

This also raises questions of why Biden did this (if he agrees with Trump and Bolton that Bout is that bad). I don't, and neither does the judge who presided at his trial, who said earlier this year, when Bout-for-Griner was first floated, that he should be out of prison in some way, shape or form anyway. That judge, Shira Sheindlin, in this piece primarily about Bout's lawyer, said she sentenced him to 25 years only because federal minimums required that.

“It is virtually undisputed that until the DEA went after Bout, he had not committed a crime chargeable in an American court in all his years as an arms dealer,” she said at his sentencing. “But for the approach made through this determined sting operation, there is no reason to believe that Bout would ever have committed the charged crimes.”

There you go.

Even more, though, it raises the issue of whether Putin actually would have agreed to such a deal. I mean, Bout is not big skin off his back, and he's not connected to the Russian government. See more on that from a UN weapons inspector talking at Democracy Now.

That may be also related to the issue of whether Whelan is indeed a spy. Let's look at more of Bolton's words:

“There are occasions when you swap spies. Obviously, there are legitimate exchanges of prisoners of war,” he continued.

Parse them, too.

Just maybe Whelen is a spy, and since Bout isn't, no deal from Putin. Per that link about Bout's lawyer, Russia refused to release Whelan along with Trevor Reed. Zissou adds that he thinks the seeming entrapment of Bout poisoned US-Russia prisoner exchange details in general. Thanks, Shrub Bush.

So, on the first part of the triple bankshot, yeah, Bolton probably did kneecap Russiagate further. Not hard to do if you're not BlueAnon.

On the second issue, of why Biden did this, yeah, maybe he did feel pressure. Maybe he also knew that the likes of Bolton are full of shit.

And, that's my third bankshot, and they ARE full of shit. And, per Whelan's brother, Bolton and Trump are also asshats.

But, back to Whelan. I do think he was a spy, but I'm going to drop details into a separate post.

There's one tidbit besides that, though, and it relates to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel's bombshell interview published several days ago that the Minsk Accords were designed just to string Putin out while the West rearmed.

Per an NPR piece about how NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg worries about the war expanding, Putin has said he wishes he invaded earlier, though he doesn't talk about why he didn't catch on earlier, if he did not. That said, and, as reflected in the Brittney Griner exchange, and ignored by the likes of John Bolton, it has lead to fallout. Putin is specific:

“Eventually we will have to negotiate an agreement,” he said. “But after such statements there is an issue of trust. Trust is close to zero. I repeatedly have said that we are ready for an agreement, but it makes us think, think about whom we are dealing with.”

There you go.