The Kremlin just keeps putting the screws to Donald Trump and his family

| 2:20 pm EDT July 15, 2017
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Somebody informed the media that Donald Trump Jr. met with a Russian government lawyer. Then somebody gave Trump Jr.’s emails to the media. Then somebody tipped off the media that a Russian spy was also in the meeting. Then somebody told the media that the Russian government lawyer gave a folder of documents about Hillary Clinton to the Donald Trump campaign. It’s time we acknowledge who that “somebody” is, and their motivation, and what comes next.

In the resulting fallout of this rash of leaks, members of Donald Trump’s administration and family are now racing to throw each other under the bus in the feeble hope of saving themselves. But these leaks didn’t come from the Trump side to begin with. And there’s nothing to suggest that these leaks came from the U.S. intel community either. In fact, based on their nature, at least some of these leaks could only have come from the Kremlin side. That raises the question of why Vladimir Putin is now trying to injure (but not finish off) Donald Trump with these damaging revelations.

If Putin wanted rid of Trump, he would have more effective means. He certainly has more harmful dirt on Trump than any of what’s surfaced over the past week. So this isn’t about Putin changing his mind and cutting his losses. Not yet. Instead, this seems to be all about sending Trump some kind of message. The Kremlin took down Trump’s own son this week, but left Trump himself standing. This is what the mafia does when it’s trying to motivate people to do its bidding.

Donald Trump has been in office for nearly six months and he still hasn’t managed to get Russian sanctions lifted, which is personally costing Vladimir Putin billions of dollars. There’s a bill in the House right now that, if passed, will prevent Trump from ever being able to unilaterally lift those sanctions. Is Putin taking down Trump Jr. as a way of trying to motivate Trump to dig in and find a way to kill that sanctions bill? It sure looks like it. And what happens once Trump officially fails in that regard? Which finger will Putin chop off next? If you find Palmer Report valuable, make a donation.