U.K. Says Russia Behind Recent Nerve Agent Assassination Attempt: Trump Again Stays Mum

UK Hazmat Removing Nerve Agent Contaminated Materials

(Now Confirmed as Novichok)

* Russian Foreign Min. Lavrov, Trump, Amb. Kislyak 

(May 10, 2017)

From the NY Times here in part (parts I wanted to emphasize) is re: the poisoning in the UK of the former Russian spy and his daughter by a nerve agent that only Russia has … no other has the agent, formula for producing it or stockpiled like Russia does … a fact and Trump is mum (as usual).

Background: The nerve agent, Novichok, has been identified by British investigators as the weapon used last week in the attempted murder of former Soviet spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury.

Note: Novichok nerve agents are Cold War-era chemical weapons – 4^th generation from the late 1980’s. It is up to ten times more deadly than the notorious VX nerve agent used in other assassinations.

The nerve agent has been top secret especially sensitive because the old USSR, then under Mikhail Gorbachev, had renounced the use and production of chemical weapons.

Its existence came to light thanks to the scruples of a brave Russian scientist named Vil Mirzayanov (Вил Мирзаянов). He had previously worked at the State Union Scientific Research Institute for Organic Chemistry and Technology (Russian: Государственный научно-исследовательский институт органической химии и технологии).

The institute has been described by one of its top officials as “the leader in the technology of chemical destruction.”

At her briefing this past Monday, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders read a statement condemning the attack without publicly agreeing with Britain’s assessment that Russia was behind it. The administration’s only tough comment on Russian involvement until Tuesday came from Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson – who has now been fired. 

Until Tuesday night, the White House had avoided pointing the finger at Russia for the attack, in which a former Russian spy was poisoned with a nerve agent near his home in southern England. 

By Tuesday morning, lower-level American officials joined in backing Britain as it retaliated against Russia. Former Senator and now the Ambassador to NATO, Kay Bailey Hutchison wrote on Twitter: “We stand in solidarity with our @NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, in condemning the offensive use of a nerve agent on their territory. Russia must address UK questions & provide full disclosure of their chemical weapon program to @OPCW.” (The “Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons”)

But the pattern resembles the way Mr. Trump has responded to the consensus finding of American intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the 2016 elections.

He has allowed top advisers to condemn Moscow for its election meddling but personally has used equivocal language in saying he accepts the conclusion — and he generally expresses no outrage or criticism of Mr. Putin.

Asked about the meddling last week, after S/C Robert Mueller indicted 13 Russians for spreading disinformation and propaganda in a concerted effort to influence the election, Trump focused on whether it changed the result, and avoided strong words about Moscow, saying in a press conference: “Well, the Russians had no impact on our votes whatsoever. But certainly there was meddling and probably there was meddling from other countries and maybe other individuals. And I think you have to be really watching very closely. You don’t want your system of votes to be compromised in any way. And we won’t allow that to happen.”

My 2 cents is really a simple question: What does Putin have over Trump that has him coy about saying anything bad about Russian tactics or Putin himself? That is really the new proverbial $64,000 dollar question isn’t it? 

The old movie line “Follow the Money was advice from “Deep Throat to Bob Woodward” in “All the President’s Men” still apropos today from this fine Vox.com article (Jan 2018) here in part: “To understand the roots of the collusion, set aside Putin and follow the money.” That’s what Seva Gunitsky, a politics professor at the University of Toronto and the author of Aftershocks, said last September in an interview. 

Gunitsky, who was raised in Russia, has followed the evolving relationship between Trump and Russia for more than a decade. He says the prevailing narrative about Putin interfering in the American election in order to undermine democracy is wildly overstated. Putin is happy to sow confusion and distrust in America’s system, of course, but to assume that’s the basis of this operation is to overlook a much simpler motive: The money. 

Specifically: The financial connections between Trump and various Russian banks and oligarchs (e.g., business elites with ties to the Kremlin) stretch back decades, which is likely a big reason why Trump won’t release his tax returns. 

Trump’s election, Gunitsky contends, presented Russian oligarchs with an opportunity to recoup losses and leverage Trump’s debts for future political gain. More at the Vox link.  

*  Trump told Lavrov and Kislyak as they were leaving the Oval Office (above meeing photo): “I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job. I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”

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