That Dossier

Invited by Buzzfeed to judge for myself, I slogged through the 35 pages (some blank) of opposition "research" on Donald Tr*mp. It was less than enlightening.

For one thing, there is nothing to indicate that former MI6 agent Christopher Steele had more than a single "informant" with connections to the Kremlin, no way to decide if said informant was at all dependable, and no way to distinguish between genuine intelligence and disinformation.  Protestations by central figure Michael Cohen notwithstanding, there is no way to know whether or not the Tr*mp lawyer was in Prague at the key times: he was inside the Schengen Area of the EU, and border crossings need not have been noted on his passport.

As for the "Golden Shower" allegation, the document does not claim the self-described germophobe actually was on the bed formerly used by the Obamas when it was anointed by Russian hookers.  Even so, the scene described is suspect.  Had Tr*mp wished to dishonor the Obamas by wetting the bed they had used, wouldn't you think it would have been more satisfying to pee on it himself?

Still, it seems probable that the source for the dossier was Russian, and almost certainly a Kremlin insider — but whose side was s/he on?  Tr*mp will become the US President with the least political legitimacy since John Quincy Adams was awarded the office by the House of Representatives in 1825.  Did the Russians have reason to further delegitimatize him?

Probably.  Driving a wedge between Tr*mp supporters and establishment Republicans discourages any concerted action at all by the US government, leaving openings for international machinations by Russia to go entirely unopposed, and further weakening the confidence of Americans in their government — confidence which already is scraping bottom.

The dossier was "all over Washington" well before the election.  Who was the original leaker, prior to the Buzzfeed publication?  It just might have been the Russians.