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And I don’t think those guys would do what they have done with Trump , if he was a Russia asset.

Why? They're American Oligarchs. They've effectively recreated the economic systems in Russia, except they have the actual power, because Trump is an idiot and incapable of strategic planning unlike Putin. So while Putin is able to maintain control on his own, Trump is instead controlled by everyone around him. Exactly as the Republican party has been saying about everyone else for years, because everything they say is projection. If they constantly claim their enemies are doing the same thing without any evidence, they convince the mainstream public that doesn't have the time, education, or desire to think critically about politics, that it doesn't actually matter when it comes out that they're doing it, because "The Dems have been doing it all along".

I don't pretend to know one way or the other.

He's clearly working for the benefit of Russia, but "asset" implies an official, essentially employer/employee relationship, and there's no knowing if that's the case or not.

Not that it much matters really - whether he's working for Russia's benefit because they literally own him or working for Russia's benefit because he's a desperately insecure narcissist who idolizes Putin, it works out to pretty much the same thing in the long run.

Here's the full text of what I said, including the part you inexplicably left out:

For the record, I do think that Putin manipulates Trump, and pretty brazenly at that, but I don’t think that he controls him. Trump’s ego is far too bloated for that.

And that's specifically because, in point of fact, a bloated ego makes a person easier to manipulate, but not to "control." They reflexively rebel against direct control, because it's a threat to their ego, but they're relatively easily manipulated, because all anyone has to do is frame things in a way that will appeal to their ego.

Did you really not grasp the distinction I was making there?

Russia, if you're listening, go fuck yourself.

It would be awfully convenient that Russians are openly speaking on what Trump does and does not owe to them without some kind of motive; whether or not it's a separate "plot" or similar one I guess is up for debate though. I would have 0 issue believing that money is flowing through Russia as well. When you have billions, there aren't too many restrictions on what you can and can't do.