So the RNC was hacked by Russia but info not leaked to wikileaks? Did Putin tell Trump

[applegrove]

what the RNC was thinking about Trump? Why hack if you are not going to use it? We are all too naive.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/12/10/how-russian-hackers-can-blackmail-donald-trump-and-the-gop.html

"SNIP............

Nevertheless, Kalugin allowed that if the FSB and GRU were responsible and Putin was now sitting on crucial information about various GOP officials, it would be reckless and dangerous to try and blackmail the White House directly. High-level officials, such as cabinet secretaries, have rarely been cultivated as spies or informants of Moscow, owing to what Kalugin characterizes as “potential repercussions.”

Middle and lower-cadre officials in the State Department or military-industrial complex are deemed easier and better marks for the spooks.

In this hypothetical, a heretofore semi-anonymous RNC staffer who may have written something professionally or personally damaging to himself is likelier to find himself approached by a Russian operative and offered a chance to switch sides than a member of the National Security Council.

“Just one man can destroy everything,” Kalugin said. “He doesn’t have to be the president.”

...........SNIP"

[underthematrix]

1. It will be released. We just need to keep retweeting

everything we find out about the Russian connection

[Bradical79]

2. Leverage. -nt

[MANative]

4. Yup - they owned him and both he and they knew it.

[unblock]

3. extortion. the threat of release of damning info is more valuable than the actual release.

putin owns the republican party now.

[KittyWampus]

5. I honestly don't think Putin wanted Russia to be THIS visible.

In the end, his flying monkeys' capacity greatly exceeded that of the RNC and American Republicans.

I sincerely hope mistakes were made.

[lanlady]

6. I have to partly disagree with Kalugin

He's been out of Russia for a long time and so he may underestimate Putin. I see no reason why Putin would not be delighted to have an agent of influence in the White House. THe reason is contained in one word: SANCTIONS. The sanctions imposed by Obama against Russia for its behavior in Crimea have really hurt Russian interests and the Russian economy. Getting the sanctions lifted is worth the risk of "potential repercussions."