Lobbyist for Russian interests says he attended dinners hosted by Sessions

[FigTree]

19. Putin has built a winniing position on the checkboard.

At whichever turn, he now has the choice to discredit more or less, this one or that one, to bend that way or this way, with the end result remaining unchanged. American institutions and politics as a whole are being ridiculed and devalued. Which he then can use internally as well as internationally. A brilliant move on his part, although a chess player’s odds in front of a monopoly professional unable to think more than one move ahead were staggeringly high. If the "centre" doesn't hold, this will be very difficult to repair.