The BBC has learned that US officials "verified" a key claim in a report about Kremlin involvement in Donald Trump's election - that a Russian diplomat in Washington was in fact a spy.
So far, no single piece of evidence has been made public proving that the Trump campaign joined with Russia to steal the US presidency - nothing.
But the FBI Director, James Comey, told a hushed committee room in Congress last week that this is precisely what his agents are investigating.
Stop to let that thought reverberate for a moment.
"Investigation is not proof," said the president's spokesman.
Trump's supporters are entitled to ask why - with the FBI's powers to subpoena witnesses and threaten charges of obstructing justice - nothing damning has emerged.
Perhaps there is nothing to find. But some former senior officials say it is because of failings in the inquiry, of which more later.
The roadmap for the investigation, publicly acknowledged now for the first time, comes from Christopher Steele, once of Britain's secret intelligence service MI6.
He wrote a series of reports for political opponents of Donald Trump about Trump and Russia.
Steele's "dossier", as the material came to be known, contains a number of highly contested claims.
At one point he wrote: "A leading Russian diplomat, Mikhail KULAGIN, had been withdrawn from Washington at short notice because Moscow feared his heavy involvement in the US presidential election operation… would be exposed in the media there."
There was no diplomat called Kulagin in the Russian embassy; there was a Kalugin.
One of Trump's allies, Roger Stone, said to me of Steele, scornfully: "If 007 wants to be taken seriously, he ought to learn how to spell."
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Steele's work remains fiercely controversial, to some a "dodgy dossier" concocted by President Trump's enemies.
But on this vitally important point - Kalugin's status as a "spy under diplomatic cover" - people who saw the intelligence agree with the dossier, adding weight to Steele's other claims.
But then they knew him already.
I understand - from former officials - that from 2013-16, Steele gave the US government extensive information on Russia and Ukraine.
This was work done for private clients, but which Steele wanted the US authorities to see.
One former senior official who saw these reports told me: "It was found to be of value by the people whose job it was to look at Russia every day.
"They said things like, 'How can he get this so quickly? This fits exactly with what we have.' It was validated many times."
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The investigation, then, is into a range of possibilities: at one end, unwitting co-operation with Russia by members of the Trump campaign; at the other conscious "co-ordination".
Hillary Clinton's former campaign manager, Robby Mook, said that if Trump's aides knew of Russia's plans, there should be charges of treason.
Trump's enemies ask us to believe that some of his people were either traitors or dupes.
The president himself has another version of events: there was no "co-ordination"; the whole thing is a monstrous lie created by the Obama administration, fed by the intelligence community and amplified by the "dishonest" media, billowing black clouds of smoke but no fire.
When the dossier was released, he tweeted: "Are we living in Nazi Germany?"
These two stories cannot be reconciled.
With each new drip of information, option three - the chance that this is all a giant mistake, an improbable series of coincidences - seems further out of reach.
Increasingly, the American people are being asked to choose between two unpalatable versions of events: abuse of power by one president or treason that put another in the White House.
It cannot be both.
To quote Colbert.Don't think Trump peed on Russian hookers? Urine denial.
(Yes I ripped that off from somebody here)
“I think this is just an unfortunate leak that’s making a huge mess,” Colbert said. “And I know I’m being a wet blanket, but reporting on this is the worst kind of yellow journalism. And even though jokes about this story are a golden opportunity, I just, I won’t do it! Not to say the story didn’t make a huge splash; it did. It flooded Twitter. I mean, we’ll keep you up to date as facts trickle in. We have our best researcher working on it; she’s a real whiz. And one thing is for sure: the president-elect is a Goldwater Republican who truly believes in trickle-down.”
no, drumpf is nothing but a cowardKeep pushing the sociopath's buttons on Russia and eventually he will attack Russia militarily to prove you wrong. I vote for letting sleeping dogs lie.
It doesn't take a hero to send other people to die for you.
I certainly hope you are right that Trump wouldn't attack Russia. Currently I am influenced heavily by the Secular Talk youtube channel and that channel planted the idea of Trump attacking Russia to prove he wasn't Putin's bitch. Perhaps it is an irrational fear, the only data Secular Talk is going on is Trump's fascist tendencies and the history of fascist leaders attacking other countries to deflect attention.
That is long overdue. All of the world should have stood firmly against Putin when he invaded Ukraine. It's still not too late to fight Putin on this, and make Russia leave her neighbors in peace.Keep pushing the sociopath's buttons on Russia and eventually he will attack Russia militarily to prove you wrong. I vote for letting sleeping dogs lie.
I was like I don't g................ OK I do get it. lolDon't think Trump peed on Russian hookers? Urine denial.
(Yes I ripped that off from somebody here)
It technically could be both.
Obama could have fabricated stories about Russian involvement in the Trump Campaign, without evidence, and it could have also happened to be true. How is that not obvious to even the most simplest of creatures?
Is the "key Claim" that Kalugin's status as a "spy under diplomatic cover" has been confirmed by unnamed sources?Key Claim from Trump-Russia Dossier Confirmed
Is the "key Claim" that Kalugin's status as a "spy under diplomatic cover" has been confirmed by unnamed sources?
Fern
One of Trump's allies, Roger Stone, said to me of Steele, scornfully "If 007 wants to be taken seriously, he ought to learn how to spell."
Keep pushing the sociopath's buttons on Russia and eventually he will attack Russia militarily to prove you wrong. I vote for letting sleeping dogs lie.
Categorizing simpletons as simple only works when you're not.
Second LOTR reference today. Must be catching.One just doesn't simply walk into Russia.It is a barren wasteland riddled with fire, ash, and dust and 7,000 nukes. The very air would you breathe would be a poisonous fume if they released their arsenal. It is folly...
Damn, I've always wanted to work those lines into the right situation