A little over a month ago I wrote of the Russian gambit to influence the US national elections by seemingly backing the Republican party candidate Donald J. Trump in hopes that the US electorate would swing in mass to back Democratic party candidate Hillary R. Clinton.

In my piece, US Presidential Election 2016: The Kremlin Prefers??? I made the argument that the Kremlin’s book on Clinton far exceed the quality of the information on Trump, and how they very much looked forward to another four years of being able to act with a great deal of prescience, given the treasure trove of materials in their possession.

Like any chess match, sometimes the gambit ensnares the opponent and sometimes the opponent doesn’t rise to the bait and the gambit fails.

Putin’s gambit, his big gamble failed.

Office of the President of the Russian Republic, Vladimir Putin:

Mr Putin said he hopes to work together to lift Russian-US relations out of the current crisis, resolve issues on the international agenda, look for effective responses to global security challenges. The President said he is confident that Moscow and Washington can establish a constructive dialogue based on the principles of equality, mutual respect, and genuine consideration for each other’s positions. This would be in the interests of both peoples and of the entire international community. Mr Putin wished Mr Trump success in his important work as head of state.

This outreach was viewed with much speculation and ridicule by the media, the same media that grabbed hold of the Kremlin’s gambit.

With the failure of the Kremlin’s Clinton gambit, the Kremlin’s Foreign Ministry, Intelligence and Security Services are scrambling. On 09 November, like much of the world, it was an eye-opening, “OMG” moment. No doubt new directives and requirements were being created. The Trump transition team, squirreled away in Washington DC was and is a primary target.

We see Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, among the first to offer his congratulations, reaching out and playing to Trump’s significant ego, buying time.

This is quickly followed, five days later, with a one-on-one Putin-Trump phone conversation. Which the Kremlin described the Putin-Trump call as follows: “During the conversation Mr Putin and Mr Trump not only agreed on the absolutely unsatisfactory state of bilateral relations but also expressed support for active joint efforts to normalise relations and pursue constructive cooperation on the broadest possible range of issues. They emphasised the importance of establishing a reliable foundation for bilateral ties by developing the trade and economic component.” The Kremlin went on to say the two agreed to stay in touch and to arrange a face-to-face meeting to be arranged by their staffs (that’s diplomatic speak for, let’s see how this dance goes, before we commit).

The New York Times reports how Dmitry Kiselyov, anchor on Russia’s state run television said, “the American government would finally drop what the Russian anchor called its annoying slogans about human rights and democracy.”

The Kremlin must be channeling Asimov right now, and opening the dog-eared copies to soak up all they can about the “Mule.”

The Mule has been described as, “one of the greatest conquerors the galaxy has ever seen, he is a mentalic who has the ability to reach into the minds of others and “adjust” their emotions, individually or en masse, using this capability to conscript individuals to his cause. Not direct mind-control per se, it is a subtle influence of the subconscious; individuals under the Mule’s influence behave otherwise normally – logic, memories, and personality intact.” (Source: Wikipedia)

Trump is a wildcard. The Trump transition team may have been fully engaged and targeted, but that target just blew up, as the new leader of the team, Vice President-elect Pence took over the transition and threw out the lobbyists and reshuffled the deck.

The GOP, just like the DNC was warned back in January 2016, that they were being targeted, so they had ample time to harden their infrastructure. Just imagine the shredding of the files going on in the Kremlin as they, like all of us, try to keep up with the Trump transition team’s movements.

Let there be no doubt, there are going to be interesting times, ahead. What we can be guaranteed, the Kremlin may have lost this chess match, but they are back at the board immediately.

Their choice, Clinton did not win the general election of the United States. They are now in double-down mode working overtime to try and replace the treasure trove of materials they had in acquired in anticipation of a Clinton transition.

Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner currently occupies the position at the tip of the needle, and thus all who surround him have moved in the targeteers sights.

A request to provide Kushner with a security clearance, has been made, and as an integral part of his Trump’s transition team, one should be expected it to be granted, albeit in an interim clearance status.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin may wish to start their efforts, to understand the United State’s wildcard President-Elect Trump, by reviewing the piece they stole back in June 2016, and already have in their possession: The dossier on Donald J. Trump prepared by the Democratic National Committee, which Gucifer 2.0 shared.

Additional reading:

President Putin’s congratulatory telegram to President-elect Trump

President Putin’s version of the telephone conversation with President-elect Trump