Seth Abramson finally gets it: Manafort is the associate who is key to Trump campaign collusion

I am gratified to see that @SethAbramson is finally coming around to the realization and admission that Paul Manafort is THE key to Trump’s campaign collusion with Russia. #mueller @NatashaBertrand

That is what I have always said, and it is what Steele’s sources AND informants (which on this particular matter were American sources and informants by the way, especially Felix Sater) have always said.

But it needs to be pointed out that Abramson has been a long time coming around to this realization and admission.

At one point, Abramson even claimed that Manafort was insignificant compared to the Trump Tower Moscow story.

And more recently he even disparaged Jeffrey Toobin for claiming that Manafort was key to Russiagate, maintaining instead that Flynn was key to it. Abramson even claimed that Flynn was key to Trump Tower Moscow!

As I pointed out at the time, this was perfectly loopy. Flynn couldn’t be expected to care one single diddly squat about Trump Tower Moscow, his focus having been entirely on the Middle East for his entire career, military and political.

Very shortly thereafter, the sentencing hearing for Flynn showed that I was right.

Abramson hasn’t had much to say about Flynn since then; and since Abramson has a large following, it’s good to see him finally focusing on Manafort, who, as Toobin rightly pointed out, is the Trump associate who really is key to Russiagate.

To anyone REALLY paying attention, that was obvious all along.

Here is the crucial passage from memo #095 of the Steele dossier. (Note: Source E of the dossier is Felix Sater.)

For a complete analysis of this story — which has always been the beating heart of the Russiagate investigations — and the importance of Cohen’s disclosure to Stephanopoulos that Trump colluded with the Russians, see my long thread: @NatashaBertrand

And while I’m at it, let me add that @emptywheel is rapidly showing herself to be so eccentric and unreliable about the dossier that she risks making herself irrelevant to the whole national discussion about Russiagate.