CHEETO QUISLING:

A former U.S. intelligence officer with experience in Eastern Europe told me using such deals to draw in potential assets would be typical Russian intelligence tradecraft: "I do believe this is about business in Russia or in places Russia has influence. That's how you pull someone in, by making them offers that are harder and harder to refuse. ... This is all about trading favors for future Russian spoils."

Last spring, it was reported that Mueller has been looking into a proposed peace deal between Ukraine and Russia that made its way to Flynn in his role as national security adviser. The proposal was reportedly brought to Flynn's attention via Trump's ex-personal attorney Michael Cohen and former Trump business affiliate Felix Sater. That plan, nominally put forward by a Ukrainian lawmaker representing a pro-Russia political movement with reported ties to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, was skewed heavily in Russia's favor. The plan called for Ukraine to hold a referendum on whether Crimea should be leased to Russia for 50 to 100 years in exchange for Russian forces leaving eastern Ukraine. The Times further reported that the plan may have also involved the release of compromising material on Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko, who was elected following the 2014 revolution that ousted Ukraine's pro-Russia President and Manafort client Viktor Yanukovych. The plan's blatantly pro-Russia tilt along with the involvement of several Americans with connections to Russia raised concerns that the plan had actually come from Moscow. Last week, Mueller revealed that Cohen and Sater were working together during the 2016 presidential campaign to advance Trump's efforts to develop property in Moscow and that Cohen lied about it to Congress.

Trump's history here is worth remembering. The president has long wanted to do business in Russia, he has a long history of traveling to the country as a high-profile American, and there have been a large number of people linked to the intelligence services and Mafia buying his and his family members' real estate properties and working with him.

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