Whether or not grains of truth can actually be sifted from a salacious intelligence dossier on what alleges to be Russian "kompromat" -- a campaign of blackmail -- targeting U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, Russia has much to gain, and risk, from the current firestorm in Washington.
And as the political commotion has grown in Washington, the Kremlin has become quieter and more restrained. The Russian government has repeatedly said there will be no official contact with Trump until after he is formally inaugurated. It has consistently downplayed the U.S. election result, saying that Moscow would have to wait and see whether Trump’s rhetoric about improving ties with Russia actually translates into reality. If Russia did play any role in facilitating Trump’s election, now would not be the time to gloat or celebrate his win. This would be the time for Moscow to hunker down, deny everything and give the impression that...
