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As Russia issues new threats, Trump considers returning espionage-linked compounds

Why?

Aaron Rupar Twitter

The Trump administration is reportedly nearing a deal with Russia to return two espionage-linked compounds on American soil. The compounds, located in Maryland and New York, were seized by the Obama administration in December in response to Russia’s interference in the presidential election on President Donald Trump’s behalf.

News that a deal is close to being struck comes while the official Twitter account of the Russia’s embassy to the U.S. threatens “retaliation measures” if the compounds aren’t swiftly and unconditionally returned.

The Russian embassy Twitter account issued a similar threat in May. Juliette Kayyem, former assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs in the Department of Homeland Security and a former member of the Homeland Security Adviser Committee during the Obama administration, linked the threat of “counter measures” with a Kremlin-connected lawyer’s admission last week that she met with Trump campaign officials in June 2016.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova recently told reporters that “[i]t is best to immediately return our property, otherwise Russia has the right to come up [with a] tit-for-tat response in relation to American property in Russia. I want to confirm that the retaliatory measures are in the works.”

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The Trump administration seems willing to accommodate the Kremlin. During a CNN interview last week, White House adviser Sebastian Gorka said that the administration is considering accommodating Russia’s demands because officials “want to give collaboration” a chance.

Congress, however, wants the Trump administration to slow down. ABC reports that “two bipartisan groups of Senators have previously written letters to the Trump administration, urging them not to return the compounds, including Republicans Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, and Johnny Isakson.” On Tuesday, Rubio tweeted that giving in to Putin’s “demand for return of seized intel-related compounds would signal weakness.”

The compounds have long been of concern to the intelligence community. In June, the Washington Post reported that “[t]he FBI had long lobbied to close two Russian compounds in the United States — one in Maryland and another in New York — on the grounds that both were used for espionage and placed an enormous surveillance burden on the bureau.”

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In June, former FBI Director James Comey warned that Russia is still meddling in American affairs and plans to interfere in future elections. And it goes beyond electoral politics. Earlier this month, US government officials told the Washington Post that Russian hackers “were behind recent cyber-intrusions into the business systems of US nuclear power and other energy companies in what appears to be an effort to assess their networks.”

Instead of taking these developments seriously, Trump has repeatedly cast doubt upon the US intelligence community’s consensus conclusion that Russia interfered in the election on his behalf. As recently as Saturday, he characterized the Russian story as a “hoax.”

Asked about the possibility of returning the compounds to Russia on Monday, Press Secretary Sean Spicer referred questions to the State Department. But Secretary of State Rex Tillerson doesn’t seem to take Russian interference any more seriously than Trump does. On Tuesday, Politico broke news that Tillerson — recipient of the Order of Friendship from Putin — is considering closing down the State Department’s cybersecurity office altogether.

Following his first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Germany earlier this month, Trump tweeted that the two discussed forming a joint cybersecurity group.

But Trump promptly walked that back after observers across the political spectrum pointed out that forming a cybersecurity group with Russia would be a bit like a hen forming a henhouse security group with a fox.

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Trump also tweeted that “[s]anctions were not discussed” during his meeting with Putin. But it’s impossible to know whether that’s true, given that the only people allowed in the meeting were Trump, Tillerson, Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Segey Lavrov, and translators.

In an unusual incident in May, Trump recklessly shared highly sensitive counterintelligence information with Russian officials during an Oval Office meeting. He also confided to Russian officials that he was relieved to fire Comey amid an active FBI investigation into his campaign for possible collusion with Russia.

“I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job,” Trump told Lavrov and ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak, according to an account the White House later confirmed. “I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”

Last week’s revelations about the meeting between the Trump campaign and the Russian lawyer confirm that, at the very least, the campaign was eager to collude.