cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/25921559

Link above goes to the Daily Kos post that discovered the scrubbing. Hereā€™s the text of the original article:

Former Intelligence Officer Claims KGB Recruited Trump

Isabel Van Brugen ā€“ The Daily Beast ā€“ 21 February 2025

A former Soviet intelligence officer has alleged that Donald Trump was recruited by the KGB in 1987 and given the codename ā€œKrasnov.ā€

Alnur Mussayev, 71, a former Kazakh intelligence chief, made the explosive claim in a Facebook post on Thursday. He claimed that he served in the 6th Directorate of the KGB in Moscow, which was responsible for counter-intelligence support within the economy. One of its key objectives, he claimed, was ā€œrecruiting businessmen from capitalist countries.ā€

Mussayev wrote that in 1987 ā€œour directorate recruited Donald Trump, a 40-year-old American businessman, under the pseudonym Krasnov.ā€

He reiterated that the department specialized in recruiting spies and intelligence sources from the West, asserting once again that Trump had been brought into the fold.

ā€œI hope Iā€™ll survive a third assassination attempt,ā€ he said in a comment below his post.

He made another shocking allegation in another comment, saying: ā€œToday, the personal file of resident ā€˜Krasnovā€™ has been removed from the FSB. It is being privately managed by one of Putinā€™s close associates.ā€

Mussayevā€™s allegations, while unfounded, add to ongoing speculation about Trumpā€™s connections to Russia. Trumpā€™s first visit to Moscow as a real estate developer in 1987 drew intense scrutiny and speculation that the trip was arranged by the KGB for dubious reasons.

According to Politico, in 1985, the KGB updated a secret personality questionnaire distributed among the agency, advising case officers what to look for in a successful recruitment operation.

The document instructed agents to target ā€œprominent figures in the Westā€ with the goal of drawing them ā€œinto some form of collaboration with usā€¦ as an agent, or confidential or special or unofficial contact.ā€

Trump has denied any improper ties to Moscow or collusion with President Vladimir Putin.

The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and Russiaā€™s Foreign Ministry for comment.

U.S. officials have also expressed concerns about Trumpā€™s relationship with Putin.

Anthony Scaramucci who briefly served as Trumpā€™s White House communications director in 2017, said during an episode of ā€œThe Rest Is Politics: USā€ podcast with co-host Katty Kay on Friday that he thinks there is a mysterious ā€œholdā€ on the president.

Scaramucci did not elaborate on what he believes that ā€œholdā€ might be, adding only: ā€œI donā€™t know why itā€™s like this. [H.R.] McMaster couldnā€™t figure it out, [James] Mattis couldnā€™t figure it out, [John] Kelly couldnā€™t figure it out.ā€

  • snooggums@lemmy.world
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    17 hours ago

    Some of knew he was compromised back when he ran in 2016, or did you mean the fear of the US falling for it twice?

    • Clinicallydepressedpoochie@lemmy.world
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      16 hours ago

      We were fucked the moment the votes came in. I still hold a grudge against Devin Nunes for setting the entire tone of how the next 8 years would go by halting all election interference investigations in the house.

      Devin Nunes is an absolute creatin but he is far from Americaā€™s biggest issue.

      • snooggums@lemmy.world
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        14 hours ago

        All of the people who refused to follow through on investigations are complicit.specially the ones that used an upcoming election as a reson not to do anything. Maybe if you fuxking followed throigh we wouldnā€™t be running nazi.org v2

        • Clinicallydepressedpoochie@lemmy.world
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          14 hours ago

          I know. This guy held the power in his hand to rewrite countless years of history and he flushed every single American down the toilet for a shit unmeaningful job in a country that will be in ruins for who knows how long.

    • tehn00bi@lemmy.world
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      16 hours ago

      Or, that the free media is be washed away. Or that media is losing its ability to report on certain topics due to government retaliation.