This is a secondary phase. The links are too frequent, too complex, to be just coincidence. The Republicans - just think of it, the party of the hawks - are now seen to be propping up a cabal whose allegiance lies outside the country. At this stage the most interesting part of it are the half-in, half-out stay puts. The players who arrived late, promoted for their racist credentials, or their Bannonite economic views. Or the sitting Republicans who just held their noses. Ryan must - if he didnt before - know now. Jeff Sessions - giving him a huge benefit of the doubt - must know now. And yet only a mere handful of Republicans, up to this point, have stood up and been counted. Presumably the temptation is too great for the rest (And this is why the Roy Moore case is so uncomfortable for them. Too much Deja Vu).
A gift horse? A chance out of the blue, to get their agenda implemented? Trump was all the above. They expected a loss in the election of 2016; instead they got The Orange Thing as president, with some assistance from Vladimir. What would the consequences of further successes in this line be? Does anyone know what Putin really wants, ultimately?