I see that this makes sense. It's consistent with how things appear to have gone down. The piece I'd like to understand is how Trump was coerced into playing or convinced to play his part in it. Was it blackmail? Was it personal financial gain? Was it ego-stroking? Was it some mixture of some or all of these? Was he completely played, or was he at least partly a willing and knowing participant? The reason I'm asking is that surely the answers must have important consequences for the way that future presidential candidates are vetted in the USA.