Qatar, Russians, the Trump Campaign

I have another Russia-Trump Campaign story for you, only this one sounds like it might be something else entirely.  There is a story in the Wall Street Journal that purports to tell a simple story.  A Republican fund-raiser, Elliot Broidy, for the Trump campaign is suing Qatar because, he says, Qatar saw him as a thorn undermining Qatar's case with Washington and decided to discredit him.  To do that, they hacked some of his email relating to work he (and apparently his wife) did for the United Arab Emirates and, over the last few weeks, released to the press.  Some documents were altered before being released.  Broidy's lawyers say the forensics trace back to Qatar.

The connection to the Russians is hard to follow, but is said to be through another lobbyist, George Nader, an associate of Broidy with considerable work for the UAE.  Nader was questioned by Special Prosecutor Mueller investigation about a meeting between a "Russian executive" and a Republican donor, Erik Prince.   If this story is ever going to get any traction it has a long way to go to fill in the blanks to a Russian connection.  I think there might be one, but it certainly isn't what everyone is thinking.

This doesn't sound like something Qatar would do.  This is, in fact, the playbook of the Russians.  They hack firms doing work in Washington, figure out which ones are working against them, and see what they can do to slow down or stop their activities.  They steal emails, falsify some of them to suit their needs, and release them to the public.  In October, Qatar and Russia signed a military technical agreement that shows their mutual interests in the Gulf.  The Kuwait News Agency says this agreement was signed "in the presence of Vladimir Putin".  They are cooperating, and maybe since they do, they can launch a couple of cyber initiatives too.  I'm not saying the attacks came from Russia, but I would say their fingerprints are all over it.  They get the added benefit of helping Qatar and slamming another Russia-Russia-Russia story at the Trump Administration.