As Monday's performance review in Helsinki between un- indicted co-conspirator Donald "Rump" Trump and his handler, Vladimir Putin, approaches, we're keeping our hopes up and our fingers crossed that our intelligence community (or more likely that of one of our European allies) is working with Supo -- the Finnish Security Intelligence Service -- to listen in on the one- on- one conversation between the two partners in crime. One can imagine what a trove of insights would be gained, from Rump getting his marching orders on NATO, Syria, etc., to "Vlad, you've got to help me get out of this Mueller jam," and "Can you ramp up your election meddling, Vlad?"
Of course, this is rank speculation with some wishful thinking thrown in, but it's not at all far- fetched to imagine that the Rump- Putin secretive meeting would be a molten target for intelligence gathering. Because Supo has a history of close cooperation with Western intelligence agencies dating back to the Cold War, they or a sister agency (the Germans and British have excellent services with ties to Supo) might do the risky "dirty work" of monitoring the conversation. If the Brits or Germans should happen to receive intel directly or from their Finnish counterparts, their cooperation in the Trump- Russia investigation to date would suggest that intel would find its way into Robert Mueller's hands shortly.
The meeting will be held in the Finnish Presidential Palace, which is well suited for a domestic intel operation. So, Finland, if you're listening ...
(Image: Those Germans have a way with humor, and maybe intelligence gathering.)
