Why Obama and company wanted to provoke Russia:
1) To push the Russians election-interference narrative, by pretending the US needed to “punish” Russia.
2) To poison the well of US-Russian relations, and tie the hands of the incoming administration, by saddling them with a cycle of hostile reactions. It is clear from his statements that Obama expected the Russians to respond. They even claim they looked for the reason they didn’t, and that’s why that looked at Flynn’s call.
3) To goad Flynn or other incoming Trump administration people into trying to mitigate Obama’s damage, so they could “catch” them in the act of … keeping Russia from harming US interests. I wonder how many people understand that Flynn’s calls with Kislyak averted anti-US action that Obama desired?
bttt