Rachel Maddow Unveils New Russia Details: ’50-50′ Chance Trump Is On Tape With Russian Prostitutes

Rachel Maddow unveiled excepts from Michael Isikoff and David Corn’s new book, ‘Russian Roulette’, on Monday, shedding more light on the more salacious aspects of the Steele dossier.

Don't Miss Sarah Jones's Essay On Kristi Noem Titled Predatory Is The Point On The Daily.

According to the book, though Christopher Steele was less certain about the sexual aspects of his dossier, he still believed there was a “50-50 chance” that a tape with Trump and Russian prostitutes exists.

Video:

Maddow explained how likely Steel felt the sex claims were:

Much later … Christopher Steele would say he believed 70 to 90 percent of the broad assertions in his reporting were true. That Russia had mounted a campaign to cultivate Trump and had colluded with the Trump campaign. As for the likelihood of the claim that prostitutes had urinated in Trump’s presence, however, Steele would say to colleagues, ‘It’s 50/50.’

The fact that Christopher Steele feels there’s an even chance that the much-hyped sexual contents of his dossier are true should strike fear in the heart of the White House.

But as the Stormy Daniels scandal continues to consume the president, it’s unclear that a sex scandal – even one as salacious as the one detailed in the Steele dossier – could take down Trump. That’s why the rest of Steele’s findings are crucial.

The salacious aspects of the dossier are the least alarming parts of the document

While the sex scandal portion of the Steele dossier is cringeworthy, it’s the 70 to 90 percent of the document that Steele feels is true – the parts that claim the Trump campaign coordinated with the Russians to defeat Hillary Clinton – that have the potential to take down the president.

After all, as PolitiFact pointed out last year, pushing back against those who say collusion isn’t a crime: “Three prominent election law scholars said there are at least four laws that would prohibit the sort of activities under investigation, whether those laws mention collusion or not.”

In other words, coordinating with a foreign government to impact the outcome of an election is unlawful, and the consequences of that aspect of the dossier being confirmed could be dire for the president – sexual allegations aside.

At the end of the day, it’s pretty telling that the disturbing sex claims made in the Steele dossier are the least alarming allegations in the document.

For more discussion of Rachel Maddow, join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.