Intelligence expert: 10 years ago Trump would have faced a treason trial after being 'co-opted' by Putin

Appearing on MSNBC's AM Joy, an intelligence expert flatly stated that 10 years ago President-elect Donald Trump would be facing a treason trial instead of his inauguration over his embrace of Russian strongman Vladimir Putin..

With host Joy Reid warning that Trump might turn Voice of America into a "Putin-like media outlet," guest Malcolm Nance said the problem goes far beyond that.

"I'm not sure he [Trump] has heard of Voice of America, that's not a joke," Nance said. "Let's not laugh at it, it's actually scary. But for the most part, if he finds out that he can have his own version of Russia Today, his own version of Sputnik, two propaganda arms that took over from the Soviet Union's Pravda, it could be exceptionally damaging."

"But I want to come to a point that was made a little bit earlier," he added. "When did all of this happen to Donald Trump, right? He met Gorbachev. He was a big supporter of glasnost. At some point, he was co-opted by Vladimir Putin. and that means he bought into and embraced the dictatorial ideology that was done by a spy master of the KGB. Ten years ago, 20 years ago,there would be treason trials. I would like to bring one point up. because long ago there was a guy named Yuri Bezmenov, a KGB officer, and he wrote,'This is who the KGB targeted and recruited, egocentric people who lack moral principles and who are too greedy or who suffer from exaggerated self-importance. These are the people the KGB wants and finds easiest to recruit.'"

"Vladimir Putin went to the Yuri Andropov school of intelligence, he learned how to manipulate people, and at some point we need to find out when did Donald Trump's ideology shift from western capitalism to Russian authoritarianism," Nance concluded.

Watch the video below via MSNBC: