cclearman said:
My read is Obama expected Russia to respond. Hopefully escalating tensions and giving Trump another problem to deal with as he started his term.
When they didn't, that gave him reason to think they were colluding OR knowing Flynn would back channel to the Russians there would be a predicate to advance their investigation / trap.
My read is the exact opposite. Obama had long had a "flexible" relationship with Putin. He could appear to tweak Putin's nose without really doing so. And imposing those sanctions (which really weren't all that harsh) less than a month before Trump took office was just a rhetorical flourish on his way out of the door.
But why task the entire intelligence community with scouring all of their sources to find out why Putin did not respond? Why not pick up a phone and call him? Or send Kerry to Moscow, if not down the street to the Russian embassy?
So indeed I think it was a charade, a trap. Which is why Susan Rice deliberately did not brief Flynn or McFarland beforehand. Wanted to catch the incoming administration completely off-guard. It was political, not foreign policy.