SHELL is that which “covers” the real thing (kernel / nut/ pearl).
You see the Shell but can’t see inside to what is “really” happening.
A Shell game.
So Shell (1) (Washington Free Beacon) was a cover, a pretend fabricated initiation of the HilBarry SPY campaign against Trump. The Spy Campaign was planned/ started long before the Shell (1) was used to set the outer game into public motion.