Friday’s senseless and cruel executive order has confirmed the Trump administration’s un-American sentiments are now in charge of our government. But while lawyers work tirelessly to free people still held in limbo and protesters fill airport terminals to demand an end to the senselessness and fear, let’s talk about another way this country is being held hostage (that’s a little more in our purview). Let’s check back in with the Russian government!
On Friday, Business Insider’s Natasha Bertrand published an eyebrow-raising story based on slightly overlooked information in the now-infamous Goldengate dossier. It’s worth noting that the dossier , which caused a splash in the media when Buzzfeed published it in full a few weeks ago, has been roundly criticized as dubious information by many experts and still hasn’t been verified. But with the Trump administration considering lifting sanctions on Russia via executive order, despite protests from key GOP leadership, and Trump’s first talk with Putin on Saturday, Bertrand’s coverage of the unconfirmed story is suddenly very interesting.
In addition to the highly publicized...shall we say “yellow journalism” about our dear leader’s hotel antics, the dossier alleges, after references to Putin’s anti-Clinton cyber operations and his aim to destabilize the United States, that former Trump foreign policy advisor (and according to the dossier, Trump’s banker) Carter Page negotiated a deal with Putin pal and Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin for brokerage in a 19% stake in Rosneft. US intelligence reports, which differ from the dossier in several key areas and are also unconfirmed, suggest Sechin and Page met in July of 2016.
The dossier alleges that, in exchange for brokerage in the roughly $11 billion stake in the Russian oil company, President Trump would lift the sanctions against Russia that keep state oil company Rosneft and partner ExxonMobil from being able to drill for oil in the Arctic. (We imagine that might make one Rex Tillerson’s lifelong employer happy.)
According to the dossier, Page accepted the deal and “confirmed” that Trump would lift the sanctions if elected. Again, there is no hard evidence that Trump actually took the deal and agreed to lift the sanctions. But if he does, it might make Joe Romm seem pretty right about that whole “Did Putin help elect Trump to restore $500 billion Exxon oil deal killed by sanctions” thing.
Now, we happen to know that a 19% stake in Rosneft is worth roughly $11 billion - not because that information is in the dossier, but because on December 7th,Bloomberg ran a story about a “surprise deal” to sell a 19.5% share in Rosneft to Glencore and Qatar. The story notes that Putin requested Sechin work directly with the Russian government on the deal (since it was so big it might crash the economy).
On December 8th, the New York Times ran a story on Carter Page’s visit to Moscow, a trip he made amid rumors that his business ties to Russia could mean he was serving as Trump’s “back-channel liaison with senior Kremlin officials.”
On January 19th, the Times ran another story about how Carter Page was one of the subjects of an investigation into intercepted financial transactions and communications between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
On January 26th, CNN reported that Trump was scheduled to talk to Putin on the phone on Saturday, while Politico’s Susan Glasser tweeted that sources in the Trump administration had seen a proposed executive order to lift sanctions. Kellyanne Conway confirmed that such a move is being considered. While the matter reportedly didn’t come up in Saturday’s conversation [link], clearly the issue is on the White House’s mind.
Bertrand is smart to point this untold story out, because the same John McCain who brought the dossier directly to FBI Director James Comey is now a key vote who has said he would confirm Rex Tillerson. But perhaps the rumors about Trump lifting Russia sanctions will change his mind?
Either way, we have to remember the deal is described in a totally unverified, unvalidated, unconfirmed document. So it’s certainly interesting, but until it’s confirmed somehow, we’ll consider it nothing more than a pitch for the next James Bond movie.
Which seems fitting, seeing as how the dossier was written by a former British secret agent!
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