At some point, you just want to throw your hands up, either in fury or tears, and just accept that there is absolutely NO distinguishing between a Russian party (Is Putin part of a party, or just “Putin Party”?) no difference between them and the Alt-Right, now Fox, mainstream Republican party, and the president,* ... in America for godsake.
The Daily Beast continues its vital coverage of all the Russian influence and the Repubs:
The Russian Direct Investment Fund drew renewed interest in recent weeks after news surfaced that unofficial Trump envoy Erik Prince met with RDIF’s CEO, Kirill Dmitriev, days before President Trump’s inauguration. And an individual close to the bank says Dmitriev is focused on removing sanctions on the fund, as it tries to attract investments into Putin’s Russia.
Reporter Katie Zavadski is certainly correct to note that Erik Prince has no “official” ties to Trump, but he couldn’t have more direct ties to Trump even if he did have an “official office” in the government. We’ve heard similar things before, including this from the Intercept link above:
The identity of the Russian individual was not disclosed, but on January 11, a Turkish-owned Bombardier Global 5000 charter plane flew Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, to the Seychelles, flight records obtained by The Intercept show. Dmitriev’s plane was an unscheduled charter flight and flew to the island with two other Russian individuals, both women. The RDIF is a $10 billion sovereign wealth fund created by the Russian government in 2011.
On August 7, Prince told CNN that he was in the Seychelles “on business” in January to meet with Emirati officials and met “some fund manager — I can’t even remember his name.” Prince said the meeting “probably lasted about as long as one beer.”
Please know, this fund, this “binding tie,” the one Erik Prince lies about, is both a sanctioned fund — as in penalty sanctions - by the United States, and a barely shadowed Russian government fund:
“I think now their proportion [foreigners] is smaller, and that probably represents the overall trend in Russia.”
“Now it’s a little bit like one of those ministries, you can say, the ministry of foreign investment,” the individual added.
That’s it.
I mean, Erik Prince, already a huge mainstream Republican and Trump supporter, one who has represented himself as an “official envoy” for Trump himself, is dealing now influence peddling with “money” tied directly to Putin, days before Trump’s inauguration, about removing the sanctions on the bank, and has lied about it.
To the extent that the facts can be verified, Mueller need only know the subject of that conversation (and given he’s dealing with a sanctioned bank, Prince could easily already face criminal charges), either by tapes, or Prince rolling over, this alone proves that Trump is now essentially a Russian agent.
No one will believe that Prince simply thought this up on his own, and ran it by the bank without having told Trump’s people, who had to have told Trump. Additionally, it’s FAR more likely that Trump asked Prince to do it. You can bet that whatever fund was set up, that “fund” would suddenly have many accounts set up by Republicans, and Trump IF those sanctions were lifted. Last, it’s no longer tenable to not believe that Republicans generally don’t know about the effort, and would surely benefit from it if set up. Who else might establish “funds” in this bank? Who else might be bribed by Putin, via Prince, through transfers of money?
This is simply getting insane. It is ALWAYS Russia, and money and influence peddling. Never Japan, never India, never the Saudis (for Trump personally, maybe Flynn), never legal personal “deals” with any of our close friends, not Canada, not the U.K., not Germany, it is ALWAYS Russia and always shady.
Say it with me, “our president* is a Russian agent, tolerated by mainstream Republicans.” It’s time we start using that word and the depth of penetration.
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Edit to Add:
It is well established that perhaps the most urgent priority after inauguration WAS lifting sanctions to Russia:
The Trump administration was gearing up to lift sanctions on Russia when the president took office, but career diplomats ginned up pressure in Congress to block the move, two senior former State Department officials told NBC News Thursday.
He said State Department colleagues approached him, "concerned that the Trump administration, the incoming team was going to unilaterally rescind the sanctions on Russia, which had been placed there because of Russia's aggression on Ukraine. And it was further said by these people that there would be no action required from Russia.
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My novels, this community’s unbelievable support and enthusiasm just blows me away, deeply appreciated.