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One of the Special Counsel’s lawyers recently explained to the judge, that the evasions and lies of Paul Manafort goes right to the “heart of the Mueller investigation” … Hmmm, that’s news.
Comments come after fresh evidence shows Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort continued Ukraine work after his indictment
by Sharon LaFraniere, Kenneth P Vogel, Scott Shane, The Independent — Feb 11, 2019
[...]
Comments by one of Mr Mueller’s lead prosecutors, disclosed in a transcript of the hearing in Washington last week, suggest that the special counsel continues to pursue at least one theory about a possible deal between Trump's campaign and Russia.
According to the theory, while Russia was taking steps to bolster Mr Trump’s candidacy, people in his orbit were discussing deals to end a dispute over Russia’s incursions into Ukraine.
It is also thought that they sought to give Moscow relief from economic sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies.
[...]
According to the transcript, which was heavily redacted, Mr Manafort and Mr Kilimnik repeatedly communicated about a so-called peace plan for Ukraine starting in early August 2016. At this point Mr Manafort was still running Mr Trump’s campaign.
So the heart of the Investigation concerns: Trump officials talking to Russians about a “Russian reset”, specifically about a plan to “normalize” Moscow’s efforts to dominate Ukraine; specifically about giving Russia relief from sanctions. That would qualify as “Collusion” … would it not?
Here’s another “new clue” that Mueller is looking into, that certainly points to more than a few unraveling threads …
Swiss Mystery Company Is at the Heart of a Mueller Puzzle
You’ve never heard of Zurich-based Salix Services AG. But Robert Mueller’s team has.
by Erin Banco, Adam Rawnsley, The Daily Beast — Feb 12, 2019
[...]
Former employees of Psy Group said the FBI interviewed them in 2017 and asked detailed questions about the firm’s business and ownership structure. These same sources told The Daily Beast that while working at Psy, which is now defunct, they operated under the understanding that Joel Zamel, an Australian with links to Israeli intelligence, ultimately owned the firm. But the financial structure of Psy Group was much more complicated, they said, and included offshore entities registered in the British Virgin Islands.
[...]
Robert Mueller’s team has eyed Salix as part of his wide-ranging probe into foreign meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Details about Psy Group’s financials and its ties to Salix could shed new light on a pair of mysteries that could be key to this part of the special counsel’s probe: Why did international business and influence-peddler George Nader pay Zamel $2 million after the election? And where did all that money go?
[...]
In August 2016, Zamel met with former Blackwater founder Erik Prince, Donald Trump Jr., and [George] Nader to discuss ideas that could potentially help Trump win the election. During that meeting, as first reported by the Times and later confirmed by The Daily Beast, Nader told the room that the crown princes of both Saudi Arabia and the UAE were eager to help Trump win the election.
[...]
Nader’s payment of $2 million after the election went through to Zamel. Exactly what for — that’s unknown. The ultimate beneficiary could offer clues.
So that Seychelles meeting was more than “a coincidence”, way more. That Seychelles meeting was a working meeting, at the height of the 2016 Election, coordinating foreign interests, social media trolls, along with back-channels for payments. In other words, it was the establishment of a Conspiracy.
Especially considering that that Erik Prince was portraying himself as a direct representative for Trump, in an “unofficial capacity” …
by Adam Entous, Greg Miller, Kevin Sieff and Karen DeYoung, Washington Post, April 3, 2017
The United Arab Emirates arranged a secret meeting in January between Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a Russian close to President Vladimir Putin as part of an apparent effort to establish a back-channel line of communication between Moscow and President-elect Donald Trump, according to U.S., European and Arab officials.
The meeting took place around Jan. 11 — nine days before Trump’s inauguration — in the Seychelles islands in the Indian Ocean, officials said. Though the full agenda remains unclear, the UAE agreed to broker the meeting in part to explore whether Russia could be persuaded to curtail its relationship with Iran, including in Syria, a Trump administration objective that would be likely to require major concessions to Moscow on U.S. sanctions.
[...]
[UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan] Zayed met twice with Putin in 2016, according to Western officials, and urged the Russian leader to work more closely with the Emirates and Saudi Arabia — an effort to isolate Iran.
At the time of the Seychelles meeting and for weeks afterward, the UAE believed that Prince had the blessing of the new administration to act as its unofficial representative. The Russian participant was a person whom Zayed knew was close to Putin from his interactions with both men, the officials said.
[...]
As per usually, Mueller was all over it. Long before gum-shoe internet investigators, picked up the trail:
Mueller Investigators Questioned Witnesses in Israel and Seized Computers, Report Says
by Amir Tibon (Washington), haaretz.com — May 19, 2018
[…]
The [NYTimes] report, citing four sources, said that a company linked to Zamel, Psy-Group, was working on an online manipulation campaign that involved usage thousands of fake social media accounts to help Trump get elected. According to the report, [Joel] Zamel himself was questioned by Mueller's investigators and at least two FBI agents were sent to Israel to interview the company's employees. Mueller's team also worked with the Israel Police to seize computers of one of Zamel's firms. The New York Times notes that there were concerns inside the company about the plan's legality, since U.S. law prohibits non-Americans from being involved in the election.
[...]
The report claimed that a short time after Trump's election victory, [George] Nader transferred a large sum of money to Zamel. "There are conflicting accounts of the reason for the payment, but among other things, a company linked to Mr. Zamel provided Mr. Nader with an elaborate presentation about the significance of social media campaigning to Mr. Trump’s victory," the report stated. The sum of money could have allegedly been as high as $2 million.
Zamel has already been questioned by Mueller's team, according to an earlier report by the Wall Street Journal. [...]
Hmmm, a Zamel presentation on how to Social Engineer an Election, followed up by $2 million payment — AFTER the Election. That’s something significant, I think. Kind of looks like a Quid pro Quo.
(PS. and according to Vox.com: “George Nader, a business executive who is cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller, has extensive personal ties to Russia ...”)
Yet the Nader dot-connecting doesn’t end there.
If there’s us one thing us internet investigators are good at, is searching for and connecting dots.
As in this next little-noticed exchange of large sums of money — “random” dots involving Nader … RNC Finance Chairman, and the UAE Crown Prince Zayed — who apparently had money to burn ...
[...]
[Elliott] Broidy sent a memo to [George] Nader last fall detailing his meetings with President Trump, where he said he advocated for the UAE’s foreign policy views and frequently pressed Trump to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the country’s de facto ruler.
Nader introduced Broidy to Prince Mohammed shortly after the election, the Times reported. Soon after, a private security company owned by Broidy signed contracts with the United Arab Emirates worth several hundred million dollars.
And here’s another recent “new clue” about EVEN MORE Millions flowing into Trump coffers from more foreign sources. Maybe someone needs to “build a wall” around these “foreign threats” — to our of democracy, eh?
by Justin Elliott and Ilya Marrit, wnycstudios.org — Feb 8, 2019
[...] Trump’s inaugural committee spent more than $100 million, almost twice the amount spent on the next-most expensive inaugural party, that of Barack Obama in 2009. In addition to probing how the nonprofit spent its money, investigators are examining whether the inaugural received improper donations from foreigners. Inaugural nonprofits are prohibited from receiving donations from people who are not U.S. citizens.
The committee paid a total of $700,000 to the Trump International Hotel for event spaces for four days in January 2017. At the time, a consultant working for the inaugural committee expressed her concern over email that the price quoted by the Trump hotel — $175,000 per day for several event spaces — was too high, as ProPublica and WNYC reported in December.
Looks like someone is. The SDNY is trying to get to the bottom of this Trump foreign influence problem … with respect to a slush fund, that took the the from of the Trump Inaugural:
The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York subpoenaed the inaugural committee on Monday.
[...]
What the subpoena demanded from Trump’s inaugural committee
The Wall Street Journal reports that the documents the government is demanding from the inaugural committee include:
- “All documents related to the committee’s donors and vendors”
- All records related to “benefits” provided to donors
- Documents related to the financier Imaad Zuberi and his company Avenue Ventures LLC. (He is the only donor specifically named in the subpoena. The Daily Beast has previously reported on Zuberi’s connections to Michael Cohen.)
- Documents related to donations “made by or on behalf of foreign nationals,” including communications about possible donations from foreign individuals
- Documents related to “donations or payments made by donors directly to contractors and/or vendors.” (The Journal reports that there was some discussion on the inaugural committee about having donors pay vendors for the inauguration directly — which could violate disclosure laws.)
- The New York Times reports that the subpoena also asks for documents about Stripe, a startup that processes credit card payments, for which Jared Kushner’s brother is an investor.
And the best part of these nitty-gritty Follow The Money efforts: Mueller has another Trump insider who is now fully cooperating with the Investigation. This insider also knows what’s what — with respect to Team Trump’s track record — on collecting and fulfilling their many “foreign commitments” ...
Slate — Oct 30, 2017
[… Rick] Gates was privy to all of the Trump campaign’s inner workings — he reportedly helped deflect when a Russian liaison expressed interest in scheduling a meeting with Trump in Moscow — and he stayed in Trump’s orbit even after Manafort was exiled for his Russian ties. Gates served as a liaison to the Republican National Committee and later as an official on the presidential transition team. He was a principal organizer of a pro-Trump super PAC until his Manafort ties caught up to him and he was ousted from the group in March.
ABC News — Nov 2, 2017
[...]
Perplexed by [Rick] Gates' continued presence on Trump Tower's 14th floor, the heartbeat of the campaign, some staffers jokingly began to refer to him as "the Walking Dead."
He took up regular residence in an office reserved for the campaign's digital director, Brad Parscale, according to two campaign staffers who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss campaign operations.
[...]
Despite the concerns, Gates would stay on with the campaign before moving to a position at the Republican National Committee for the final months of the campaign, a position that gave him continued access to the campaign's daily operations. He also played a leading role on the team that coordinated Trump's transition to the White House. Much of Gates' work came during a period under intense scrutiny from special counsel Robert Mueller and his team of investigators.
Gates would later take on a senior role for Trump's inauguration that gave him day-to-day authority over a $107 million budget. Some spending decisions came under scrutiny there as well, including a pre-inaugural Lincoln Memorial concert, which came with a $25 million price tag, according to an Associated Press report.
Gates maintained close contact with Trump's world this year even though he didn't ultimately go to work in the White House. After a brief stint at a pro-Trump super PAC, he served as a Washington consultant for one of Trump's closest allies, inauguration chairman Tom Barrack, for much of the last six months, according to Barrack spokesman Owen Blicksilver. He said that Gates' contract was terminated on Monday, the same day of his indictment.
These “new clues” indicate that the conspiracy runs deep. The depth of foreign influence on a US presidential candidate when proven, will be unprecedented by any stretch of the imagination.
Were going to need a new Emoluments Amendment. One that can be enforced.
Were going to need a new Financial Disclosure Law. One that lets us know what ‘compromising baggage’ a Candidate is carrying.
And were going to need a new Blue Senate, if we are ever to correct the damage Trump has done, and will continue to do … until that day, Patriotism trumps Partisanship.
Hopefully Mueller’s Report, with leave that choice more than self-evident.
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The GOP will need to inspect their “loyalty to country” — once Mueller proves beyond a doubt that:
• Yes, there was Collusion.
• Yes, there was Conspiracy.
• Yes, there was Obstruction.
• Yes, there was Perjury before Congress.
• Yes, there was significant and consequential foreign influence over American Elections.
• And yes, Donald Trump was a willing and conspiring participant in all of it.
Never again … once this dangerous fraud is finally removed from Office.
(Fortunately a ‘critical mass’ of Americans now finally agree, about the need for his ouster.)
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