Heart of the US-Russian “collusion” investigation
and Trump's woes
(Follow
the Money still applicable)
More on the two previous posts re: Carter Page and
FISA document release and Trump denials follow this another update:
I have to wonder in all seriousness why all this ever
came out publicly years ago, but I guess “better than never as they say.” Very interesting
background information on Carter Page, before, during, and possibly after
joining the 2016 Trump campaign.
Now the icing on the
proverbial cake and key question to all this Trump-Russian mess: Money and oil deals, sanctions – now
a cover up as reviewed in this article from the NY Times in February 2018.
Pictured above along with this caption: Putin visiting
Rosneft oil refinery, the Black Sea (2013). Two years earlier, Exxon Mobil and
Rosneft (Russian state-run company) had agreed on a $3.2 billion joint
exploration pact, now Putin wants the sanctions lifted that stopped that deal from Reuters report here.
B/L: All this is about big oil money, big
business investments in Russia that would benefit both Putin and Trump
personally – that is if the 2014 sanctions were lifted.
Make no
mistake out it – that has been a long term goal for Putin. Now enter the newly-elected
U.S. Donald J. Trump, who oversees those sanctions.
THIS UPDATE:
NEW YORK (BuzzFeed, April 2017) — Carter Page, a former campaign adviser for Trump,
met with and passed documents to a Russian intelligence operative in New York
City in 2013.
Page met
with a Russian intelligence operative named Victor Podobnyy, who was later charged by the U.S. alongside two
others for acting as unregistered agents of a foreign government – the charges
were filed in January 2015, and they came after federal investigators busted a
Russian spy ring that was seeking information on U.S. sanctions as well as
efforts to develop alternative energy.
(Note: Page is/was an energy consultant
back in time).
Court filings
contain a transcript of a recorded conversation in which Podobnyy speaks with
one of the other men busted in the spy ring, Igor Sporyshev, about trying to recruit someone identified as “Male-1.”
(Note: BuzzFeed confirmed that “Male-1”
was Page also see below wherein Page also confirmed that he was “Male-1”).
The
revelation of Page’s connection to Russian intelligence — which occurred more
than three years before his association with Trump — is the most clearly
documented contact to date between Russian intelligence and someone in Trump’s
orbit. It comes as federal investigators probe whether Trump’s
campaign-era associates — including Page — had any inappropriate contact with
Russian officials or intelligence operatives during the course of the election.
Page then volunteered to help Senate investigators in their inquiry.
It remains
unclear how connected Page was to the Trump campaign. He rose to prominence
seemingly out of nowhere last summer, touted by
then-candidate Trump as one of his foreign policy advisers. Page was quickly
cut from the Trump team following reports that federal investigators were probing his
ties to Russian officials.
White House
press secretary Sean Spicer had said (in
March 2017) that the campaign had sent Page cease and desist letters last
year, demanding he stop associating himself with it.
One intelligence
official said that investigators intend to question Page eventually, but that
he was not considered a high priority, adding: “There was many people that were
more relevant.”
Significant: Court filings include a colorful
transcript of Podobnyy speaking with Sporyshev about trying to recruit Page:
“Male-1 wrote that he is sorry. He went to Moscow and
forgot to check his inbox, but he wants to meet when he gets back. I think he
is an idiot and forgot who I am. ... He got hooked on Gazprom thinking that if they have a
project, he could rise up”
(Note: A detailed timeline about that story at the above link).
“I also promised him a lot ... This is intelligence method to
cheat, how else to work with foreigners? You promise a favor for a favor. You
get the documents from him and tell him to go f**k himself.”
* Page
confirmed to BuzzFeed that he was in fact “Male-1” in the court filing and said
he had been in contact with Podobnyy, who at the time was working at Moscow’s
UN office in New York City while under diplomatic cover, although he was really a SVR agent.
SVR Emblem
When pressed on details of his contact with Podobnyy, Page said their
interactions did
not include anything sensitive.
My 2 cents: So, now, we are supposed to accept
Page’s word for that profound statement, um?
Stay tuned for updates on this continuing story.
Thanks for stopping by.
No comments:
Post a Comment