This is Oakeshott with Williamson at launch of her book.
Plus new statement she made about Brexit funder as agent of Russian influence.
Below is thread with new court docs.
Key q: Did Williamson help Johnson bury Russia investigation (involving Johnson)? Is knighthood payback?
Oakeshott gave evidence + statement to Sunday Times in Nov 2017.
This is letter from editor Martin Ivens. He’s left but @ShippersUnbound is still there. Does he know what happened? Can new editor @EmmaTuckerST find out?
Did Oakeshott change mind? Did govt ministers intervene?
News International didn’t cover Banks court case. So they maybe don’t know that Banks’s witness statement conflicts with this.
Letter from editor shows Oakeshott gave emails to Sunday Times in Nov 17.
But Banks says it was Wigmore who gave emails to Sunday Times in June 18.
Banks says Wigmore rang Sunday Times deputy editor @cazjwheeler & gave her the emails in order to spike mine & @peterjukes’ story for @ObserverUK.
Banks made this statement on oath.
But we know from Martin Ivens’ letter that Oakeshott gave Sunday Times emails months earlier
Why does this matter? For whole load of reasons.
The failure to sanction UK-based oligarchs is not only a moral stain, it’s a national security risk. Every extra day we give Putin matters.
And Williamson knighthood throws up invidious new qs about Johnson’s failure to act.
Theresa May made this speech Nov 14, 2017. Sunday Times letter is dated 3 days later.
Did Sunday Times alert NCA or intelligence services? Did they go for comment to Williamson or Johnson in Nov 2017?
Why was story spiked?
theguardian.com/politics/2017/…
Theresa May got it. She tried to warn us. Listen to this speech again. She said it all here.
She called Putin’s invasion of Crimea what it was. She calls out ‘election meddling’. And its attacks on our information space.
Her cabinet colleagues - Johnson & Williamson - didn’t.
Johnson was asked about Russian interference by @RhonddaBryant just 2 weeks earlier. ‘Not a sausage,’ he replied.
This is not true. Theresa May isn’t just calling out Putin in that speech. She’s calling out her own foreign minister.
Johnson’s failure to take action against Russian £ even now is a national security risk & we need to know what happened in Nov 2017 when FBI revealed London investigation, when Theresa May warned us, when Sun Times spiked explosive scoop.
Where was NCA? Where was MI5/6?
Britain’s national security apparatus was paralysed by a failure of leadership. The Russia Report told us that explicitly. And our political leadership was paralysed by Brexit.
I think @theresa_may got it. And I suspect she has answers.
The evidence suggests Johnson directly involved in covering up Russian interference. New docs I published yesterday reveal Williamson’s involvement.
This is photo of Johnson in Congress with Mifsud who head of FBI called ‘a Russian agent of influence’
Will Sunday Times tell us why it spiked its story? I hope so. It had explosive story about Brexit funder as 'Russian agent of influence' 3 days after Theresa May's speech on Russia dominated the front pages.
We know Johnson had already tried to bury the story once. Did he again?
Why did Arron Banks state on oath that Wigmore gave emails to Sunday Times in June 2018? When ST editor confirms he has them in Nov 2017?
Nov 14, 2017: Theresa May dominates front pages with speech saying Russia has attacked our elections.
Nov 17, 2017: Sunday Times indemnifies Oakeshott over explosive story of Brexit funder as "Russian agent of influence"
Nov 19, 2017: This is Sunday Times front page.
To be clear, I am not trying to lay blame with Sunday Times or even Oakeshott. I don't know what happened. There were other forces at work here at highest levels of govt.
But I do think @ShippersUnbound & others can help expose what happened here. And hope they will.
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