Thread by @jedshug

Veselnitskaya unsealed indictment on obstruction (Russian money laundering case):
"Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who met with @DonaldJTrumpJr (and Manafort & @jaredkushner) at Trump Tower, represented Prevezon Holdings in a civil case..."
washingtonpost.com/world/national…

2/ "...in which SDNY prosecutors sought millions in forfeiture... & alleged in a civil complaint that a Russian criminal organization ran an elaborate tax refund scheme, stealing the identities of companies and filing sham lawsuits to incur fake losses for refund purposes."

3/ Full indictment here, which alleges that Veselnitskaya worked closely with "a senior Russian prosecutor" in Prevezon investigation, but "concealed [that fact] from the Court," and thus "obstructed the civil proceeding."
documentcloud.org/documents/5677…

4/ What does it mean? On the one hand, @NatashaBertrand makes valid points about the limited significance and novelty here.

https://twitter.com/NatashaBertrand/status/1082671075585085443

5/ On the other hand, this indictment sends some signals with larger significance: Russian money laundering.
It connects Veselnitskaya more directly to Russian frauds and money laundering. SCO also indicted Gates and Manafort to money laundering.
More money laundering dots...

6/ Did you notice a major name in this indictment?
Sergei Magnitsky, the Russian whistleblower that the Russians arrested, tortured, and murdered. He's the fallen hero recognized by the Maginitsky Act.
See p. 5 of the indicment and passim.
Cc: @Billbrowder

7/ The indictment refers to "CEO-1" of "Investment Company-1," and how the Russian government tried to blame him and Magnitsky for the fraud.
This seems to be another hero @Billbrowder of Hermitage, if I connected dots correctly...
See this on Prevezon:
cnn.com/2017/11/02/wor…

8/ @cnn in 2017: "Veselnitskaya has been particularly outspoken about the primary campaigner for the Magnitsky Act, the dead lawyer's former client William Browder, CEO of Hermitage, a hedge fund whose properties were allegedly stolen and used in perpetrating the 2007 tax fraud."

9/ This establishes that when Veselnitskaya met with @DonaldJTrumpJr @jaredkushner and Manafort in Trump Tower, she was deeply involved in a Russian govt plot against @Billbrowder and the Magnitsky Act.
Now recall Manafort's notes from the Tower meeting!
"Russian adoption"

10/ Oh my. Look at Manafort's notes from Trump Tower. Full quote:
Bill browder
Offshore — Cyprus
133m shares
Companies
Not invest - loan
Value in Cyprus as inter
Illici
Active sponsors of RNC
Browder hired Joanna Glover
Tied into Cheney
Russian adoption by American families

11/ Off the top of my head, I'm seeing signs that Manafort's notes may have been about Prevezon (money laundering) and sanctions. This is a big damn deal.
First: "Bill Browder." A central link to the Prevezon case and Russian framing of him and Magnitsky.

12/ Second, "Offshore — Cyprus" "Value in Cyprus as inter"
Prevezon was "the Cyprus-registered company...accused in a civil asset forfeiture case by the US Justice Department of having laundered millions in stolen Russian taxpayer money through the Manhattan real estate market."

13/ Third, from @NatashaBertrand's outstanding reporting, more links between meeting & @Billbrowder:
"The notes mentioned 'active sponsors of RNC' and referenced Juleanna Glover, a political strategist and lobbyist who served as Dick Cheney's press secretary during the Iraq war"

14/ 4th, and not at all new:
"Russian adoption" = code for Magnitsky Act, because when the West hit Russia w/ sanctions, Putin retaliated by blocking adoptions from Russia.
Always the talking point for lifting sanctions...
and signs of quid pro quo on sanctions in Trump Tower.

15/ Big clue. Many have been puzzled by "illci," probably a typo for "illicit."
In legal jargon, MONEY LAUNDERING is known as "ILLICIT FINANCE":
see, e.g., Found. for Defense of Democracies' Center for Sanctions and Illicit Finance.
@NatashaBertrand: businessinsider.com/us-v-prevezon-…

16/ More examples: From the UN:
"Anti-money laundering/illicit financial flows activities"
unodc.org/rpanc/en/Sub-p…

17/ Look at @jaredkushner's business deals in 2017:
Russian oligarch Lev Leviev, "a business partner of the Russian-owned company Prevezon Holdings that was at the center of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit launched in New York." h/t @jentaub @ddd_reporter
theguardian.com/us-news/2017/j…

18/ Credit @MikeSacksEsq. He also made these connections and more:

https://twitter.com/MikeSacksEsq/status/1082674790173949952

Bottom line: the Trump Tower meeting looks even worse than we had suspected because there are signs it was about specifically about Russian money laundering and sanctions quid pro quo.

19/ “Real Estate Co. 1” in this indictment is also probably a Prevazon entity. I had thought it might have been Leviev’s real estate firm doing business with Kushner, but that seems less likely, after reviewing court filings:

https://twitter.com/jedshug/status/1082738749748981762?s=21

20/ What's "133m shares"?
It helps that Veselnitskaya wrote a memo with that exact reference in May 2016.
And it's about her allegations against Browder using Cyprus-based companies to buy 133m shares of Gazprom against Russian law.
I'd forgotten this:
foreignpolicy.com/2017/10/16/her…

21/ Whoa. The precise reason she was in NYC in June was that the Prevezon case was before the 2d Circuit at exactly that time!
Looks like she added the Trump Tower meeting.
Check out the date on oral argument in US v. Prevezon (2d Cir 2016): June 9, 2016
law.justia.com/cases/federal/…

22/ What I’m suggesting:
June 2016, Veselnitskaya is in NYC to defend Russian Prevezon from fraud & money laundering charges in fed appellate court.
She thinks: “Why not stop by Trump Tower to make a different kind of “appeal” to @PaulManafort @DonaldJTrumpJr @jaredkushner?

23/ And we now know the context of Prevezon case was that Veselnitskaya was defending money laundering and also committing felonies in order to smear Browder and Magnitsky over Gazprom.
What other felony was she committing inTrump Tower for Russia?
Quid pro quo over sanctions?