Thread by @LoopEmma

EXCLUSIVE: A Russian-born lobbyist who attended the Trump Tower meeting received suspicious payments totaling half a million dollars before and after the encounter.

The latest from me, @JasonLeopold, @a_cormier_, @TaniaKozyreva, @jtemplon: buzzfeednews.com/article/emmalo…

#moneytrail

@JasonLeopold @a_cormier_ @TaniaKozyreva @jtemplon Some more highlights from this story, which has a lot in it:

Akhmetshin’s bank, Wells Fargo, flagged the transactions because they felt he may have violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

Mueller’s probe has given that law new bite.

buzzfeednews.com/article/emmalo…

@JasonLeopold @a_cormier_ @TaniaKozyreva @jtemplon Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman @SenatorBurr confirmed that the committee has scrutinized Akhmetshin’s Magnitsky-related lobbying work: “Given that the June 9 meeting was about that, I think we’ve explored every possibility relative to that topic.” buzzfeednews.com/article/emmalo…

@JasonLeopold @a_cormier_ @TaniaKozyreva @jtemplon @SenatorBurr Wells Fargo flagged $78,900 Akhmetshin made in cash deposits as suspicious. One of them, for $20,000, was made in March 2016; another for $20,000 was made five months later, in August.

buzzfeednews.com/article/emmalo…

@JasonLeopold @a_cormier_ @TaniaKozyreva @jtemplon @SenatorBurr HRAGI also came under scrutiny. Investigators at Bank of America flagged nearly $500,000 in wires credited to the nonprofit’s account in April 2016. Examiners said the payments could be evidence of bribery or political corruption re: the Magnitsky Act. buzzfeednews.com/article/emmalo…

@JasonLeopold @a_cormier_ @TaniaKozyreva @jtemplon @SenatorBurr Lawmakers did not exactly fall for Akhmetshin’s anti-Magnitsky lobbying on behalf of HRAGI.

“I had a ton of people that the Russians sent through my office to feed me a bunch of bullshit” — @RepMcGovern

buzzfeednews.com/article/emmalo…

@JasonLeopold @a_cormier_ @TaniaKozyreva @jtemplon @SenatorBurr @RepMcGovern Akhmetshin got more than $72,000 from Wiles Consulting, a Florida-based company controlled by Lanny Wiles, a longtime Republican operator. Payments began in January 2016 and went to April 2017.

buzzfeednews.com/article/emmalo…

@JasonLeopold @a_cormier_ @TaniaKozyreva @jtemplon @SenatorBurr @RepMcGovern Then, in October 2017, Akhmetshin got a $100,000 wire from Denis Katsyv, the Prevezon owner who helped back HRAGI. The wire was listed only as payment for consulting work.

buzzfeednews.com/article/emmalo…

@JasonLeopold @a_cormier_ @TaniaKozyreva @jtemplon @SenatorBurr @RepMcGovern One of the earliest transactions from the review period that bankers flagged was a $30,000 wire from Laudato Sia, a company based on Latvia. Akhmetshin also got $17,774 from a Panamanian shell company in 2015.

buzzfeednews.com/article/emmalo…

@JasonLeopold @a_cormier_ @TaniaKozyreva @jtemplon @SenatorBurr @RepMcGovern Between January 2015 and June 2017, Akhmetshin collected $52,000 from DC attorney Ed Lieberman. Investigators said one of the checks appeared to reference a rich Russian businessman.

Akhmetshin also got $7,500 from entities linked to a former Kazakh PM. buzzfeednews.com/article/emmalo…

(Sidenote: Lieberman’s wife worked in the Clinton White House and was the aide who transferred Monica Lewinsky to the Pentagon: nytimes.com/2015/12/15/us/…)

Wells Fargo and Bank of America submitted their findings to the Treasury Department in early November 2017. Senate Intel interviewed Akhmetshin in the fall of 2017, a source close to the committee confirmed.

buzzfeednews.com/article/emmalo…

The Wells Fargo documents were passed to Mueller’s team. It’s unclear what, exactly, Congress has received from Treasury, but Burr insists his committee has received all the documents it requested.

buzzfeednews.com/article/emmalo…