,
15 tweets,
2 min read
Read on Twitter
NBC claims that [Weissman et al] say that Trump campaign was "manipulated by a sophisticated Russian intelligence operation". I wonder if they are re-litigating the same old Carter Page-Papadopoulos-Roger Stone crap? Reviewing what we know from open sources: 
2/ no evidence thus far that Russia did anything proper in respect to Papadopoulos. On contrary, Timofeev's response to Papadop's initiative was correct and formal.
3/ invitation to Carter Page to speak at New School (where Obama had previously spoken) appears like attempt to be friendly, but nothing out of protocol. Steele dossier allegations about Page are fabrications.
4/ I'm not aware of any connections, sinister or innocuous, between Roger Stone and Russians
5/ Manafort had many associations with UKRAINIANS, many of whom spoke Russian, a minority language in Ukraine. His main associate in Ukraine, Kilimnik, is often accused of being Russian intelligence tho Mueller conspicuously made no attempt to plead this in Manafort trials.
6/ Manafort owed money to Russian oligarch Deripaska. Deripaska was also connected to Christopher Steele (who he used as lobbyist) and to Adam Waldman.
7/ I haven't seen any evidence that Kilimnik or Deripaska attempted to influence Manafort, tho Deripaska definitely lobbied to influence DOJ via Waldman and Steele.
8/ Sater and Cohen were working in last half 2015 on licensing Trump name to a Moscow real estate development and signed non-binding letter of intent with Andrei Rozov. Sater had many shady contacts, shadiest of whom was probably Andrew Weissman.
9/ correspondence on project pinches out in Jan 2016. Sater and Cohen sought and obtained invitation to St Petersburg economic conference in June 2016 (along with 5000 or so other businessmen in attendance).
10/ Cohen-Sater correspondence looks to me like standard business promotion, with occasional dispute. I didn't see anything that looked like manipulation by an intelligence service. Maybe there's something else.
11/ Trump Tower meeting: Natalya Veselnitskaya opposed Magnitsky Act which had been promoted by international fraud Bill Browder. She is attorney who was properly acting on this case. Music publicist Rob Goldstone caused a lot of trouble by over- and incorrectly promoting.
12/ but I don't see anything in the Trump Tower meeting that smacks of manipulation by Russian intelligence service.
13/ Flynn's contacts with Russian ambassador Kislyak seemed to have been entirely proper. In contrast, Obama admin officials appear to have manipulated situation by leaks to embarrass incoming Trump administration.
14/ I sincerely wonder if there is something sinister that has been kept secret all these months. Or whether Weissman and others will claim that these well-known incidents were attempts by Russian intelligence services to manipulate Trump campaign.
that should read "Russia did anything improper in respect to Papadopoulos".
