Thread by @JohnWHuber

How an unauthorized media leak of @GeorgePapa19 search warrant evidence from Mueller’s team (that “doesn’t leak”) helped the @nytimes win a Pulitzer prize 🚨

THREAD

SUMMARY

—In Dec 17, the NYT was leaked info about @GeorgePapa19 private Facebook messages that only a select few had access to

—Mueller’s prosecutors had access to these msgs via a search warrant & motive to leak them

—Others had access, but they are unlikely to be the leakers

Mueller's Report alleges that @SergeiMillian made a proposal to @GeorgePapa19 on Nov 9 2016 to that they work with Russian “billionaires who are not under sanctions” on “business opportunities”
(Volume I, Page 95)

The underlying source of the Mueller report's claim that Millian’s proposal involved Russian “billionaires who are not under sanctions” is a private Facebook Message from Millian to Papadopoulos on 11/10/16 at 9:35:05 pm

The same *exact words* from Millian about Russian billionaires “who are not under sanctions” was publicly revealed over a year earlier, in the @nytimes on Dec 30 2017 (by LaFraniere, Mazzetti and Apuzzo, with Goldman, Sullivan and Rosenberg also “contributing reporting”)

The NYT story was one of those that helped the NYT win a Pulitzer prize (see: “Unlikely Source Propelled Russian Meddling Inquiry (New York Times)”): pulitzer.org/winners/staffs…

A Google News search confirms the NYT was the first time this Millian proposal was made public. It's still one of the few public mentions of the words “not under sanctions” even though it was alongside the very high-profile Alexander Downer “revelations”: news.google.com/search?q=%22Wh…

The NYT wasn’t just leaked the exact wording of this private Facebook message, it was also told that GP & Millian made contact over LinkedIn (and when) and that they met in Manhattan more than once. All non-public information and specific information very few would know.

All of these then non-public details that were printed in the NYT for the first time are also repeated in the Mueller report, and NOT sourced to the NYT, but to the direct underlying evidence

The NYT doesn't provide ANY references or even hints as to the source of their information about Millian (obfuscating it is from a private Facebook message) - unlike the rest of the article - strongly suggesting it's on “deep background” (source can’t be quoted, even anonymously)

Here are the NYT story and Mueller Report's side by side showing the exact same wording – that only appears in those two places – the NYT, and the Mueller report – which came from a private Facebook message between Millian and Papadopoulos

This means in Dec 2017 the NYT was given the exact contents of that private Facebook message between Millian and @GeorgePapa19 - a message never previous disclosed, that Mueller’s team had access to & considered important, which they cited in their report over a year later

So who are the most likely sources of the leak to the NYT?
—@GeorgePapa19 – received the FB msg
—@SergeiMillian – sent the FB msg
—FBI agents, via a search warrant (Title III or FISA)
—DOJ lawyers/prosecutors, also via a warrant

These sources are also *possible*

—Associates of Millian/GP
—Associates of FBI/DOJ officials with access
—Administrators at Facebook

I would assess these as unlikely given the use of the exact message wording
And there is no evidence of Facebook unlawfully accessing the message

**I believe the most likely leaker to the NYT is a DOJ prosecutor or DOJ/FBI lawyer from Mueller’s team, obtained via a search warrant**. It is unlikely to be Papadopoulos, Millian or the FBI agents. Let's take a look at some evidence.

Papadopoulos: Unlikely

—Deleted his Facebook account on Feb 17 2017 and started a new one

—Unless he deliberately retained all his FB msgs manually (why if he was aiming to delete them), he would no longer have had access to this Millian message to leak it in Dec 17 to the NYT

—The NYT article is also an error-laden hit piece on GP (claims of a “drunken” “revelation”, with “emails” or “dirt” discussed are all false), pushing the FBI/DOJ Downer narrative

—GP had just pled out his deal with Mueller and wasn’t yet talking to the press at all

—@GeorgePapa19 also says in his book the Millian meeting took place on *Oct 15*, not Nov 14 as alleged by Mueller. There wouldn’t be this pre/post-election discrepancy if he was looking at the same message as Mueller which presumably describes the proposal and date of the meeting

MILLIAN: Unlikely

—Millian refused to speak to Mueller’s team and apparently stayed "outside the country" the entire time of the investigation (Mueller report)

—Millian also refused to co-operate with Congressional investigators “unless he was granted immunity” (HPSCI Dems)

If Millian wanted to taint Papadopoulos with this leak, why specifically wait until Dec 2017 AND potentially implicate himself too? Also the NYT has published almost no other articles on Millian, something they'd do if they had him as an exclusive anonymous source 🤔

FBI agents: Unlikely

—The FBI agents assigned pre-Mueller immediately asked about Millian in Jan 2017 in George’s first interview, then sought a search warrant for his Facebook communications

—They would have had *access* to the Millian message leaked to the NYT early/mid 2017

This team included (at minimum):

—Robert Gibbs (who filed the affidavit against GP)
—Curtis Heide (interviewer; arrested GP at Dulles)
—Michael McSwain (interviewer; arrested GP at Dulles)

But did any of them leak to the NYT?

Probably not: the Millian “proposal” wasn’t leaked until months after those FBI agents gained this access, and *only after Mueller and his prosecutors took over the investigation*. If it was the agents, why would they wait that long to leak it? 🤔

If it’s NOT Millian, Papadopoulos or the FBI agents, that leaves us with the Special Counsel lawyers/prosecutors who also had access to the private Millian message before it was leaked:

—Jeannie S. Rhee
—Andrew D. Goldstein
—Aaron S.J. Zelinsky
—Kevin Clinesmith* (see below)

Dec 2017 is also when those Mueller prosecutors stopped meeting with Papadopoulos (source: @GeorgePapa19 lawyers sentencing memo), right before the leak to the NYT of all these details about him, Downer and the private Millian message 🤔

I’m not alleging which specific prosecutors/lawyers are the leaker in this thread (which would be irresponsible without direct evidence), just that the most likely source of this illegal NYT leak is Mueller's team, that supposedly doesn’t leak: according to Collusion Media.

BUT: if @JusticeOIG wants some ideas of who the unauthorized & illegal leakers of search warrant material to the media *could be*, here are two educated guesses 👇

1: KEVIN CLINESMITH

—Does not appear in GP court filings but DOJ IG confirmed his assignment to the Special Counsel (he was removed in Feb 2018)

—GP alleges he led his questioning

—Interested in Downer, the main subject of the NYT piece

—Biased “viva le resistance” guy 🤔

2: ANDREW GOLDSTEIN

—Has almost certainly spoken to the NYT as an anonymous source. Example: nytimes.com/2019/02/25/us/… (also contributed to by Adam Goldman, who helped write the Downer/Millian piece)

—Spent a lot of his career in New York City

—Former journalist (at Time)

/ENDS

N.B.1: Millian is alleged to be a source for the “Steele” Dossier (though he denies it). He also suspiciously reached out to also offer “business opportunities” to Michael Cohen as well (who refused to meet with him)

N.B.2: @GeorgePapa19 alleges this Millian “proposal” involved payment of $30,000 a month(!) on the "condition" he had to also work for Trump, and it was funded by a “former Russian energy minister”. Mueller’s report fails to mention these specifics

N.B.3: Millian also suspiciously invited GP *right when Crossfire Hurricane opened* to visit Moscow in Sep 16, potentially creating a link between Russian money from energy & a Moscow trip. That sounds a lot like the allegation @carterwpage was being bribed by Igor Sechin? 🤔

N.B 4: The Trump campaign (via Rick Dearborn) explicitly said no to that Moscow trip, which Mueller *also* fails to mention, despite having access to both Dearborn and Papadopoulos’s emails. Yet another example of the Mueller team deliberately omitting exculpatory info

Sources (1 of 2):

—Mueller Report: justice.gov/storage/report…
—NYT Dec 17 leak: nytimes.com/2017/12/30/us/…
—Pulitzer: pulitzer.org/winners/staffs…
—@GeorgePapa19 Book
—HPSCI Dems: intelligence.house.gov/uploadedfiles/…
—IG Report: justice.gov/file/1071991/d…
—Goldstein profile in NYT: nytimes.com/2019/02/25/us/…

Sources (2 of 2):

USA v Papadopoulos court filings (case 1:17-cr-00182-RDM)
—Sworn Affidavit from FBI Agent Robert Gibbs, 07/28/17
—GP Statement of the Offense, 10/05/17
—GP Defendant's Sentencing Memo, 08/31/18