Thread by @karolcummins

Shanahan

‼️What common interests do former SecDef Patrick Shanahan, Boeing, Titanium, McKinsey, Firtash, Trump, Haley have in common?

Hint: US v Dmytro Firtash

6/21/19 ORDER

drive.google.com/file/d/1yWzybT…

‼️Background 2006 - 2008

Shanahan & Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner

Known inside Boeing as "Mr. Fix-It," Shanahan is now facing his most daunting challenge as he attempts to get the development of the highly touted 787 Dreamliner passenger jet back on track.
latimes.com/archives/la-xp…

📌Problem: The 787 Dreamliner, designed to be highly fuel-efficient, is nine months behind schedule because of problems coordinating work done by major parts suppliers all over the world.
latimes.com/archives/la-xp…

The 787 program has been mired in problems with components supplied from subcontractors.

"Clearly, they really have to execute and get the supply chain under control,"

📌Note: At issue crucial need for various parts composed of titanium.
latimes.com/archives/la-xp…

https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/1142626861035339776?s=21

Boeing was in a tight spot.

📌Just as it was preparing to roll out its innovative 787 Dreamliner — the plane that was supposed to lead the aircraft manufacturer into the future — a shortage of strong but lightweight titanium parts threatened production.

nytimes.com/2018/12/30/wor…

There was an industrywide shortage of fasteners — the seemingly mundane items like nuts, bolts, rivets & washers that literally hold planes together. Thousands were needed for each aircraft, & for the lighter Dreamliner, they had to contain more titanium.
nytimes.com/2018/12/30/wor…

This shortage pushed back delivery of the first 787 Dreamliners to early 2009.
latimes.com/archives/la-xp…

‼️Boeing was desperate to obtain the titanium they needed to get the 787 Dreamliner back on production track. Billions of dollars in contracts were at stake. So they did a deal w/ Firtash to obtain the titanium they needed to produce the much needed parts

https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/1142616369424244738?s=21

‼️The Deal

Desperate Boeing latched onto a promising lead. A group of six international businessmen with plentiful financing had offered to mine and process five million to 12 million pounds of titanium annually, much of it for sale to Boeing.
nytimes.com/2018/12/30/wor…

📌The group, Bothli Trade A.G., had already signed a memorandum of understanding for a joint mining venture with the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
nytimes.com/2018/12/30/wor…

📌The business org central to the 2013 Indictment is the Group DF Limited ("Group DF"), which incorporated in the  British Virgin Islands.

Group DF Limited had the following subsidiaries, Bothli Trade AG, which incorporated in Switzerland.
maddogpac.com/blogs/spicy-fi…

Boeing had second thoughts, should it even be doing business with this group from India, Sri Lanka and Hungary?

📌The exception was the leader and leading financier, Mr. Firtash, who had expertise as the owner of titanium processing plants in Ukraine.
nytimes.com/2018/12/30/wor…

https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/1142603256616480768?s=21

‼️Enter McKinsey

📌This was the business plan that McKinsey was brought in to assess, the plan that its report described as including the paying of bribes.

nytimes.com/2018/12/30/wor…

McKinsey says it advised Boeing of the risks of working with Firtash and recommended “character due diligence.”

McKinsey described what it said was the potential partner’s strategy for winning mining permits.

It included bribing Indian officials.
nytimes.com/2018/12/30/wor…

The McKinsey slide stated that Firtash’s group, Bothli Trade, “has identified key Indian officials & has crafted a strategy to gain their influences.” That strategy included investing in infrastructure & jobs and respecting the traditional use of bribes.
nytimes.com/2018/12/30/wor…

To American prosecutors, it was known simply as “Exhibit A.” A single PowerPoint slide, written in 2006 and attached to a much longer evaluation of the India mining venture, it laid out the alleged bribery scheme.
nytimes.com/2018/12/30/wor…

📌Nevertheless Boeing continued to pursue the venture even after being advised that its partner’s plans included paying bribes, records show.

❓Question: was Shanahan involved in the at issue bribes & negotiations with Firtash?
nytimes.com/2018/12/30/wor…

📌Ultimately, the deal fell apart.

📌Boeing found other sources of titanium and McKinsey continued to advise the company on the supply chain.

📌But McKinsey’s report on India would remain buried until it came to light years later in a legal storm.
nytimes.com/2018/12/30/wor…

📌The mining venture never materialized, but Mr. Firtash was indicted on charges of directing $18.5 million in bribes to Indian officials for mining permits.
latimes.com/archives/la-xp…

📌McKinsey’s role in the episode has remained hidden from public view for 12 years.

📌Even today the firm’s ultimate recommendation and how its client, Boeing, responded remain something of a mystery, cloaked in the secrecy of grand jury proceedings.
nytimes.com/2018/12/30/wor…

📌Neither McKinsey nor Boeing was charged in the case, and Boeing has not been accused of paying bribes.

📌But several employees of the two companies are believed to have testified before a grand jury.

❓Did Shanahan testify before the GJ?
nytimes.com/2018/12/30/wor…

‼️Fast forward to present day

New Pentagon chief under scrutiny over perceived Boeing bias
Concerns about Patrick Shanahan’s Boeing ties have re-emerged since Trump said he may be running the Pentagon ‘for a long time.’
politico.com/story/2019/01/…

2019 Shanahan under investigation by the DOD IG re complaints he disparaged competitors of Boeing during meetings at the Pentagon with senior national security officials and lawmakers

politico.com/story/2019/01/…

📌Issue: Shanahan, this official said, called the Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jet “f---ed up” and argued that Lockheed — which edged out Boeing to win the competition to build the plane in October 2001 — “doesn’t know how to run a program.”)
politico.com/story/2019/01/…

“If it had gone to Boeing, it would be done much better,” Shanahan said.

Shanahan repeatedly "dumped" on the F-35 in meetings, calling the program "unsustainable," and slammed Lockheed Martin's CEO, angering others witnessing his outbursts.
politico.com/story/2019/01/…

📌Note: was it Shanahan intent to steer DOD contract awards exclusively with Boeing as opposed to Lockheed Martin?

📌If so, Shanahan would personally profit.

‼️Shanahan’s Financials:

Boeing
CreditSuisse
Diamond offshore drilling
Facebook
Gasprom
LUKOIL
Novartis
Raytheon
Sinclair Broadcast
Softbank
Swedbank
Mortgage held by Goldman Sachs
& more
projects.propublica.org/trump-town/

📌Was Shanahan “Mr. Fix-it” one of the key people involved in the titanium deal with Firtash?

❓Was Shanahan one of the GJ witnesses?

📌Side note It was Shanahan who introduced the 787 Dreamliner — to the Defense Department. (circa 2008 or 2009?)

📌Was Shanahan brought on board to create a DOD gravy train for Boeing? Payoff?

📌Perhaps keep key details quiet about the Firtash titanium deal?

📌Remember Nikki Haley also took a seat on the Boeing BOD as well, perhaps as a comms conduit to Trump WH?

thehill.com/policy/transpo…

📌Note: Nikki Haley is notoriously anti-union & was involved in the Aiken Mox facility boondoggle.

https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/1061116647501520896?s=21

MOX

Yeah, folks it’s all connected ...

https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/1083087118438621184?s=21

❓Also because the DOD controls the procurement of titanium, was Shanahan brought in to head the DOD to facilitate the procurement of titanium from Trump’s friends the RU mob?

‼️Firtash & Mogilevich

https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/1142649621178511360?s=21

Austrian Supreme Court Upholds U.S. Extradition Request For Ukrainian Tycoon Firtash

Keep the popcorn handy. 🍿🍿

Things are about to get really lit.
rferl.org/a/austrian-sup…

@threadreaderapp unroll please and thank you.

#Shanahan,
#Boeing,
#Titanium,
#McKinsey,
#Firtash,
#Trump,
#Haley,
#Manafort