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13 Oct, 6 tweets, 2 min read
BREAKING: DOJ says WH did not send a declassification order re: Trump's tweets about "declassifying" all "Russia hoax" docs.

This is in response to 1 of 3 emergency motions @BuzzFeedNews & I filed.

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THE PRESIDENT'S STATEMENTS ON TWITTER DID NOT DECLASSIFY ANY INFORMATION--DOJ Image
Short of getting thousands of unredcated documents, this is exactly what I had hoped to pry loose out of DOJ.
DOJ's claim that it doesn't have a declassification order from Trump related to the "Russia Hoax" documents he tweeted last week he had declassified fails to note that the president has broad authority to declassify and doesn't need to follow a formal process
I would not be me if I did not file a FOIA request with DOJ for all records related to Trump's declassification tweets and our emergency motions to compel release and Walton's order to DOJ to confer with the White House about Trump's tweets.

Which is what I just did
Because now we fight

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More from @JasonLeopold

Jason Leopold Profile picture
11 Oct
THREAD

In March 2017, I filed a #FOIA request w/FBI along w/@_rshapiro for a wide range of records the agency had on Trump (prior to his presidency) & Trump's businesses.

We then sued. FBI turned over some docs but withheld many. 1 reason: ongoing investigation!

1/
For example, here's a doc related to Trump Plaza Hotel, the details of which have been withheld for decades b/c disclosure, FBI says, would interfere with ongoing law enforcement proceedings. That's the b7a exemption. And here's a page from a new FBI declaration abt it

2/
Here's some more news about what the FBI has on Trump's businesses that it won't turn over from the newly filed declaration in my/@_rshapiro #FOIA lawsuit.

Bank Secrecy Act records FBI obtained from FinCEN. That may refer to the Trump Taj Mahal case. Or something else

3/
Read 7 tweets
Jason Leopold Profile picture
7 Oct
@BuzzFeedNews & I have filed #FOIA lawsuits for nearly EVERY doc from the Mueller probe, including a suit to unredact the Mueller report, Crossfire Hurricane, DOJ IG FISA probe, AG Barr's intervention in Flynn & Stone cases

DOJ said there may be as many as 18 BILLION docs

1/
We will immediately explore how we can get these "Russia hoax" docs released in light of the claim by the President of the United States that he has ordered the declassification of all of these records.

2/
But, if DOJ advises the court, as it has previously, not to take Trump's tweets literally as it relates to the declassification and the release of "Russia hoax" documents I'll be sure to note quite loudly how the government overruled Trump

3/3
Read 4 tweets
Jason Leopold Profile picture
6 Oct
Gutted by the death of Eddie Van Halen. I idolized the band /EVH when I was in high school (ask @vladduthiersCBS).

In 1991 (or 92? Early 90s), I was working for a record label in NYC and Van Halen was performing a surprise lunchtime concert at the Hard Rock Cafe

1/
I took the subway uptown and made it in. Van Halen performed for nearly an hour with Sammy Hagar. I remember being so amazed seeing Eddie Van Halen up close soloing on his guitar. When the show ended I elbowed my way up to the stage.

2/
I still vividly recall how much of a fanboy I was at that moment. I wanted to say something to Eddie and what came out was, "I've loved you guys since I was in high school." I then turned around and started to walk away.

Then I felt a tug on my hair (I had very long hair)

3/
Read 6 tweets
Jason Leopold Profile picture
28 Sep
In 2018, @a_cormier_ & I wrote about a series of suspicious financial transactions that was reported to FinCEN involving Emin and Aras Agalarov that immediately preceded & followed the Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 #FinCENfiles

buzzfeednews.com/article/anthon…

buzzfeednews.com/article/anthon…
We followed that up with this story this week

A Russian Billionaire With Close Ties To Putin Made Suspicious Payments To Nobu

The high-end sushi empire received $600,000 as part of a deal with Aras Agalarov, a friend of Donald Trump's

buzzfeednews.com/article/johnte… #FinCENFiles
We now know that Mueller didn't really follow through on the revelations we disclosed in 2018
Read 4 tweets
Jason Leopold Profile picture
24 Sep
NEW from our ##FinCENFiles cache of records. This story is amazing.

A Russian Billionaire With Close Ties To Putin And the White House Made $600K in Suspicious Payments To Nobu

🍣🍣🍣 buzzfeednews.com/article/johnte…
Here is the 15-page suspicious activity report a bank sent to Treasury's Financial crimes Enforcement Network regarding these suspicious payments, revealed here for the first time #FinCENFiles

documentcloud.org/documents/7216… ImageImageImageImage
🚨Confidential government documents reveal that for a time, Crocus International, headed by billionaire Russian real estate developer Aras Agalarov, paid Nobu’s hefty licensing fees through untraceable offshore companies, which are a red flag for possible money laundering
Read 4 tweets
Jason Leopold Profile picture
23 Sep
NEW from our #FinCENFiles investigation:

The Mirage That Moved Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars Through Major Banks

A $27.1 million shipment of fluorescent lamps. A bogus website. Elusive owners. A FinCEN Files detective story.
buzzfeednews.com/article/johnte…
With a website claiming more than 200 employees and an office in a business complex in the middle of Singapore, Ask Trading — “a trading and investment company focusing on the Russia/CIS market” — might appear to be a thriving midsize business.

But actually it’s a mirage.
Between 2001 and 2016, Ask Trading managed to move at least $671 million in transactions through Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of New York Mellon, from sources no one at those banks ascertained, for purposes it never revealed.
Read 7 tweets

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