On Saturday, July 27, 2019, Vadim Pozharskyi emailed Karen Tramontano worried that the July 25 Trump/Zelensky mentioned Burisma. Tramontano assured Pozharskyi that she and Sally Painter were on the case.
In fact, Tramontano said Painter would reach out to their "friend" and Tramontano had already contacted their "other friend".
The very next week, Ciaramella filed his whistleblower complaint.
In testimony to the Senate Homeland Security Committee, neither Tramontano nor Painter could remember who the "friend" and the "other friend" were.
Does anyone have any guesses?
The ironic thing is that Burisma wasn't mentioned on the Trump/Zelensky call. Trump/Zelensky mentioned Crowdstrike. A lot of people assumed Trump talked about Burisma, though. If Trump wanted people to run with the idea he & Zelensky talked about Burisma, it was a "perfect call".
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The FBI's corroboration of the dossier claims Carter Page worked "as Gazprom as a 'Corporate Broker'." Furthermore, the corroboration claims Page was instrumental in instituting an investor's day.
This appears to come directly from the 3-17-2017 Carter Page 302 -- down to the awkward syntax. Notice that we appear to be receiving a bonus unredaction.
A few thoughts:
1. It's awfully odd that the FBI was busy corroborating the dossier in March 2017. The dossier was used to get a FISA warrant against Page in October 2016. Why wasn't it corroborated then?
2. I don't like how this is constructed. Page never worked for Gazprom
Paul Sperry says that Brennan overruled including evidence that conflicted with the ICA's conclusion that Russia wanted Trump to win the 2016 election.
Just read the Geoffrey Berman transcript before the Judiciary Committee. Berman wasn't all that helpful to the House Dems. In fact, my biggest takeaway is that Berman's testimony inoculates his successor, Audrey Strauss, from any criticism from Democrats. judiciary.house.gov/uploadedfiles/…
One of the first things Strauss did as Acting USA for SDNY was charge Ghislaine Maxwell. I don't know where that's going, but Democrats have really boxed themselves in a corner if they don't like what Strauss does.
With the help of Berman, Democrats have staked out the position that no one other than Strauss could be named Acting USA for SDNY.
After ruminating on this for a couple hours, I think I figured this mystery out.
Mueller is saying he investigated Stone due to his contacts with Russian intelligence. But Stone had no contacts with Russian intelligence. Somehow Mueller was deceived.
We all have a good idea on how Mueller was deceived about Stone's contacts with Russian intelligence. Some might even argue that Mueller was intentionally ignorant.
1. I've argued that John Durham has been investigating SpyGate matters since July 2017 at the latest
I'm revising that. Durham has been on-board no later than June 11, 2017. Durham was working with Mueller the whole time, too @traceybeanz @15poundstogo
2. Check out this email to Michael Dreeben, one of Mueller’s team members at SCO. On June 11, 2017, Scott Schools wanted Dreeben to met John Durham. Schools thought it would be “helpful” if Dreeben and Durham talked.
3. You know something else curious about this timeline? Two days earlier, June 9, 2017, it was reported that Dreeben would be working with Mueller’s team on “complex areas of criminal law, including what constitutes obstruction of justice” law.com/nationallawjou…
1. A few people brought up the Air Force 1 Meeting in replies to one of my tweets yesterday. The AF1 Meeting occurred on July 8, 2017 as Trump staffers debated what–if anything-to do about a NYT article breaking the news of the June 9, 2016 Trump Twr meeting arranged by FusionGPS
2. Here’s my favorite little-known story about the AF1 Meeting:
While on AF1, Hope Hicks learns of a story Trump personal attorney Marc Kasowitz is marketing to Circa News. Kasowitz says the story will “blow the Russia investigation wide open”.
3. On July 9, 2017, John Solomon and Sara Carter publish this article. The main thrust is that Russian lawyer Natalie Veselnitskaya is connected to Fusion GPS and was in the U.S. on mysterious circumstances when she attended the Trump Tower meeting. web.archive.org/web/2017071002…