Russia is only part of the Trump story, but this history of Putin is filled with lessons, including how Westerners underestimated how political, KGB, mafia & business interests would merge under Putin as democratic rights eroded
A new name in the book surprised me because of his role in Trump's orbit - Shalva Tchigirinsky aka Chigirinsky met Trump at the Taj Mahal in 1990, reportedly had Solnetsevskaya ties, mentored Aras Agalarov, knew Steve Wynn and was involved in one of the Trump Moscow discussions
Another item that surprised me was significance of Yevgeny (Evgeny) Dvoskin, childhood best friend of Felix Sater, but barely covered by the media - Dvoskin was key architect of moving billions out of Russia & described as 'the king of Russian black cash'
Putin's People detailed how his govt used tax & legal levers to discredit, dismantle and sell off Mikhail Khodorkovsky's Yukos and jail Russia's wealthiest man - tax & legal tactics used years later that led to the murder of Sergei Magnitsky covered by @Billbrowder in Red Notice
A few other themes in Putin's People that struck me - how Yeltsin era oligarchs (Abramovich, Deripaska etc) had to pledge fealty & $ to Putin's KGB govt - and how the long-term strategy of moving billions in black cash to the west helped set the stage for Brexit & Trump
Fascinating parts of Putin's People detailed Putin's early (mostly opaque) career - with the KGB in Dresden and ex-Stasi officer Matthias Warnig (who later led many key business ventures) and Putin's time in St. Petersburg and dealings with the local mafia
Great reporting by @CJBarker on Erik Prince lawsuit against The Intercept, which found Prince's sworn statement about his ties to WY included misstatements about his WY voting record and businesses HT @seth_hettena
In response to article Prince said he thought Jones Creek & CMNS Systems were in WY but later believed they are DE entities
This CMNS Systems incorporated in DE Aug 2020 has a MI address and Chris Coleman CEO (not clear this is same one Prince referenced) opengovus.com/sam-entity/117…
The Democratic Republic of Congo as suffered under authoritarian rule of Joseph Kabila, but a $9.5 million lobbying campaign by Mer Security and Communication Systems helped Kabila gain support of Trump admin, including Guiliani & Pompeo by @AlbertSamaha buzzfeednews.com/article/albert…
"When the history of the Trump administration is written, much will be made of the president undermining democracy at home. But as the Congo episode shows, he also did so abroad."
Sources report Kushner helped set up American Made Media Consultants shell co w/president Lara Trump, vp John Pence (Mike Pence nephew) & treasurer/secretary Sean Dollman (Trump campaign CFO), which secretly spent $600mil+, by @tomlobianco@davelevinthal
KY-based steel plant owned by Ukrainian oligarchs Ihor Kolomoisky & Hennadiy Bogolyubov (charged by DOJ w/money laundering) has announced mass layoffs, while bitcoin mining set up a few years ago by a 3rd party at the plant is still active by @toddprincetv radiosvoboda.org/a/skorochennya…
A supposedly shuttered KY-based US steel plant owned by Ukrainian billionaires Ihor Kolomoisky and Hennadiy Bogolyubov is said to have been quietly mining bitcoin coindesk.com/ukrainian-olig…
KY steel plant CC Metals & Alloys owned by Kolomoisky & Bogolyubov was approved for a PPP loan on April 14 of between $2 to $5 million to help support 145 jobs. On July 1 the plant shut down temporarily due to the coronavirus pandemic, by @toddprincetv rferl.org/a/kolomoyskiy-…
RNC's highest-paid vendor of the 2020 election: A mystery company formed nine months ago - Digital Consulting Group made $42 million in eight months for media and marketing services. But who's behind it? by @SollenbergerRC
The address for Digital Consulting Group LLC is 1000 N. West Street Suite 1200 Wilmington DE 19801 - the address of a Regus virtual office, used by many different businesses, so as @SollenbergerRC noted it's nearly impossible to track who is behind the company with that location
Billionaire San Francisco real estate developer Sanford Diller, enlisted the help of Elliott Broidy & lawyer Abbe Lowell in securing clemency for Berkeley psychologist Hugh Baras, who received 30-month prison sentence for tax evasion & improperly claiming Social Security benefits
Trump Associates Said to Have Been Scrutinized in Suspected Pardon Scheme - San Francisco billionaire sought clemency for psychologist convicted of monetary crimes, republican donor Elliott Broidy and lawyer for Jared Kushner were enlisted nytimes.com/2020/12/03/us/…