Thread by @ZarinaZabrisky

Would #Trump’s new Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, pass a background check? Her daughter Caroline Wiles failed a security clearance in 2016.

🧵Alleged family ties to a Kremlin-linked lobbyist infamous for the Trump Tower “dirt” meeting and lobbying against the Magnitsky Act.

Rinat Akhmetshin, a Russian-born US citizen, a lobbyist with a two-decade relationship with Putin allies, is a longtime associate of Lanny Wiles, ex-husband of Susie Wiles, a known GOP operative and lobbyist.

nytimes.com/2017/08/21/us/…

Lanny Wiles and Akhmetshin worked to undo the Magnitsky Act, a law imposing sanctions on Russian officials.

“I think he works for us. I don’t think he works for them,” said Wiles... who has worked with Akhmetshin for more than 15 years. “But I don’t know what he really does.”

Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya also worked on this $240,000 lobbying campaign. In June 2016, Veselnitskaya and Akhmetishin met Don Trump Jr, Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort at Trump Tower, after Veselnitskaya offered “dirt” on Clinton on behalf of the Russian government.

Here is my 2018 long thread on the influence network behind that meeting for those who want more in-depth analysis. Now back to the Wiles--Akhmetishin.

https://x.com/ZarinaZabrisky/status/989998980636426240

Around the time of the Trump Tower meeting, Akhmetshin received a series of flagged payments, including a large sum from Denis Katsyv, whose company, Prevezon, faced US money laundering charges connected to a $230 million tax fraud scheme.

Katsyv’s family held high-level Russian government positions, closely aligned with Kremlin insiders. Veselnitskaya, Katsyv’s lawyer, had her own network of Russian officials from Putin’s inner circle and was accused by the US of secretly coordinating with Russian authorities.

Bank records show Wiles paid Akhmetshin $72,500 between January 2016 and April 2017 for “undisclosed services.” The payment flow — Wiles to Akhmetshin — contradicted public statements that Akhmetshin paid Wiles for consulting.

After ending formal lobbying after new Magnitsky provisions in Dec 2016, payments from Wiles continued. Investigators noted discrepancies in public narratives, as Wiles’ company allegedly funded Akhmetshin, not the reverse.
buzzfeednews.com/article/emmalo…

Lanny Wiles reportedly saved a seat for Veselnitskaya at a June 2016 House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on US policy toward Russia, and organized a dinner w/ Veselnitskaya, Akhmetshin, and former Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, one of Putin’s closest US allies
politico.com/tipsheets/poli…

Rohrabacher promoted legislation linked to Akhmetshin’s lobbying.

Lanny Wiles and Rohrabacher have been friends since the Reagan administration days.

Lanny and Susie Wiles worked for Florida Gov. Rick Scott.
sethhettena.com/2017/07/22/who…

In June 2021, a complaint alleged that Susie Wiles, at the time Ron DeSantis’s campaign chair, obtained foreign contributions from Russia through Akhmetshin in the form of voter suppression and social media influence.
fec.gov/files/legal/mu…

Wiles denied these claims; so did Akhmetshin, stating the payments from Lanny Wiles were for “an entirely unrelated energy project in Central Asia,” and, “Susan and Lanny Wiles divorced months before she began working for the DeSantis campaign.”

The complaint was dismissed.

The connections between GOP political operatives and Russian interests and the intricate network of influence need to be known and reported in the interest of national security.

Democracy might have died in the darkness but we are still around.