Thread by @grantstern

*** THREAD ***

Let me explain how Paul Manafort's #TrumpRussia indictments are rolling rapidly from election inference into a replay of the Jack Abramoff scandal, but on STEROIDS, involving the secretive sale of American foreign policy for dark money.

washingtonpress.com/2018/02/23/mue…

Manafort and Gates lobbied in the US for Kremlin-linked oligarchs & political parties for a decade, but before their scorched earth, divisive GOP politics inflamed a regional war, they went on a secret diplomatic offensive on behalf of their client, kleptocrat Victor Yanukovych.

Manafort founded the European Center for a Modern Ukraine to be a secret western lobbying front group for Yanukovych.

For obvious reasons, his kleptocratic client had a perception problem, i.e. reality.

Yanukovych is Putin's vassal.

Manafort hid his involvement for years.

But in an ironic twist of fate, Mueller is proving that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.

Like Jack Abramoff before him, Manafort's less glamorous financial crimes of loan fraud are (in his case comically) easy to prove.

slate.com/technology/201…

So, how does this all relate to #TrumpRussia?

For starters, the obvious: Manafort was working for Russia the whole time.

His Ukrainian boss was one master, but really he was the student, remade in Manafort's image.

Manafort was also taking money from a key Putin ally...

Oleg Deripaska. The AP reported he paid Manafort $10 million per year until he got burned in a bad deal.

Manafort wanted to 'get right' with Oleg Deripaska by passing him reports on the Trump campaign.

Russian opposition leader @navalny revealed more:

washingtonpress.com/2018/02/08/new…

Manafort passed information to Deripaska and on to the Kremlin via his man in Ukraine, "Kostya from the GRU" (that's Russian military intelligence) who showed up at a couple of key times during Manafort's run as Trump campaign manager.

A key time when...

politico.com/story/2016/08/…

When Manafort showed up in late March, Kostya visited in early April.

He visited for the RNC Convention in Cleveland.

He visited in early August.

abcnews.go.com/Politics/timel…

Every few months is how Kilimnick put it to Radio Free Europe.

rferl.org/a/paul-manafor…

So, George Papadopoulos has been courted by Russians in London, he's a foreign policy speech writer for Trump. Manafort gets a job in the campaign

Kilimnick shows up in early April

Weeks later Papadopoulos sends a signal for what he thinks is a meeting

nytimes.com/2017/12/30/us/…

Manafort attends the #TrumpRussia meeting at campaign headquarters 5 weeks after the signal to meet

Let me just say that Russian Intel would setup a quote pro quo this way for plausible deniability

Talk about a Putin meeting, but you meet Natalia instead.

She represented Putin

Then at the RNC Convention the next month, Kostya comes back, so does Carter Page, and Ambassador Kislyak.

Another signal is sent on US-Ukraine policy.

Deal on.

Right out of the #TrumpRussia dossier's

I broke this exclusively btw.

occupydemocrats.com/2017/03/05/cnn…

Russia released a big batch out Democratic emails a little later in three summer, just like Don Jr. Wrote that he'd love.

But Hillary Clinton got a big convention bounce.

So Donald Trunp publicly begged Putin for more emails, exposing the conspiracy.

Whoops!

Kilimnick needs to discuss that major faux pas with Manafort promptly.

It was Trump's last press conference until January 10th, 2017 when he hired Russia's top law firm to load a talkie with blank folders and bullshit about divestment.

Manafort left the campaign weeks later in mid August, under escalating questions about his Ukrainian dark money schemes.

But he continued to advise Trump at post through inauguration, even after the #TrumpRussia probe began!

politico.com/story/2017/05/…

When Manafort leaves, a new handler with links to Russia's propaganda machine took over, Steve Bannon.

Special thanks @Hatewatch @areidross @PatrickLSimpson for making this story possible explaining Bannon's ties to Russian propagandist Aleksandr Duggin

washingtonpress.com/2018/02/23/top…

A month later, @wikileaks saved the #Trump campaign after the Access Hollywood #TrumpTapes nearly destroyed his presidential campaign.

Bannon took full advantage of the media flak from Democratic emails.

And the campaign echoed the Kremlin line closely. politifact.com/truth-o-meter/…

Rigged elections?

That was a Kremlin psy-op run with RT aka Russia Today

m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_58…

Let's not forget the Trump campaign's direct mimicry of Russian voter suppression propaganda which Trump picked up in early August, then dropped, then again in early October when the Kremlin started, according to last week's #TrumpRussia indictment.

washingtonpress.com/2018/02/16/mue…

But you're asking, where's the Abramoff style scandal?

Manafort involved at least three House Republicans in his secretive Ukrainian lobbying efforts aka FARA violations aka espionage.

Let's focus on two big fish.

California Reps. Rohrabacher & Royce.

verifiedpolit.wpengine.com/congressional-…

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher needs no introduction to my readers. He worked directly with the Kremlin's anti-sanctions crew, literally going to Moscow for material.

He chairs the House subcommittee for Russian issues, under Rep. Royce.

That's right...

occupydemocrats.com/2017/07/19/rep…

Rep. Ed Royce - who isn't running for re-election - Chairs the powerful Foreign Affairs Committee.

Royce also took meetings with Manafort and domains funneled through "Company A" in today's Rick Gates plea in 2013 according to @jwlarrabee's criminal and election complaint.

Others noted taking meetings and donations in Manafort's and Mercury's FARA filings (they're Company A) were Rep. Patrick Murphy, the anti-abortion Republican from Pennsylvania who resigned after forcing his mistress to have an abortion, and...

Senator Jim Risch sits on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee and recently endorsed #TrumpRussia election interference as long as they keep doing it.

Risch also took meetings, then money from Manafort's crew in 2013

rawstory.com/2018/01/gop-se…

That's probably why the Department of Justice wrote back to @jwlarrabee about his #TrumpRussia complaint against Congressmen Royce, Rohrabacher, Risch and Murphy

verifiedpolitics.com/special-counse…

Today's news about Rick Gates concealing the true nature of his and Manafort's 2013 meetings with Republican Congressmen, at his "Queen for a day" meeting with Mueller, hints an Abramoff-like ending which will ensnare multiple high-ranking GOP legislators

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Others GOP lawmakers taking meetings and donations in Manafort's and Mercury's FARA filings (they're Company A) were Rep. Patrick Murphy, the anti-abortion Republican from Pennsylvania who resigned after forcing his mistress to have an abortion, and...

Senator Jim Risch sits on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee and recently endorsed #TrumpRussia election interference as long as they keep doing it.

Risch also took meetings, then money from Manafort's crew in 2013

rawstory.com/2018/01/gop-se…

That's probably why the Department of Justice wrote back to @jwlarrabee about his #TrumpRussia complaint against Congressmen Royce, Rohrabacher, Risch and Murphy

verifiedpolitics.com/special-counse…

Today's news about Rick Gates' scheme to conceal his and Paul Manafort's secretive foreign lobbying and cash influence scheme in the foreign policy bodies of Congress means that the #TrumpRussia probe should spread widely across @GOP lawmakers.

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