In 2012, George NADER was brokering a weapons deal in which Russian arms would go to Iraq. In 2013, Trump NatSec adviser Joe SCHMITZ was brokering a weapons deal in which Russian arms would go to Syria. I hope Mueller's looking at any possible connections. qz.com/211603/how-ukr…
2/ Note that, per the New York Times, the NADER deal was cancelled and was going to be "renegotiated" at exactly the same time Schmitz starting trying to get Russian weapons (stored in the Ukraine) to Syria. Is there any chance these were the same weapons? nytimes.com/2018/04/04/us/…
3/ If both NADER and SCHMITZ came into Trump's orbit having tried to aid Putin—implicitly—by getting Russian weapons to the Middle East, is it possible that Schmitz somewhat randomly ending up on Trump's NatSec team was no more a coincidence than was Nader entering Trump's orbit?
4/ This matters, given that SCHMITZ ends up taking a mysterious trip to Hungary during the presidential campaign—we *think* shortly before Hungary's Prime Minister, a Putin ally, made a highly unusual endorsement of Trump. Hungary is also where Putin's FSB has its headquarters.
5/ My point: PAGE went to Hungary and met with a Russian. SCHMITZ also had a Russian nexus; did he, too, meet a Russian in Hungary? What (if anything) was offered to Hungary by the Trump campaign in order to get the in-kind donation of a high-profile endorsement on July 23, 2016?
6/ If NADER was dealing Russian arms in 2012-13, is it too much to wonder whether he crossed paths with SCHMITZ, who was dealing Russian arms in 2013? Especially given that both men ended up in the orbit of the same pro-Russia politician, Donald Trump? Was that mere coincidence?
7/ MUELLER has NADER in his back pocket. But we've heard nothing about SCHMITZ for a very very long time—even though he was named to Trump's NatSec tiny team at the same time as PAGE and PAPADOPOULOS, who were both, apparently, hired in part in consideration of their Russia ties.
8/ Don't forget: saying PUTIN wanted Russian arms in Syria (which SCHMITZ was assisting with) is another way of saying that PUTIN wanted America out of the picture in Syria. And guess what Putin ally Donald Trump has just announced? Premature withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria.
9/ My point is NADER—we learned today—has UAE and Russia connections (as, by the way, does PAGE, who was, for reasons unknown, in the UAE on the very night Trump gave his now-infamous, pro-Russia "Mayflower Speech"). So it's worth imagining all the Trump people NADER came across.
10/ I've periodically made a short-list of people who we have heard little about and will soon hear much more about. Felix SATER has made that list. So has J.D. GORDON. So has Sam CLOVIS. And so too has Joseph SCHMITZ. I suspect NADER crossed paths with at least one of these men.
PS/ If you read the New York Times and Quartz articles in this thread, you will find it *very* hard to believe that NADER and SCHMITZ did not cross paths as they both tried to aid Putin in getting his weapons into the Middle East—at the same time.
It'd be a near-miracle, really.
It'd be a near-miracle, really.
