Last week I tweeted that I thought @MichaelAvenatti scoop about Cohen shell companies came from a #FinCEN leak. I went on @allinwithchris the following night & discussed that the info could have come from #Fincen or perhaps the financial institutions. Tonight @RonanFarrow /1
Confirmed that the leader of the #SARS was from #FinCEN. I must admit when @RonanFarrow and I spoke this week, I was stunned about the possibility that someone could have removed SARS. I felt that there is no way this could happen short of work by a nefarious actor. But, I also/2
Would share that I am not worried whether Mueller’s team has the SARs. I’ve been tweeting since March 2017 that I believe that #FinCEN holds the key to #TrumpRussia, in part because the SARs are filed and the data collected long before Trump got elected. Which means that from /3
WELL BEFORE the November 2016 election & BEFORE @PreetBharara and @SallyQYates & then @Comey got fired, the data and SARS about Trump, Manafort, Cohen, and anyone else were in the FinCEN database and arguably shared with law enforcement, including the @FBI from very early on./4
So, in sum, I would be shocked and horrified if someone was so prescient and nefarious as to delete the SARs in early 2016 (well before election). BUT even if someone did, which is really sinister, I wouldn’t worry that Mueller’s team is missing the important SAR info. As for /5
the technical database intricacies, I just don’t have that background to weigh in. And as to the whistleblower’s approach here, I’m sure I wouldn’t have gone to Avenatti, but I agree w him/her that none of this is normal. I would have gone to my bosses or Inspector General. /END
