Miguk
4953
I’m curious to see how the “America first” types react to the secret meeting with the UAE crown prince. They sure fell in love with the KGB fast. Maybe tomorrow they’ll be telling us that the Arabs are our friends and they’re just misunderstood.
Papageno
4954
OWhatever gives the “True Enemy” (Democrats, Liberals) fits, right?
Actually, it reminds me of that scene in Life of Brian where the two anti-Roman guerrilla groups meet by accident in Pilate’s palace at night and start fighting each other, and when Brian exhorts them not to but rather to unite against the common enemy, they all say “The Judean People’s Front!?”
Russia also has a joint nuclear plant deal in progress in Turkey. I’m surprised this and his payments through a Turkish company have not been linked into the cobweb yet.
Trump Humiliated Jeff Sessions After Mueller Appointment
wavey
4958
The thread was broken, and goes up to 70 (!)
Hidden for length:
Rest of thread
(14) By late May, Trump’s attorney Cohen was saying this: “We did not spend $1 million on this research for it just to sit on my bookshelf.”
(15) The message from the famously frugal Trump—delivered by his then-closest advisor Cohen—was clear: Trump was running for real this time.
(16) That’s why it took Putin just two weeks to dispatch his real estate man— Agalarov—to the Miss America pageant. https://t.co/oBlfZiMqiD
(17) On June 12, 2013, Trump hung out with Aras in Vegas. By June 18, he announced his pageant was headed to Moscow. https://t.co/jEnhJeKR3D
(18) Seventeen nations were then vying for the 2013 Miss Universe pageant. Aras—and Putin—leapt over all of them in less than a week’s time.
(19) Putin had cleared Aras to deal with Trump in June '13—otherwise the deal couldn’t have been announced the day Trump arrived in Moscow.
(20) Miss Universe went to Russia—Putin—in 2013 because Putin dangled Donald Trump’s 25-year dream, Trump Tower Moscow, in front of Trump.
(21) And Putin then delivered on that implicit promise by sending his real estate developer, permits man and banker to Miss Universe 2013.
(22) But as Don Jr. said in 2008, the entire project could be withdrawn on Putin’s say-so—meaning Trump had to give Putin value in return.
(23) But once the U.S. sanctioned Sberbank in mid-September of 2014, it’s not clear that that Putin-set financing was available any longer.
(24) So to get the tower he’d desired for 25 years, Trump had to (a) keep Putin happy, (b) get sanctions lifted, © hand the deal to Don.
(25) It’s clear Trump has aimed to please Putin since 2013; his plan to unilaterally drop sanctions on Russia in January is also well known.
(26) But American media has been falsely reporting, lately, that the Trump-Agalarov-Putin deal “fell apart” in 2014—with no evidence at all.
(27) NYT, The Atlantic and others claim sanctions—or Russia’s bad ‘14 economy—
killed the deal. They never offer proof. No links, no quotes.
(28) The Atlantic claimed, today, that an unrelated scandal in Kyrgyzstan involving Aras—not Trump—killed the deal. https://t.co/DvNHbxJq7b
(29) The problem is this: none of the principals involved in the Trump-Agalarov-Putin deal seem to agree with allegations it died in 2013.
(30) Aras claims the deal only died after Trump’s inauguration and—moreover—confirmation Trump couldn’t do deals. https://t.co/j7nYnBZhIl
(31) And we have lots of extraneous proof that Aras is telling the truth—and again, no proof the NYT and The Atlantic are right on this.
(32) First, let’s make sure you’ve seen what Aras said to Russian media in February 2017 about his deal with Trump having just died—and why: https://t.co/bHG2YrPaUu
(33) And this July, Aras’ lawyer conceded to RIA Novosti that Trump and Agalarov met to talk business a “number of times” from '13 to '17: https://t.co/vU6DvoefxE
(34) This contention is confirmed by the fact that we know Trump—and Don—have stayed in close contact with Aras and his son since 2013.
(35) And Emin Agalarov—who’s the one who first introduced Trump to his father—is another principal who says the deal did not die in 2013: https://t.co/yxcY0kO18s
(36) Asked by Forbes if the 2013 Trump-Agalarov-Putin deal would be picked up with Don now that Trump “couldn’t do deals,” Emin said “Yeah.”
(37) This is confirmed by public reports that say Emin and Don speak on the phone “regularly” and Emin sees Trump Sr. several times a year.
(38) It’s further confirmed by the ease with which Aras and Emin set up that infamous Trump Tower Meeting with Don Jr. on June 9, 2016.
(39) Don Jr.'s emails about that meeting confirm that—years after the 2013 allegedly “died”—he was in regular contact with the Agalarovs.
(40) The Trump-Agalarov business relationship—connected to Putin and very alive in 2016—also confirms Trump would’ve known of the meeting.
(41) And Emin clearly confirmed to Forbes that the Trump-Agalarov-Putin deal was alive following Trump announcing for POTUS in June 2015: https://t.co/kvGMYHfG3l
(42) Note the language: “Considering Mr. Trump ran for president [starting in June 2015], we just thought that building a Trump Tower…”
(43) In what world does Emin Agalarov’s language suggest that—by June '15—the Trump-Agalarov-Putin deal had been dead for many, many months?
(44) But look at the rest of that quote: before his father shut him down, Emin accidentally revealed a confidentiality agreement AND an LoI.
(45) So Trump and Aras (a) wanted the mere fact of a deal kept secret, (b) signed a Letter of Intent, © tried to keep Emin from saying so.
(46) The NYT/Atlantic not only have no evidence the deal died—beyond speculation—they have no evidence the Letter of Intent was rescinded.
(47) And Emin telling Forbes the deal can be picked up with Don now that his father is in the White House suggests the LoI WASN’T rescinded.
(48) And since—as we know—Trump continues to draw income from the Trump Org in the same way he always has, he gains big in such a deal.
(49) Is there evidence Trump is a) trying to keep Putin happy, b) trying to end sanctions, so his deal can one day go forward with Don? Yes.
(50) The NYT said in July it didn’t know if Trump and Agalarov are in a business relationship—but failed to offer all the evidence they ARE. https://t.co/tG6U6a9Y9G
(51) But unless the '13 Letter of Intent has been rescinded—and all evidence points the other way—Trump is in business with Aras. And Putin.
(52) Fact: the still-extant 2013 deal requires Putin’s real estate developer, permits man, banker, sanctions policy, and—above all—say-so.
(53) Trump and Agalarov may have made a land deal, but that land deal is in all respects predicated upon Trump’s deal with Putin for more.
(54) Sater—a Russian mobster—and Mike Cohen, who says he’d never do anything to hurt Trump, can claim the '13 deal died. There’s no proof.
(55) Sanctions can delay a real estate deal, but if you’re the president, control sanctions policy and plan to end sanctions—new ballgame.
(56) Instead of wildly speculating that, surely, the '13 deal MUST have died, the media should get proof the Letter of Intent was rescinded.
(57) It should harangue Emin until it has a credible explanation for why the Agalarovs are publicly discussing executing the LoI with Don.
(58) It should explain why, if sanctions delayed the LoI, that somehow means they killed the LoI: which isn’t how business deals work.
(59) It should ask what “business” Trump/Aras discussed “a number of times” from '13 to '17—and why Emin says the deal was on post-June '15.
(60) It should inquire as to why Putin sent as his replacement to the 2013 Miss Universe pageant—of all people!—the Kremlin’s permits man.
(61) It should investigate whether the sanctions actually do prevent Don from receiving financing—a loan—from Sberbank, as they may not.
(62) And it should consider that, even if the deal was delayed as of fall 2014, within a matter of months Sater was back working the phones.
(63) Somehow Trump was still lying about knowing Sater—and Sater still believing Trump was active in Russia—in 2015. https://t.co/M6Zs7tQE9H
(64) Sater may have been working on financing for the Agalarov deal—as there’s no reason sanctions would cost Trump his developer/permits.
(65) That’s why U.S. media reports not only lack evidence on the '13 deal but make no sense: why would Trump lose his developer and permits?
(66) As of September 2014, all Trump needed to get his tower back was to end sanctions—and it’s clear he’s done all he can to achieve that.
(67) If Sater—who wasn’t at all involved in the Trump-Agalarov-Putin deal in 2013—was looking for Russia deals for Trump in 2015, who cares?
(68) In other words, what does Sater working the phones in Russia in 2015 have to do with whether the Trump-Agalarov-Putin deal was active?
(69) And how does Cohen sending a halfhearted email to a general Kremlin email account in '15 prove he didn’t think the '13 deal was active?
(70) CONCLUSION: All signs point to Trump, Agalarov and Putin being in a confidential LoI agreement over Trump Tower Moscow RIGHT NOW. {end}
(PS) I understand the title of this thread seems beyond belief. But read the reports—all public, major-media reports—and tell me I’m wrong.
Pyperkub
4959
Trump Tower meeting also about Russian Money laundering?
when she stepped into Trump Tower, Veselnitskaya was also representing a client ensnared in a long-running U.S. investigation into an alleged web of Russian money-laundering. That criminal inquiry, opened by federal prosecutors in New York in 2013 and previously unreported, is still active, according to people familiar with the probe. There was no mention of an ongoing criminal inquiry when the U.S. settled a related civil lawsuit against Veselnitskaya’s client in May…
…The origins of the meeting and what happened make a lot more sense now,” said Seva Gunitsky, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto and an authority on Russian foreign policy. For the Russian side, he said, the meeting was likely less about the presidential campaign than it was about advancing core national financial interests. “If you’re looking for potential evidence for a quid pro quo, this would be exactly that type of thing.”
At first, I was like, “Hmm, I wonder if Seth Abramson has a thread about Trump.”
Then I got linked to a MEGA-THREAD.
Joke’s on me, I suppose.
barstein
4961
Despite this wealth of what he insists in the complaint is unwanted public attention, Page has spoken frequently with the press. He agreed to a 30-minute interview with TPM this summer in a Starbucks in Penn Station, and also claimed to be shopping around a book deal on his experience navigating the Russia investigation.
Asked Friday for comment on the suit and why he chose to represent himself, Page sent TPM a lengthy statement quoting George Washington and citing the Constitution. He said he has “done a tremendous amount of legal work” during his career, including as legal officer on his Navy ship and as general counsel for his energy consulting firm.
“Although I may have been dissed amidst the dystopia seen last year,” Page said in an email, “I have full faith that the true administration of justice will indeed be restored in due course.”
The 400-plus page complaint: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6hA9HMyhEeLWHNJNUVGV05qYmM/view
I can’t stand these twitter essays. It’s some weird form of chopped up writing. Why can’t these people blog it and then tweet a link to the blog?
Blogs are so 90s, man. Twitter is where all the cool kids hang out.
I would tell you more but I’ve reached my 140 character limit.
KevinC
4966
A blog? Who has the attention span for anything longer than the
Menzo
4967
I totally agree. If tweetstorms are the future of journalism, I want no part of it.
