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Another undisclosed meeting between Team Trump and the Russians and this one’s a doozy: Michael Cohen-who’d based his lawsuit against the Steele Dossier on having ‘never been to Prague’ but then dropped his suit after reporting that showed he may well have been to Prague in the time period at the end of the Summer, 2016 as the dossier suggested- met with a sanctioned Russian oligarch just a week before the Inauguration.
“President Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, met at Trump Tower in New York days before the 2017 inauguration with a Russian billionaire who was sanctioned this year by the U.S. government.”
“The meeting between Cohen and Viktor Vekselberg, who made his fortune in the energy industry, was an impromptu session arranged by Vekselberg’s cousin, Andrew Intrater, a New York investment manager who was also in attendance, according to a person with knowledge of the encounter.”
“Among the topics the three men discussed was Vekselberg’s desire for better relations between the United States and Russia, the person said, who added that Vekselberg did not encounter Trump or any of his other advisers. The meeting was first reported by the New York Times.”
The usual refrain: ‘better relations between the U.S. and Russia.’ All things being equal of course a good and desirable thing but at what cost? Was this part of a quid pro quo where Russia rigged the election for Trump and the Trump Team pushes not America but Russia’s agenda in policy? Speaking of which we see that James Mattis just got rebuffed by the Senate Armed Services Committee in his request for waivers on Russian sanctions.
Back to the Post:
“Later that month, Cohen signed a lucrative consulting contract with Intrater’s investment firm, Columbus Nova. Company officials have said that Vekselberg, who is Columbus Nova’s biggest client, played no role in Cohen’s hiring.”
Of course not-I’m sure there’s no relation whatsoever between the meeting with the head of Intrater’s cousin one week and getting the contract with Intrater a couple of weeks later.
“The Jan. 9, 2017, sit-down adds to a lengthy list of contacts between Trump associates and Russians with Kremlin ties during the campaign and the presidential transition.”
“It happened just three days after the U.S. intelligence community released a public report concluding that Russian President Vladimir Putin had directed an effort to interfere in the 2016 campaign with the purpose of hurting Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and boosting Trump.”
Then they met just one week later-to celebrate Trump’s inauguration.
“About a week after the meeting, Cohen, Intrater and Vekselberg were together again at a dinner in Washington to celebrate Trump’s inauguration. Intrater had contributed $250,000 to support the festivities and invited Vekselberg as his guest.”
To be sure there remain many questions regarding just where all that funding for Trump’s inauguration came from as he sure didn’t have the biggest crowd in history whatever Sean Spicer says.
Mueller wants information about their activities:
“Investigators for special counsel Robert S. Mueller III have sought information about the three men’s activities as part of their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Earlier this year, Vekselberg was stopped by agents when he flew into a New York-area airport, the Times has reported. Intrater has also been interviewed by the special counsel team, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity.”
“Veskelberg’s company, Renova, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in April, 2017 making him another sanctioned Russian the Trump team hung out with.”
“Vekselberg made billions in the post-Soviet era in the oil and gas industry. He and the company he founded, the Renova Group, were sanctioned in April by the Treasury Department after the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain that Western intelligence officials have blamed on Russia.”
UPDATE: Regarding ‘President Trump’s’ Inauguration it’s now under criminal investigation.
UPDATE 2.0 As noted in Chapter A the fact pattern regarding Cohen’s contacts with Russians is newly important as he and Felix Sater were in on the fake ‘peace plan’-in truth a huge give away to Russia on Ukraine with the explosion of the Ukraine if you’re listening scandal.
If you wonder how Trump could be a national security threat-as the FBI continues to investigate-think of what happens if Russia gets its way in the Ukraine-and it largely has: Putin will be able to extort our European allies.
Again contrary to the Dossier it’s now clear that Cohen’s role was integral not to Russian collusion but very significantly in quid pro quo-what the Russians got for collusion.