The folks over at The Moscow Project are doing invaluable work, both original investigation and reporting, and compiling all that is publicly known of the Trump/GOP/Putin cabal.
In an update filed yesterday, and picked up by NBC news, we learned (not surprisingly) that the Trump campaign had dozens of contacts with Kremlin officials and operatives, that it somehow failed to disclose:
Trump and many of his senior advisors and close associates have repeatedly denied any connections between the two campaigns, despite the fact that they were working towards the same goal, at the same time, and utilizing the same tactics.
Yet over the past year, we’ve learned about a series of meetings and contacts between individuals linked to the Russian government and Trump’s campaign and transition team. In total, we have learned of 70 contacts between Trump’s team and Russia linked operatives, including at least 22 meetings. And we know that at least 22 high-ranking campaign officials and Trump advisors were aware of contacts with Russia-linked operatives during the campaign and transition. None of these contacts were ever reported to the proper authorities. Instead, the Trump team tried to cover up every single one of them.
And to emphasize how ludicrous any claim that these Russian contacts were not central to the Trump campaign is:
A number of other campaign officials were reportedly aware of contacts with Russia-linked operatives, including:
- Corey Lewandowski
- K.T. McFarland
- Rick Gates
- Tom Bossert
- Hope Hicks
- Reince Priebus
- Sam Clovis
- Stephen Bannon
- Stephen Miller
- Sean Spicer
Sessions, Manafort, and Kushner also knew of other contacts between the Trump team and Russia-linked operatives outside of their own meetings.
Many of these officials were involved in explicit efforts to conceal their contacts. Take the infamous meeting on June 9, 2016 in Trump Tower, attended by Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner, that was for the express purpose of obtaining information from the Russian government that would help the Trump campaign. None of them reported the meeting, and Trump Jr. went to significant lengths to hide its true nature.
It should go without saying, but it needs to be said— all such contacts with foreign officials and agents, for the purpose of facilitating efforts and pursuing objectives related to a political campaign in the US (for the Presidency, no less) is simply illegal:
52 U.S. Code § 30121 - Contributions and donations by foreign nationals
(a)ProhibitionIt shall be unlawful for—
(1)a foreign national, directly or indirectly, to make—
(A)a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value, or to make an express or implied promise to make a contribution or donation, in connection with a Federal, State, or local election;
(B)a contribution or donation to a committee of a political party; or
(2)a person to solicit, accept, or receive a contribution or donation described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) from a
foreign national.
(b)“Foreign national” definedAs used in this section, the term “foreign national” means—
(1)a foreign principal, as such term is defined by
section 611(b) of title 22, except that the term “foreign national” shall not include any individual who is a citizen of the United States; or
(2)an individual who is not a citizen of the United States or a national of the United States (as defined in
section 1101(a)(22) of title 8) and who is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence, as defined by
section 1101(a)(20) of title 8.
******
Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
Note that with regard to 52 U.S. Code § 30121, ‘other thing of value’ includes the provisions of services and information useful to the campaign (like, hypothetically, information that is damaging t one’s opponent, and technical assistance in communicating that information), and with regard to 18 U.S. Code § 953, includes any discussions by private citizens, like candidates for office and their staff, with agents of foreign powers, negotiating altering or discontinuing actions taken by the US government (like, hypothetically, agreeing to end sanctions).
полезный идиот
This ever more familiar Russian expression hardly captures the reality of who Putin installed in the oval office.
This gives a better sense of the whole west wing, much of the executive branch, and a fair chunk of the GOP as well:
организованная преступность