A new 966-page report released Tuesday by the GOP-led
Senate Intelligence Committee reads like the bestselling spy thriller that the
Special Counsel's Russia investigation failed to deliver.
The new details are a simply stunning
indictment of the Trump campaign's ties to Russian government officials and
intelligence operations suggesting that, at best, Trump campaign
officials worked in close coordination with Russian operatives throughout
much of the election.
At worst, the document could be viewed as evidence that the Trump campaign ultimately became a front for a Russian influence operation.
At worst, the document could be viewed as evidence that the Trump campaign ultimately became a front for a Russian influence operation.
Of the many revelatory details included in
Volume 5 of the Senate Intelligence Committee's Russia report, the new
information related to Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort are among the
most damning of all.
Manafort's central role in the campaign and
proximity to Trump "created opportunities for Russian intelligence
services to exert influence over, and acquire confidential information on, the
Trump Campaign," writes the committee.
In fact, the panel went a step further than Special Counsel Robert Mueller did in defining Manafort's longtime associate and close ally Konstantin Kilimnik as a Russian intelligence operative.
In fact, the panel went a step further than Special Counsel Robert Mueller did in defining Manafort's longtime associate and close ally Konstantin Kilimnik as a Russian intelligence operative.
"Kilimnik is a Russian intelligence officer," stated the report. "Kilimnik became an integral part of Manafort's operations in Ukraine and Russia ... Kilimnik and Manafort formed a close and lasting relationship that endured to the 2016 U.S. elections and beyond."
Overall, the committee admits that much of
the communication between Manafort and Kilimnik during the election remains a
mystery, as is their involvement in the Russian GRU intelligence agency's
"hack-and-leak operation" targeting the 2016 elections. The
report says the Senate panel obtained "some information" suggesting
Kilimnik may have been involved the GRU's hack attack.
It also states it found "two pieces of information" that "raise the possibility of Manafort's potential connection to the hack-and-leak operations." But most of the rest of that section is redacted.
It also states it found "two pieces of information" that "raise the possibility of Manafort's potential connection to the hack-and-leak operations." But most of the rest of that section is redacted.
But before joining the Trump campaign in March 2016 and throughout his time on the campaign, Manafort "directly and indirectly communicated" with Kilimnik, Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, and pro-Russian oligarchs in Ukraine.
On numerous occasions, the panel writes, "Manafort sought to secretly share internal Campaign information with Kilimnik," including polling data and the campaign's strategy for defeating Hillary Clinton.
"Taken as a whole, Manafort's high
level access and willingness to share information with individuals closely
affiliated with the Russian intelligence services, particularly Kilimnik and
associates of Oleg Deripaska, represented a grave counterintelligence
threat," writes the Senate Intelligence panel.
Furthermore, the panel notes that Manafort's
repeated lies to the Special Counsel's office about his interactions with
Kilimnik undermined Mueller's investigation and kept most of the content of
their communications under wraps.
"Manafort's obfuscation ... effectively
foreclosed direct insight into a series of interactions and communications
which represent the single most direct tie between senior Trump Campaign
officials and the Russian intelligence services," says the report.
For reasons unknown to the committee,
Manafort also willingly accepted a longer sentence for refusing to reveal more
details to Mueller about his communications with Kilimnik.
"Manafort's true motive in deciding to face more severe criminal penalties rather than provide complete answers about his interactions with Kilimnik is unknown, but the result is that many interactions between Manafort and Kilimnik remain hidden."
"Manafort's true motive in deciding to face more severe criminal penalties rather than provide complete answers about his interactions with Kilimnik is unknown, but the result is that many interactions between Manafort and Kilimnik remain hidden."
Uh, sounds like someone was a lot more
concerned about Putin's administration of justice than that of the U.S. justice
system.
Several other eye-popping sections of the
report regarding Ukraine, Roger Stone, Don Jr., and Michael Cohen are included.
Roger Stone/WikiLeaks
Although WikiLeaks and Julian Assange have
maintained that Russia was not the source of their many email dumps regarding
Clinton, her campaign, and the Democratic officials, the Senate
Intelligence Committee "found significant evidence to suggest that, in the
summer of 2016, WikiLeaks was knowingly collaborating with Russian government
officials.”
At one point the report states the GRU
"transferred the Podesta emails to WikiLeaks," referring to the
emails of John Podesta that were leaked within an hour of the release of
Trump's Access Hollywood "grab her by the pussy" tape.
The committee report also clearly states
that longtime Trump ally and friend Roger Stone knew Podesta would be a target
in advance of the email dump and directly relayed that information to Trump and
his senior campaign officials.
Stone also appears to have played a part in
the timing of WikiLeaks' dump of the Podesta emails on Oct. 7, shortly after
the Access Hollywood tapes surfaced.
According to radio host Jerome Corsi—who
served as a liaison between Stone and a WikiLeaks source—Stone and Corsi spoke
twice on Oct. 7 at length about the Access Hollywood tape coming out.
"Stone '[w]anted the Podesta stuff to balance the news cycle' either 'right then or at least coincident.' According to Corsi, Stone also told him to have WikiLeaks 'drop the Podesta emails immediately,'" states the report.
"Stone '[w]anted the Podesta stuff to balance the news cycle' either 'right then or at least coincident.' According to Corsi, Stone also told him to have WikiLeaks 'drop the Podesta emails immediately,'" states the report.
Don Jr./Trump Tower
Don Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort
appear to have effectively met with a Russian spy in their infamous June 2016
Trump Tower meeting.
The key leader of that delegation, Natalia Veselnitskaya had "significant and concerning connections to Russian government and intelligence officials, and has not been forthcoming about those relationships," the report states.
The key leader of that delegation, Natalia Veselnitskaya had "significant and concerning connections to Russian government and intelligence officials, and has not been forthcoming about those relationships," the report states.
Also, Don Jr. indeed intended to get dirt on
Clinton from that Russian operative at the meeting. "The Committee
found evidence suggesting that it was the intent of the Campaign participants
in the June 9, 2016 meeting, particularly Donald Trump Jr., to receive derogatory
information that would be of benefit to the Campaign from a source known, at
least by Trump Jr., to have connections to the Russian government," says
the report. But the committee found no evidence any material was actually
relayed at the meeting.
Ukraine
Ukrainian interference in the 2016 was a
total fabrication. "The Committee identified no reliable evidence
that the Ukrainian government interfered in the 2016 election," states the
report.
The report further reveals that Russian intelligence operative Kilimnik "almost certainly helped arrange some of the first public messaging that Ukraine had interfered in the U.S. election."
Hello Ivanka
"Using Trump to promote WikiLeaks was a
deliberate strategy employed by the Campaign, not only in his remarks, but also
on social media.
In mid-October, Ivanka Trump tasked the Campaign's senior officials (including ]:Jannon, Scavino, Stephen Miller and Jason Miller) with preparing two Trump tweets every day linking to WikiLeaks content, which, she said, would help 'refocus the narrative,'" states the report.
In mid-October, Ivanka Trump tasked the Campaign's senior officials (including ]:Jannon, Scavino, Stephen Miller and Jason Miller) with preparing two Trump tweets every day linking to WikiLeaks content, which, she said, would help 'refocus the narrative,'" states the report.
Michael Cohen
Michael Cohen said that after he was
indicted by the Southern District of New York, "he discussed a potential
pardon for himself with Jay Sekulow ‘more than half a dozen times.’ Cohen
further stated that he understood the pardon discussions had come from Trump
through Sekulow," according to the report.
