Conversation with Merlin [email protected] · Mon Dec 04 2023

I don't understand the whole Donald Trump and criminal investigation thing. Can you explain to me what exactly it's about?

Former President Donald Trump is currently facing multiple legal challenges, including criminal and civil cases. Some of the major events in the legal schedule include trials for civil fraud in New York, election interference, and charges related to classified documents, among other cases. The legal proceedings are set to take place in different states, such as New York, Georgia, and Florida, with significant hearings and trials occurring throughout 2024.

One noteworthy development involves a federal election interference trial in Washington, D.C., scheduled to take place in March, followed by a federal classified documents trial in Florida in May. There's also a proposed Georgia election interference case scheduled for August. Additionally, New York state's civil fraud trial, an ongoing case, will conclude in December.

The legal challenges coincide with the political calendar, making 2024 a significant year for both legal and political milestones. The primary season is set to begin early 2024. The overlap between legal and political events reflects the complex nature of these legal proceedings and their potential impact on the political landscape.

Furthermore, the Supreme Court is appeals related to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, which could have a major impact on the criminal prosecution of former President Trump and. The appeals, brought by defendants charged in connection with the Capitol assault, including Joseph Fischer, Edward Lang, and Garret Miller, could affect the charges against Trump, particularly in his federal election interference case.

It's essential to note that these legal developments are ongoing, and the outcomes of the various trials and appeals are yet to be determined.

First published on September 5, 2023, last updated on November 28, 2023 Following a series of recent court developments, former President Donald Trumps 2023-24 legal schedule is coming into focus, as is his political one. In the calendar below, we capture significant events in both domainsand how they interrelate. The busy legal schedule includes cases in which Trump is a criminal or civil defendant. New York States civil fraud trial is well underway and will conclude in December. The trials then cascade throughout 2024, starting with the second E. Jean Carroll case in January and reaching a crescendo with the federal election interference trial in DC in March, followed by the federal classified documents trial in Florida in May and the Georgia election interference case proposed by prosecutors for August. The New York hush money/election interference case is also scheduled for March but prosecutors have suggested they will move it to elsewhere in the year if necessary for the DC case to proceed. As if that active legal schedule were not enough, it will all transpire alongside the election calendar with the primary season beginning in early 2024. We are publishing this calendar to track both the legal and political milestones and to understand the interaction of the case schedules with each other and with the political dates. While the full calendar tracks hundreds of events, here are the top 20 legal and political dates as of now: Friday, December 1, 2023 GA (Trump, Smith, Cheeley, Shafer): Hearing on Donald Trump, Ray Smith, Robert Cheeley and David Shafer motions to dismiss and quash, and demurrers, at 10:30 AM Wednesday, December 6, 2023 NY Civil Fraud: Eric Trump to be recalled by the defense as a witness Monday, December 11, 2023 NY Civil Fraud: Donald Trump to be recalled by the defense as a witness Friday, December 15, 2023 GA (Meadows 11th Circuit): Oral argument in Meadows appeal against district court order denying removal petition; NY Civil Fraud: Trial projected to end by this date (approximate) Wednesday, December 27, 2023 DC Trump Case: All motions in limine and motions to suppress due Friday, December 29, 2023 MAL: Trump response to govt motion for disclosure of advice-of-counsel defense due Thursday, January 4, 2024 NY Criminal Documents Case: Hearing on motions to dismiss Monday, January 8, 2024 Georgia (GA): Motions (other than motions in limine) due Tuesday, January 9, 2024 MAL: Joint discovery status report due Monday, January 15, 2024 DC Trump Case: Trump to provide formal notice of whether he intends to assert advice-of-counsel defense, and, if he does, provide govt with the required discovery; Iowa Republican Presidential Caucuses Tuesday, January 16, 2024 Carroll I: Trial begins at 9:30 AM (on damages only) Thursday-Friday, February 12-13, 2024 MAL: Hearings on CIPA Section 4 motions Thursday, February 22, 2024 MAL: Pretrial motions due Friday, March 1, 2024 MAL: Scheduling conference to consider Trump motion to continue May 20 trial date and set outstanding pretrial deadlines Monday, March 4, 2024 DC Trump Case: Trial begins Tuesday, March 5, 2024 Super Tuesday Primaries Monday, March 25, 2024 NY Criminal Documents Case: Trial currently scheduled to begin Monday, May 20, 2024 MAL: Trial begins Monday-Thursday, July 15-18, 2024 Republican National Convention Monday, August 5, 2024 Georgia (GA): Govt proposed date for trial to begin Turning to the full calendar below, it is largely self-explanatory for readers who simply want to dive in. However, the following keys allow readers to make maximum use of the information it contains. Color and Format Key: Criminal Cases: Blue background Civil Cases: Green background Most important case dates: Their above background color and bold with red text Political dates (including Republican debates, caucuses, primaries, and convention): Red background Key of Cases: DC Trump Case: United States v. Donald Trump (1:23-cr-00257) (criminal) Georgia (GA

justsecurity.org

WASHINGTON The Supreme Court will soon consider whether to hear appeals brought by people charged with offenses relating to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol in cases that could have a major impact on the criminal prosecution of former President Donald Trump.The justices are weighing three different appeals brought by defendants Joseph Fischer, Edward Lang and Garret Miller. The court was scheduled to discuss the cases in their regular private meeting on Friday. But the meeting was canceled following the death of retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.The justices will now consider the cases at a later date, possibly as soon as next Friday.The three men are seeking to dismiss a charge accusing them of obstructing an official proceeding, namely the certification by Congress of President Joe Bidens election victory, which was disrupted by a mob of Trump supporters.Trump has been charged with the same offense, as well as others, in his federal election interference case. As a result, whether the court takes up the appeals or rejects them could affect his case.If the court rejects the appeals, a lower court ruling that allowed the government to pursue the charges against the defendants would remain in place.But if the justices take up the cases, it would lead to a monthslong delay while they hear oral arguments and issue a ruling sometime during the courts current nine-month term, which ends in June. At least four votes are needed for the nine-justice court to hear a case.The last time the Supreme Court considered an appeal related to Jan. 6, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas did not participate. That case involved John Eastman, who advised Trump on Jan. 6 and is a former Thomas law clerk. Furthermore, Thomas' wife, the conservative political activist Virginia Ginni Thomas, was a vocal supporter of Trumps efforts to overturn the 2020 election.Trumps lawyers could use the Supreme Court's involvement as one opportunity to delay his election interference trial, which is scheduled to start in March.Should the court hear the cases, Trump could credibly ask to delay his trial until the case is resolved, said former federal prosecutor Randall Eliason, who teaches at George Washington University Law School. With the courts ruling likely to come before the end of June in that scenario, the trial could still happen before the election, he added.Trump is the front-runner in the polls for the Republican presidential nomination, and any delay in his criminal trial in Washington would be to his benefit. If Trump were to win the election in November, he would then be in a position to have the charges dismissed. If the case proceeds as scheduled in March and Trump were to be convicted, he could be sentenced before the election.The election interference case, which could also affect other Jan. 6 defendants facing similar charges, is one of four criminal prosecutions Trump is fighting. Two were brought by special counsel Jack Smith, while the others were brought in New York and Georgia.Three days after Trump was indicted in the Jan. 6 case, he posted on his Truth Social platform that the cases against him amounted to election interference and that the Supreme Court must intercede.In the appeals pending at the Supreme Court, the only provision at issue is 18 U.S.C. 1512(c)(2) of the U.S. Code, which criminalizes any effort to corruptly obstruct, influence or impede any official proceeding. Conviction can result in a prison sentence of up to 20 years. The Justice Department says the term official proceeding has been defined to include proceedings before Congress.The provision was enacted in 2002 as part of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a bill passed in the aftermath of the Enron accounting scandal. As such, defendants say it was never intended to apply to an incident such as Jan. 6.In seeking to dismiss Trumps indictment in his federal election case, his lawyers wrote that the indictment takes a statute directed at the destruction of records i

nbcnews.com

U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan on Friday issued a stunning rebuke to four-times indicted former president Donald Trump, rejecting his motion to dismiss his Jan. 6, 2021, charges on absolute immunity and other specious constitutional grounds. The ruling came just hours after an appellate court rejected Trumps immunity claim in a parallel civil case.Chutkans ruling might turn out to be the most consequential legal defeat yet for Trump and quite possibly a decisive turning point in the 2024 presidential election.In dispensing with Trumps criminal immunity claim, Chutkan held emphatically, The Constitutions text, structure, and history do not support that contention. No court or any other branch of government has ever accepted it. And this court will not so hold. She continued, Whatever immunities a sitting President may enjoy, the United States has only one Chief Executive at a time, and that position does not confer a lifelong get-out-of-jail-free pass. She added, Former Presidents enjoy no special conditions on their federal criminal liability. Defendant may be subject to federal investigation, indictment, prosecution, conviction, and punishment for any criminal acts undertaken while in office.Chutkan, looking at the text and structure of the Constitution and relevant history, made clear that in a criminal case, Trump has even less claim to immunity than would a sitting president in a civil case as set out in Nixon v. Fitzgerald. Unlike a civil suit for a sitting president, there is no concern here that prosecution would interfere with any official duties; moreover, the risk of vexatious litigation is greatly reduced because of protections afforded criminal defendants. (In short, the concerns discussed in the civil context of Fitzgerald find no meaningful purchase here, Chutkan wrote.)In affirming the public interest in prosecution, Chutkan deftly quoted George Washington: The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government. As for historical precedent, she noted that no claim of absolute immunity from criminal prosecution has ever been sustained (largely because no president, other than the pardoned Richard M. Nixon, has been credibly accused of felonies in office).Judge Chutkans ruling is, quite simply, as solid as a rock and as piercing as tempered steel, constitutional scholar Laurence H. Tribe told me. Aided by the D.C. Circuits unanimous rejection just hours earlier of Mr. Trumps parallel but somewhat stronger claim in the civil liability context, Judge Chutkan has now rendered a devastating blow to the former presidents pretensions to what she rightly dismissed as a kinglike prerogative, one that our entire system of government rebels against.Chutkan also dispensed with Trumps bogus First Amendment claims, holding that he is not being prosecuted for speech but for attempting to overthrow the election. Speech in furtherance of criminal activity is not protected, she noted. Likewise, the case does not represent viewpoint discrimination nor an attempt to criminalize a call for government action because, again, he is being prosecuted not for his views but for his illegal efforts to reverse the election.Chutkan then rejected Trumps inane claim of double jeopardy based on his impeachment trial. First-year law students understand that impeachment concerns only the ability to retain and run for office; the criminal justice system operates separate and apart from impeachment in service of different aims.Finally, Chutkan rejected the argument that the due process clause prevents prosecution because the statutes at issue are so vague and difficult to administer that defendants lacked notice of how it would be applied in any given case. Its comical for a former president to say he didnt have warning of laws he was sworn to uphold. In any event, Chutkan explained that the statutes at issue dont require the Executive or Jud

washingtonpost.com

Can you describe the election interference case evidence?

The evidence presented in the election interference case involving former President Donald includes a variety of legal actions and proceedings. The case is multifaceted, with multiple trials and legal battles taking place in different states such as Washington D.C., Georgia, and New York.

In the Department of Justice's election interference case, Trump's lawyers have a controversial legal strategy, seeking to argue that Trump had the right to question the 2020 election results. This indicates a potential intent to relitigate the fairness of the last presidential election. approach has sparked debate, particularly given previous statements by Trump's own Attorney General, Bill Barr, affirming there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud, and the consensus reached by top federal agencies that the 2020 election was "the most secure in American history." Additionally, a declassified report by the National Intelligence Council found no evidence of any foreign attempting to alter any technical aspect of the election.

In addition to the Federal election interference case in Washington D.C., there is a criminal trial related to election interference in Georgia. This trial involves co-defendants, including individuals facing allegations of witness intimidation and violations of release terms. The prosecution in this case has argued for the revocation of one of Trump's co-defendant's due to repeated violations of release terms.

Furthermore, Trump is facing both civil and criminal trials in New York, adding complexity to the legal landscape. These trials encompass cases related to civil fraud, hush money payments, and other legal matters.

The evidence and legal actions in these cases contribute to a complex and ongoing legal situation, reflecting the significant legal challenges that former President Donald Trump is currently navigating.

Trump suggests using DOJ and FBI to indict political rivals Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest newsSign up to our free US Evening Headlines emailAnother intense day in Donald Trumps legal quagmire, with a New York appeals court judge pausing the gag order imposed on the former president by Justice Arthur Engoron in his civil fraud trial.Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Letitia James noted a demonstrable lack of urgency to respond to defence requests for a mistrial over spurious allegations of bias.In Washington, DC, Mr Trumps attorneys on his federal election interference trial asked the court to strike a filing by Special Counsel Jack Smith that said the former president was responsible for the events of January 6. They also asked for the case to be halted over the question of presidential immunity.Down in Florida, Judge Aileen Cannon agreed to move a Mar-a-Lago classified documents court date that clashed with a hearing in the Mr Trumps New York hush money criminal case. In Manhattan, DA Alvin Bragg urged the court to reject an attempt to dismiss that case and move it to trial.Finally, in Fulton County, Georgia, Judge Scott McAfee entered a protective order for discovery materials after a video leak, and set a date for a hearing to possibly revoke the bond of a Trump co-defendant.1700170830Fulton County: Fani Willis wants Trumps co-defendant jailed for witness intimidationOne of Donald Trumps co-defendants in Georgias election interference case could return to jail after he repeatedly violated the terms of his release, according to prosecutors in Atlanta.A filing from the office of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis argues that Harrison Floyd, the leader of Black Voices for Trump, has engaged in a pattern of intimidation against his co-defendants and witnesses since he was released on bond in August.Mr Floyd, like his co-defendants, was charged under the states anti-racketeering statute for allegedly joining a criminal enterprise to reverse Mr Trumps loss in the state in the 2020 presidential election. He also is charged with conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings and influencing witnesses.The terms of his release prohibited him from intimidating co-defendants and witnesses and from communicating in any way, directly or indirectly, about the facts of the case with any co-defendants or witnesses, except through his counsel.Alex Woodward explains how he violated those terms.Oliver O'Connell16 November 2023 21:401700169363Biden classified docs special counsel not expected to bring charges, report says CNN reports that Special Counsel Robert Hur is not expected to charge anyone in connection with the mishandling of classified documents at two locations connected to President Joe Biden, the network cites two sources close to the investigation.Per CNN: Hur and his team are compiling a detailed report on their year-long probe that is expected to be critical of Biden and his staff for the way they handled sensitive materials. The report is expected to go into significant detail about what the special counsels office found in its investigation.Investigators on Hurs team have told other Justice Department officials that they hope to have the report completed by the end of the year, but that timeline could slide.Ian Sams, a spokesperson for the White House Counsels Office, declined to comment.Oliver O'Connell16 November 2023 21:161700169030Feud: Candace Owens blasts emotionally unhinged Ben ShapiroCandace Owens said that her colleague and fellow right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro should be embarrassed amid an online feud between the pair, and accused him of making ad hominem attacks on her.Ms Owens, who is known for her outspoken views on issues including the Covid vaccine and the Black Lives Matter movement, said Mr Shapiro had thrown her under a bus, also accusing him of being unprofessional and emotionally unhinged.It comes after a video shared online sh

independent.co.uk

The Slatest Keeping Up With the Trump Trials: Tis the Season to Fight Gag Orders Fa la la la la, la la la la. Photo illustration by Slate. Photos by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images, Jeenah Moon - Pool/Getty Images and U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Keeping up with Donald Trumps court schedule is a dizzying task, since he faces two federal trials, a criminal trial in Georgia, and two separate civil and criminal trials in New York. (Oh, and hes running for president.) To make things easier, well be recapping the biggest Trump trial news at the end of each week. After taking a brief hiatus for the Thanksgiving holiday, we are back to tracking all things Trump trials. This week, the former president pursued a controversial legal strategy in his federal election interference case, and experienced a major setback in his bid to eliminate a gag order in his New York civil fraud trial while also fighting to eliminate a separate gag order in his federal election interference case. Trump tests a controversial legal strategy In the Department of Justices election interference case, the former presidents lawyers are asking Judge Tanya Chutkan if they can argue that Trump had a right to question the 2020 election resultswhich would essentially allow them to use this trial to relitigate the fairness of the last presidential election. Thats despite Trumps own Attorney General Bill Barr declaring there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud, and top federal agencies joining together to declare that the Nov. 3, 2020, election was the most secure in American history. The National Intelligence Council also published a declassified report that found no evidence of any foreign actor trying to alter any technical aspect of the voting process during the 2020 election. In order to make this argument, theyve also asked Chutkan to compel federal prosecutors to provide heaps of additional discovery material, including any information about how federal officials evaluated cyberattacks during the election time period and any interference attempts by foreign governments. This strategy fits in with the Trump camps overall argument that the indictments he faces are purely politicaleven though the DOJ appointed Jack Smith, an independent special counsel, to handle the election interference investigation. Federal prosecutors are expected to respond to the Trump teams request this month, before Chutkan will officially issue her decision. Chutkan is also due to respond to a separate motion filed by Trumps lawyers that argues he should receive absolute immunity from Smiths election interference indictment because the actions in question are related to his time in the White House. Trumps gag order appeals arent going well Also in the DOJ election interference case, the ongoing saga of Trumps gag order took a new turn last week. To recap: Back in September, special counsel Jack Smith asked for a narrow gag order in order to protect witnesses and others involved in the case from being harrassed by Trump partisans. Prosecutors highlighted that, days after Trump was indicted, he took to Truth Social and wrote: If you go after me, Im coming after you! They argued it was a thinly veiled threat to prosecutors, witnesses, jurors, or any force that plays a role in Trumps legal challenges. Judge Chutkan issued a gag order preventing Trump and his team from speaking publicly about prosecutors, court staff, or witnesses involved in this case. It did not last long, however, because Trump appealed the gag order and asked Chutkan for a stay pending appeal. She agreed, and during that pause, Trump struck again. He posted a pretty threatening message about his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, prompting federal prosecutors to run back to Chutkan and ask for the gag order to be reinstated, arguing Trumps words amounted to witness intimidation. Chutkan agreed, and the gag order was back on. Trumps team continued with their appeal, resulting in it being put on h

slate.com

ATLANTA An attorney for former president Donald Trump told an Atlanta area judge Friday that if Trump wins the 2024 presidential election, his trial on charges that he illegally conspired to try to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia could not proceed until after he leaves the White House.Steven Sadow, Trumps lead counsel in the sprawling Fulton County racketeering case, objected to prosecutors requesting an August 2024 trial date. Sadow claimed that if Trump wins the Republican nomination and is required to be on trial in the weeks leading up to Election Day 2024, it would be election interference.Can you imagine the notion of the Republican nominee for president not being able to campaign for the presidency because he is in some form or fashion in a courtroom defending himself? Sadow asked. That would be the most effective election interference in the history of the United States, and I dont think anyone would want to be in that position.Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor leading the case, strongly rejected Sadows claim.This trial does not constitute election interference. This is moving forward with the business of Fulton County, Wade said. I dont think it in any way impedes defendant Trumps ability to campaign.When Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee asked Sadow whether the proceedings could continue into 2025 if Trump wins the presidency as Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D) has publicly suggested Sadow argued that the trial would interfere with his clients duties as president under the Supremacy Clause, which prohibits interfering with constitutional duties, and would have to be postponed until he is out of office.The back and forth came as McAfee, who is overseeing the case, said it was too soon to set a trial date, pointing in part to the uncertain schedule of Trumps other pending legal cases. That includes a scheduled March trial in the federal election interference case brought against Trump by special counsel Jack Smith and a pending May trial alleging that Trump mishandled and refused to return hundreds of classified documents.McAfee also asked prosecutors how long they would need to prepare for trial should an opening occur earlier than expected, appearing to allude to the possibility of a delay in one of the federal cases. The answer was 30 days raising the possibility of a surprisingly swift trial start, depending on events.McAfee also suggested he was still considering splitting up the 15 remaining defendants in the case potentially allowing some defendants to be tried separately from Trump though he said he would not make any decisions until next year.Fridays hours-long motions hearing was the most substantive one in the case so far, with lawyers for various defendants arguing motions that could lead to dismissal of charges in some cases. Even if McAfee does not rule for the defendants in these motions, their lawyers are also asking him to allow them to file pretrial appeals, which would allow them to make their case to the state Supreme Court and could affect the timing of a trial date.Among the arguments presented Friday by various defendants: that the indictment violates the First Amendment by criminalizing political speech, that it improperly usurps federal supremacy by seeking to punish the pro-Trump electors who met and voted despite Joe Bidens victory in the state, and that it is itself so poorly executed that it violates the requirement that an indictment be perfect in form and substance.Don Samuel, a lawyer for former state GOP lawyer Ray Smith, one of Trumps co-defendants, gave as one example that his client has been charged with solicitation of violating an oath of office yet the indictment doesnt say what oath was violated. Prosecutors defended the indictment against claims made by Samuel and other lawyers.The hearing also marked Sadows first formal appearance before McAfee in the case and one of the first public acknowledgments in open court that its main

washingtonpost.com

Can you explain what the Mueller report has in it?

The Mueller report, officially titled "Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election," documents the findings and conclusions of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into various aspects related to the 2016 United States presidential election.

The report is divided into two volumes. The first volume focuses on Russian interference in the election, including efforts to influence the campaign through social media and the release of stolen documents. It also discusses the Russian government's preference for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. While the report describes numerous links between the Russian government the Trump Campaign, it did not establish a conspiracy between the campaign and Russian interference activities.

The second volume of the report allegations of obstruction of justice. It details several instances where President Trump attempted to impede the investigation, but it did not make a traditional prosecutorial judgment regarding obstruction of justice. Instead, it presented evidence on both sides of the question and left it to the Attorney General to determine whether the conduct constituted a prosecutable offense.

It's important to note that the narrative around the report was influenced by Attorney General William Barr's initial summary of Mueller's conclusions. However, Mueller himself expressed concerns that Barr's summary did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of the investigation's findings, leading to public confusion.

In summary, the Mueller report contains extensive details about Russian interference in the 2016 election, the interactions between the Russian government and the Trump Campaign, and potential instances of of justice. While the report did not establish criminal conspiracy between the Trump Campaign and Russian interference, it did describe numerous and interactions between the two entities.

The redacted version of the Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election was released to the public by the Department of Justice on April 18, 2019. The Mueller report, officially titled Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election, is the official report documenting the findings and conclusions of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 United States presidential election, allegations of conspiracy or coordination between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia, and allegations of obstruction of justice. The report was submitted to Attorney General William Barr on March 22, 2019,[1] and a redacted version of the 448-page report was publicly released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on April 18, 2019. It is divided into two volumes. The redactions from the report and its supporting material were placed under a temporary "protective assertion" of executive privilege by then-President Trump on May 8, 2019, preventing the material from being passed to Congress,[2] despite earlier reassurance by Barr that Trump would not exert privilege.[3] The report concludes that the investigation "did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities".[4][5][6] Investigators had an incomplete picture of what happened due in part to some communications that were encrypted, deleted, or not saved, as well as testimony that was false, incomplete, or declined.[7][8][9] However, the report states that Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was illegal and occurred "in sweeping and systematic fashion"[10][11][12] but was welcomed by the Trump campaign as it expected to benefit from such efforts.[13][14][15] It also identifies myriad links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies,[16] about which several persons connected to the campaign made false statements and obstructed investigations.[4] Mueller later stated that his investigation's conclusion on Russian interference "deserves the attention of every American".[17] Volume II of the report addresses obstruction of justice. The investigation intentionally took an approach that could not result in a judgment that Trump committed a crime.[18][19][20] This decision was based on an Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion that a sitting president is immune from criminal prosecution,[21][22][23] and Mueller's belief that it would be unfair to accuse the president of a crime even without charging him because he would have no opportunity to clear his name in court; furthermore it would undermine Trump's ability to govern and preempt impeachment.[19][22][24][21][25] As such, the investigation "does not conclude that the President committed a crime"; however, "it also does not exonerate him",[26][27] with investigators not confident of Trump's innocence.[28][29][30][31] The report describes ten episodes where Trump may have obstructed justice while president and one before he was elected,[32][33] noting that he privately tried to "control the investigation".[34][35][36] The report further states that Congress can decide whether Trump obstructed justice and take action accordingly,[19][37][38] referencing impeachment.[39][40] On March 24, 2019, Barr sent Congress a four-page letter detailing the report's conclusions. On March 27, Mueller privately wrote to Barr, stating that Barr's March 24 letter "did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this office's work and conclusions" and that this led to "public confusion".[41] Barr declined Mueller's request to release the report's introduction and executive summaries ahead of the full report.[42] Also, Barr's March 24 letter stated that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein concluded that the evidence was "not sufficient to establish" that Trump had obstructed justice.

en.wikipedia.org

When we joined other legal experts earlier this month to testify before the House Judiciary Committee regarding lessons from special counsel Robert Muellers investigation, it became apparent from the questioning that a number of misconceptions continue to exist regarding Muellers findings. The narrative was shaped by Attorney General William Barr, who issued his description of Muellers conclusions three weeks before the public saw the full 448-page report. In a letter to Barr, Mueller complained that Barrs summary did not fully capture the context, nature and substance of his teams work and conclusions, and created public confusion. Here is our effort to dispel some of those myths. Myth: Mueller found no collusion. Response: Mueller spent almost 200 pages describing numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump Campaign. He found that a Russian entity carried out a social media campaign that favored presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and disparaged presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. He also found that a Russian intelligence service conducted computer-intrusion operations against the Clinton campaign and then released stolen documents. While Mueller was unable to establish a conspiracy between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians involved in this activity, he made it clear that [a] statement that the investigation did not establish particular facts does not mean there was no evidence of those facts. In fact, Mueller also wrote that the investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts. To find conspiracy, a prosecutor must establish beyond a reasonable doubt the elements of the crime: an agreement between at least two people, to commit a criminal offense and an overt act in furtherance of that agreement. One of the underlying criminal offenses that Mueller reviewed for conspiracy was campaign-finance violations. Mueller found that Trump campaign members Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner met with Russian nationals in Trump Tower in New York June 2016 for the purpose of receiving disparaging information about Clinton as part of Russia and its governments support for Mr. Trump, according to an email message arranging the meeting. This meeting did not amount to a criminal offense, in part, because Mueller was unable to establish willfulness, that is, that the participants knew that their conduct was illegal. Mueller was also unable to conclude that the information was a thing of value that exceeded $25,000, the requirement for campaign finance to be a felony, as opposed to a civil violation of law. But the fact that the conduct did not technically amount to conspiracy does not mean that it was acceptable. Trump campaign members welcomed foreign influence into our election and then compromised themselves with the Russian government by covering it up. Mueller found other contacts with Russia, such as the sharing of polling data about Midwestern states where Trump later won upset victories, conversations with the Russian ambassador to influence Russias response to sanctions imposed by the U.S. government in response to election interference, and communications with Wikileaks after it had received emails stolen by Russia. While none of these acts amounted to the crime of conspiracy, all could be described as collusion. Myth: Mueller found no obstruction. Response: Mueller found at least four acts by Trump in which all elements of the obstruction statute were satisfied attempting to fire Mueller, directing White House counsel Don McGahn to lie and create a false document about efforts to fire Mueller, attempting to limit the investigation to future elections and attempting to prevent Manafort from cooperating with the government. As Mueller stated, while this report does not conc

time.com

Special counsel Robert Mueller released his report Thursday and its nowhere near the total exoneration President Donald Trump claims. The 448-page report is split into two volumes: one chronicling the many ties between Trumps campaign and Russia, and another outlining 10 episodes where Mueller said there was potential evidence of obstruction. Here are the two main findings: First, Mueller found no criminal conspiracy between the presidents team and Moscow. Second, while Mueller declined to recommend charges against Trump, he found several instances where the president tried to influence or shut down the investigation obstructing justice in all but name. No conspiracy, maybe collusion Since Mueller became special counsel in May 2017, talk has centered on possible collusion between Trumps campaign and Russia. However, collusion has no legal definition and isnt a federal crime. Conspiracy is, though, so Mueller looked into whether the Trump campaign purposefully worked with Russia to win the 2016 election. Mueller didnt find evidence of that. But he did find several troubling interactions that seem collusion-y. Here are just a few examples: Two Trump campaign officials Paul Manafort and Rick Gates provided polling information to a Russian oligarch Gates believed was a spy for the Kremlin Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, with Trumps approval, tried to arrange meetings between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin Russia tried to hack Hillary Clintons office five hours after Trump called on Moscow to find her deleted emails The report makes it clear that: 1) the Russian government tried to help Trump win; 2) the Trump campaign was eager to benefit from hackings targeting Democrats; and 3) Trumps campaign advisers had a lot of troubling ties to Russia. Possibly obstruction, but no charges Mueller examined 10 episodes where Trump possibly obstructed justice during the investigation. Some of the most egregious examples: Trump directed White House counsel Don McGahn to fire Mueller, which McGahn refused to do Trump tried to pressure then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to un-recuse himself and curtail the investigation Trump and his lawyers urged key figures (like Manafort) not to flip and attacked those who did flip (like Trumps former lawyer Michael Cohen) Mueller purposely avoided coming to a conclusion on whether those individual acts or the combination of them qualified as criminal obstruction of justice. But nowhere did Mueller state that Trump didnt obstruct justice, either. He wrote, If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Mueller added that Trumps efforts to influence the investigation were mostly unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the President declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests. And he noted that Congress has authority to prohibit a Presidents corrupt use of his authority in order to protect the integrity of the administration of justice. So its up to Congress to decide what to do which means this is all far from over. Will you support Voxs explanatory journalism? Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what were trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on: First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead. Second, were not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe thats an important part of building a more equal society. And we cant do that if we have a paywall. So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader s

vox.com

What's the purpose of the Special Counsel, that Robert Mueller is a member of?

The purpose of the Special Counsel, in the context of Robert Mueller's involvement, is to investigate and potentially prosecute cases of suspected wrongdoing, particularly those involving a conflict of interest for the usual prosecuting. This includes investigating allegations against individuals in positions of high authority, such as the president or attorney general, to avoid the potential conflict of interest that may arise from ordinary prosecutors investigating their superiors. Additionally, the Special Counsel may handle investigations concerning individuals connected to the government but directly in a position of authority over the Justice Department's prosecutors such as cabinet secretaries or election campaigns.

The appointment of a Special Counsel is based on the determination by the Attorney General, or the Acting Attorney General in cases of recusal, that a criminal investigation is warranted, and that the investigation or prosecution by a United States Attorney's Office or the Department of Justice Division would present a conflict of interest or other extraordinary circumstances. The appointment is made when it is deemed to be in the public interest to appoint an outside Special Counsel to assume responsibility for the matter.

In summary, the Special Counsel, as exemplified by Robert Mueller's role, serves to investigate and prosecute cases where there are conflicts of interest or extraordinary circumstances, with a focus on ensuring public interest and impartial in the legal process.

In the United States, a special counsel (formerly called special prosecutor or independent counsel) is a lawyer appointed to investigate, and potentially prosecute, a particular case of suspected wrongdoing for which a conflict of interest exists for the usual prosecuting authority. Other jurisdictions have similar systems.[1][2] For example, the investigation of an allegation against a sitting president or attorney general might be handled by a special prosecutor rather than by an ordinary prosecutor who would otherwise be in the position of investigating his or her own superior. Special prosecutors also have handled investigations into those connected to the government but not in a position of direct authority over the Justice Department's prosecutors, such as cabinet secretaries or election campaigns. While the most prominent special prosecutors have been those appointed since the 1870s to investigate presidents and those connected to them, the term can also be used to refer to any prosecutor appointed to avoid a conflict of interest or appearance thereof. The concept originates in state law: "state courts have traditionally appointed special prosecutors when the regular government attorney was disqualified from a case, whether for incapacitation or interest."[3] Because district attorneys' offices work closely with police, some activists argue that cases of police misconduct at the state and local level should be handled by special prosecutors.[4] Terminology[edit] The terms 'special prosecutor', 'independent counsel', and 'special counsel' have the same fundamental meaning, and their use (at least at the federal level in the U.S.) is generally differentiated by the time period to which they are being applied. The term 'special prosecutor' was used throughout the Watergate era, but was replaced by the less confrontational 'independent counsel' in the 1983 reauthorization of the Ethics in Government Act.[5] Those appointed under that act after 1983 are generally referred to as 'independent counsels'. Since the independent counsel law expired in 1999, the term 'special counsel' has been used. This is the term used in the current U.S. government regulations concerning the appointment of special counsels, such as Title 28 CFR.[6] While the term 'special prosecutor' is sometimes used in historical discussions of such figures before 1983, the term 'special counsel' appears to have been frequently used as well, including, for example, in contemporary newspaper accounts[7] describing the first presidentially-appointed special counsel in 1875. United States appointment at the federal level[edit] Pre-Watergate[edit] The first federal special prosecutor, John B. Henderson, was appointed by Ulysses Grant in 1875 to investigate the Whiskey Ring scandal. After attempting to stifle Henderson's investigation of the president's personal secretary, Grant fired Henderson on the grounds that Henderson's statements to a grand jury regarding Grant were impertinent.[8] Following criticism, Grant appointed a new special prosecutor, James Broadhead, to continue the investigation. James Garfield appointed the next special prosecutor, William Cook, in 1881 to investigate the Star route scandal. Cook continued his investigation into the Chester Arthur administration. Under the Theodore Roosevelt administration, special prosecutors were appointed to investigate two scandals. In 1903, Roosevelt appointed two special prosecutors (a Democrat and a Republican) to investigate allegations of bribery at the Post Office Department. In 1905, Roosevelt's attorney general, Philander Knox,[9] appointed Francis Heney special prosecutor to investigate the Oregon land fraud scandal. Calvin Coolidge appointed two special counsels, Atlee Pomerene and Owen Roberts to investigate the Teapot Dome scandal. This appointment was unique in that it was mandated under a special Congressional joint resolution, and was subject to approval in the Senate, similarly to a cabinet a

en.wikipedia.org

PART 600GENERAL POWERS OF SPECIAL COUNSEL Source:64 FR 37042, July 9, 1999, unless otherwise noted. 600.1 Grounds for appointing a Special Counsel. The Attorney General, or in cases in which the Attorney General is recused, the Acting Attorney General, will appoint a Special Counsel when he or she determines that criminal investigation of a person or matter is warranted and (a) That investigation or prosecution of that person or matter by a United States Attorney's Office or litigating Division of the Department of Justice would present a conflict of interest for the Department or other extraordinary circumstances; and (b) That under the circumstances, it would be in the public interest to appoint an outside Special Counsel to assume responsibility for the matter. 600.2 Alternatives available to the Attorney General. When matters are brought to the attention of the Attorney General that might warrant consideration of appointment of a Special Counsel, the Attorney General may: (a) Appoint a Special Counsel; (b) Direct that an initial investigation, consisting of such factual inquiry or legal research as the Attorney General deems appropriate, be conducted in order to better inform the decision; or (c) Conclude that under the circumstances of the matter, the public interest would not be served by removing the investigation from the normal processes of the Department, and that the appropriate component of the Department should handle the matter. If the Attorney General reaches this conclusion, he or she may direct that appropriate steps be taken to mitigate any conflicts of interest, such as recusal of particular officials. 600.3 Qualifications of the Special Counsel. (a) An individual named as Special Counsel shall be a lawyer with a reputation for integrity and impartial decisionmaking, and with appropriate experience to ensure both that the investigation will be conducted ably, expeditiously and thoroughly, and that investigative and prosecutorial decisions will be supported by an informed understanding of the criminal law and Department of Justice policies. The Special Counsel shall be selected from outside the United States Government. Special Counsels shall agree that their responsibilities as Special Counsel shall take first precedence in their professional lives, and that it may be necessary to devote their full time to the investigation, depending on its complexity and the stage of the investigation. (b) The Attorney General shall consult with the Assistant Attorney General for Administration to ensure an appropriate method of appointment, and to ensure that a Special Counsel undergoes an appropriate background investigation and a detailed review of ethics and conflicts of interest issues. A Special Counsel shall be appointed as a confidential employee as defined in 5 U.S.C. 7511(b)(2)(C). 600.4 Jurisdiction. (a) Original jurisdiction. The jurisdiction of a Special Counsel shall be established by the Attorney General. The Special Counsel will be provided with a specific factual statement of the matter to be investigated. The jurisdiction of a Special Counsel shall also include the authority to investigate and prosecute federal crimes committed in the course of, and with intent to interfere with, the Special Counsel's investigation, such as perjury, obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, and intimidation of witnesses; and to conduct appeals arising out of the matter being investigated and/or prosecuted. (b) Additional jurisdiction. If in the course of his or her investigation the Special Counsel concludes that additional jurisdiction beyond that specified in his or her original jurisdiction is necessary in order to fully investigate and resolve the matters assigned, or to investigate new matters that come to light in the course of his or her investigation, he or she shall consult with the Attorney General, who will determine whether to include the additional matters within the Special Counsel's jurisdiction

ecfr.gov

The appointment of a special counsel to oversee the Justice Department probes into the discovery of classified documents at the home and former office of President Joe Biden has focused renewed attention on the role such prosecutors have played in modern American history.On Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland tapped Robert Hur, a former U.S. attorney in Maryland, to oversee the departments investigation into how several batches of documents marked as classified ended up at Bidens Delaware home and at the offices of the presidents Washington think tank.Two months ago, Garland appointed former Justice Department public corruption prosecutor Jack Smith to lead investigations into the retention of classified documents at former President Donald Trumps Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, as well as key aspects of a separate probe involving the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and efforts to undo the 2020 election. A look at the origins of the special counsel, the positions powers and what to expect as Hur pursues his work: ___ WHAT EXACTLY IS A SPECIAL COUNSEL?A special counsel is an attorney appointed to investigate, and possibly prosecute, a case in which the Justice Department perceives itself as having a conflict or where its deemed to be in the public interest to have someone outside the government come in and take responsibility for a matter.According to the Code of Federal Regulations, a special counsel must have a reputation for integrity and impartial decisionmaking, as well as an informed understanding of the criminal law and Department of Justice policies. Though theyre not subject to the day-to-day supervision of the Justice Department, special counsels must still comply with department regulations, policies and procedures. They also technically report to the attorney general the one government official who can fire them.The attorney general is entitled to seek explanations from a special counsel about any requested investigative or prosecutorial step, but under the regulations is also expected to give great weight to the special counsels views. In the event the attorney general rejects a move the special counsel wants to make, the Justice Department is to notify Congress at the end of the investigation.WHAT POWERS DO THEY HAVE?Special counsels are provided with a budget and can request a staff of attorneys, both inside and outside the department, if they need extra help. In addition to the ability to bring indictments, special counsels are vested with bread-and-butter law enforcement tools such as the power to issue subpoenas and search warrants. Robert Mueller, a former FBI director who as special counsel in the Trump administration led the investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign, issued more than 2,800 subpoenas and executed nearly 500 search-and-seizure warrants. HOW DO INDEPENDENT COUNSELS DIFFER FROM SPECIAL COUNSELS?The position of special counsel differs in key ways from the work of independent counsels, who used to operate outside the supervision of the Justice Department and who led significant investigations in the post-Watergate era into administrations of both political parties.One such independent counsel was Lawrence E. Walsh, who during the Iran-Contra Affair in President Ronald Reagans second term was appointed to probe secret arms sales to Iran and the diversion of funds to rebel forces fighting the Nicaraguan government.A decade later, independent counsel Ken Starr investigated fraudulent real estate deals involving a longtime associate of President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton, delved into the removal of documents from the office of deputy White House counsel Vincent Foster after his suicide and assembled evidence of Clintons sexual encounters with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. As a result, Clinton was impeached by the U.S. House but survived a Senate trial.But because of concerns over the cost and sprawling nature of such probes, Con

apnews.com

Is it possible that Donald Trump is a "Russian Oligarch" in the United States pressured to promote Russian interests?

There is no credible evidence to suggest that Donald Trump is a "Russian oligarch" or that he has been pressured to promote Russian interests. Trump's business dealings and alleged connections to Russia have been a topic of public and media scrutiny, but no conclusive evidence has emerged to support the claim that he fits the definition of a Russian oligarch. It's important to rely on verified and substantiated information when considering such assertions. Any such claims should be critically assessed based on credible sources and evidence.

Media Contact Government Affairs In this article U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands before attending a joint press conference after a meeting in Helsinki on July 16, 2018. (Getty/Yuri Kadobnov) This report contains corrections. Introduction and summary At the turn of the 18th century, a newly elected president of the United Statesonly the second in the nations then-brief historycautioned the American people about the danger to our liberties if anything partial or extraneous should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections. In particular, John Adams pointed to threats from abroad, warning that if a changed election outcome can be obtained by foreign nations by flattery or menaces, by fraud or violence, by terror, intrigue, or venality, the Government may not be the choice of the American people, but of foreign nations. It may be foreign nations who govern us, and not we, the people, who govern ourselves. Speaking before a joint session of Congress, he thus pleaded with the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives to [preserve] our Constitution from its natural enemies, including the profligacy of corruption, and the pestilence of foreign influence, which is the angel of destruction to elective governments.1 The threat of foreign influence over our elections did not wane in the intervening 220 years: Today, the United States has a president whose election was aided by the fraud and intrigue of a foreign nation. Americans who watched how President Donald Trump, in the words of the late Sen. John McCain, abased himself abjectly before a tyrant in Helsinki, cannot be faulted for wondering whether John Adamss long-ago warning has become a reality.2 Trumps campaign to win the presidency required money, as did the Kremlins campaign to help him. While these two campaigns aligned in their goalTrumps victory3overt monetary contributions from Russia would have drawn regulatory scrutiny, not to mention public ire. Any financial support from abroad, therefore, would have had to be creatively obscured. U.S. law bans foreign nationals from donating to political campaigns, but they can circumvent the restrictions by routing financial support through anonymous bank accounts, shell corporations, front companies, and other opaque transaction vehicles. Such maneuvering does not require a brilliant financial mind or a suite of high-tech instruments: In many places, including the United States, it is easy to set up a company without disclosing its purpose or the identity of its true owners. Foreign adversaries can then use these companies to execute anonymous financial transactions that facilitate attacks on free and fair democratic elections. For example, a network of shell corporations could be used to hide the origin of foreign funds pumped into a political action committee (PAC) or a social media political ad campaign. The Kremlin has long had expertise in this area. During the Soviet Unions heyday, the KGB perfected the craft of anonymously moving funds to seed foreign political campaigns.4 The FSB and the GRU, the agencys heirs, are well-versed in these techniques as well.5 Law enforcement, congressional, and media investigations over the last two years have revealed that Kremlin-linked actors paid considerable sums of money to support Trump and curry his favor. A Russian organization allegedly controlled by an oligarch close to Putin spent more than $1 million a month just on social media campaigns favoring Trump, according to the special counsel.6 A Russian American energy tycoonwho boasted to a Kremlin official in July 2016 of being actively involved in Trumps election campaigndonated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Trump Victory fund.7 And a company affiliated with a sanctioned Russian oligarch paid $1 million to Michael Cohen, then Trumps personal lawyer, for unspecified services after the election.8 These and other transactions examined throughout the

americanprogress.org

Agathe Demarais,Backfire: How Sanctions Reshape the World Against U.S. Interests (New York: Columbia University Press, 2022). In the dead of night on January 29, 2018, the Department of the Treasury published a list of senior political figures and oligarchs in Russia on a U.S. government website. With just 11 minutes to spare before a congressional deadline, American financial regulators had satisfied one of the requirements of Congress Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. It was a slapdash effort; names on the list appeared to have been copy-and-pasted from the Forbes billionaires report and from public directories of Russian government staff. But the list nonetheless informed a Treasury sanctions package released three months later targeting prominent Russians for their linkages to Moscows malign activities. While the Kremlin mocked the so-called Forbes list, firms had to take it seriously. When it became clear that the sanctions would affect major international companies owned by several of the Russians on the list, a cascade of unintended consequences followed that paralyzed global supply chains, roiled commodity markets, and threatened entire industries in the United States and Europe. Under serious pressure from the business community and the European Union, Washington was forced to change course, at the expense of its own credibility but not necessarily to the fortunes of the sanctions targets. This misadventure offers a cautionary tale about how a flawed approach to the application of U.S. sanctions in particular, the failure to do a full accounting of their potential collateral effects can undermine U.S. policy goals and interests. Washington Sneezes, the World Catches a Cold In her important new book, Backfire: How Sanctions Reshape the World Against U.S. Interests, Agathe Demarais offers a host of such examples, including the case of Oleg Deripaska, one of the oligarchs that Treasury sanctioned in 2018. Deripaska, a Kremlin insider and billionaire, was sanctioned along with his holding company, EN+. Deripaska is mostly known in the United States for his alleged entanglements with former President Donald Trumps campaign in 2016 and the subsequent scrutiny of his actions by U.S. investigators. But it was his far-flung business interests and close ties to the Kremlin that brought him and his businesses into focus for the U.S. Department of the Treasury. As Demarais recounts, Russia-based Rusal, the largest maker of aluminum outside of China, fell under the umbrella of EN+, Deripaskas holding company. Responsible for 10 percent of the worlds aluminum, Rusals operations spanned multiple countries, but the sanctions which included secondary sanctions that penalized non-U.S. actors for engaging with the firm forced companies worldwide to sever ties with Rusal. The London Metals Exchange declared it wouldnt trade aluminum unless it could be guaranteed Rusal hadnt produced it. Manufacturers scrambled to adjust, raising prices and grappling with supply disruptions. Rusals stock value plummeted, and banks ceased processing its payments. As the aluminum market reeled, prices surged by 30 percent, sparking panic buying and sending a ripple effect throughout the industry. Demarais describes how Rusals European operations teetered on the brink, with the largest alumina refinery on the continent facing shutdown and electricity suppliers refusing to serve the companys Swedish smelter. Other metals companies, shipping giants like Maersk and MSC, and even European car manufacturers felt the tremors, with 800,000 German jobs suddenly at stake. The unexpected side effects, notably on global metals markets and the myriad businesses that produce goods made from aluminum, implicated the jobs of tens of thousands of people in Russia and around the world, threatening their livelihoods. The United States European partners were furious: Washington had not consulted them before imposing the Rusal sanctions, despite the fi

warontherocks.com

This article was co-published with Responsible Statecraft.Some of Washingtons most powerful lobbyists are providing their services to Ukraine for free but at the same time, they are taking in millions in fees from Pentagon contractors who stand to benefit from the countrys war with Russia.Following Russian president Vladimir Putins internationally condemned decision to invade Ukraine there was an outpouring of support to the besieged nation from seemingly every industry in America. But, arguably, one of the most crucial industries coming to Ukraines aid has been Washingtons powerful lobbying industry.The invasion has led some of the lobbying industrys biggest players to do the unthinkable lobby for free. While the influence industry may have altruistic reasons for representing Ukraine pro bono, some lobbying firms also have financial incentives for aiding Ukraine: theyve made millions lobbying for arms manufacturers that could profit from the war.The surge in pro-bono Ukraine lobbyingUS law requires agents of foreign principals who are engaged in political activities to make periodic public disclosures of their relationship under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (Fara). Twenty-five registrants have agreed to represent Ukrainian interests pro bono since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Before the war, just 11 Fara registrants were working on behalf of Ukrainian interests.I dont recall a comparable surge in pro-bono work for any foreign principal, said David Laufman, a partner at the law firm Wiggin and Dana, who previously oversaw Fara enforcement at the justice department.Many of these new pro-bono Ukrainian lobbyists are pushing for greater US military support for the Ukrainian military. As one registrant explained in a Fara filing, they intend to lobby members of the US government to increase US Department of Defense spending on contracts related to equipment and other efforts which will aid the ability of the Ukrainian military to succeed in its fight against the Russian military.While many of these pro-bono lobbyists may be doing this work purely out of solidarity with Ukraine, some of the firms working free of charge for Ukraine have an added incentive.Hogan LovellsBefore winning the speakership in the new Republican Congress, Representative Kevin McCarthy warned that Republicans wouldnt approve a blank check for Ukraine aid once they took power. But, just last week the GOPs biggest fundraiser agreed to provide pro-bono assistance in loosening Congresss purse strings when it comes to Ukraine.On 16 February, former senator Norm Coleman, senior counsel with the law firm Hogan Lovells, filed Fara paperwork revealing that he is pro-bono lobbyist for a foundation controlled by the Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk. Coleman oversaw the raising and spending of over $260m in funds supporting Republican congressional candidates in the 2022 midterm elections.The Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk in Davos, Switzerland, in January. Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty ImagesColeman, who has extensive experience as a lobbyist for foreign interests via his longstanding role as an agent for Saudi Arabia, was already busy at work for Ukraine. Emails from 4 February disclosed as part of Colemans Fara disclosures, revealed him requesting assistance from senators Lindsey Graham and Thom Tilliss chiefs of staff in hosting an event at the Capitol to give members of Congress a better understanding of the horrific loss of life and the tragic agony that the people of Ukraine have experienced over the course of the last year as a direct result of Russian war crimes and do as much as possible to ensure continued, strong, bipartisan support for the truly heroic efforts that this administration and Congress have made to provide the essential military and economic assistance to Ukraine.While Hogan Lovells conducts this work pro bono, two of the firms paying clients, Looking Glass Cyber Solutions and HawkEye 360, have extensive defense departme

theguardian.com

What are the similarities between other Oligarchs working for Russia, and Trumps history?

Based on the provided information, there are claims and reports alleging interactions between certain individuals associated with the Trump campaign and representatives of the Russian government during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. These interactions and discussions purportedly involved tactics, policy, and the release of potentially damaging information about political opponents. Furthermore, there are assessments U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia, specifically Russian President Vladimir Putin, initiated an influence campaign aiming to elect Donald as President.

It's important to note that these claims and reports have been highly contentious and have sparked extensive investigations and debate. However, definitive conclusions regarding these allegations remain a subject of ongoing scrutiny and investigation. It's crucial to rely on verified and substantiated information when evaluating these claims.

As such, the alleged similarities between other Russian oligarchs and Trump's involve reported interactions and discussions with representatives of the Russian government, as well as assessments by U.S. intelligence agencies regarding Russia's involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. These allegations remain a topic of intense political and public, with continued scrutiny and investigation into their veracity and implications.

Media Contact Government Affairs In this article () Introduction and summary On January 6, 2017, the United States intelligence community released its unclassified, official assessment of Russias unprecedented and unprovoked attack on the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In the report, all 17 intelligence agencies unanimously assessed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had personally ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election with the specific aim of electing Donald Trump. The assessment in effect concluded that there were two campaigns to elect Trumpone operating out of Trump Tower and the other out of the Kremlin.1 Since then, the Russia investigation has revealed a sprawling scandal: Members of Trumps campaign, including those in the presidents inner circle, were in constant contact with representatives of the Russian government throughout the election and transition. The two campaigns discussed tactics and policy, including the release of dirt on their mutual opponent, Hillary Clinton, and rolling back American sanctions against Russia. And they executed their strategies timed to maximally benefit Trumps chances of victory. Following the scandal as it unfolds can feel like standing too close to an impressionist painting: Its easy to see the individual brushstrokes, but much harder to see the whole picture they create. This report, which comprises materials previously published by the Moscow Project along with new research and analysis, takes a step back from the canvas and the day-to-day deluge of stories to provide a clear picture of how Trumps long history of corruption created one of the biggest political scandals in American history. That picture traces two main narratives, detailed in this report. In Chapter 1, the report explores Putins vendetta against the West, which has spurred his current campaign of asymmetric warfare against the United States and Europe. Chapter 2 explores Trumps decades of corrupt business practices, which made him vulnerable to compromise by foreign powers. Connecting the two narratives is the Russian oligarchy, a class of businesspeople with whom both players have important and mutually beneficial relationships. For Putin, that relationship is the key to both his ongoing kleptocratic regime in Russia and his attempts to influence politics abroad. He has effectively co-opted his countrys wealthiest individuals to act as unofficial executors of his policy both at home and abroad. For Trump, Russian money has sustained his real estate empire through multiple bankruptcies and a financial crisis, often in ways that raise major red flags concerning money laundering and other corrupt practices. The third chapter explores the convergence of these two mens interestscrystallized through Trumps emergence into American politics as a promoter of racist conspiracy theories and his growing ties to Russian oligarchsthat led the Kremlin to throw its weight behind Trumps bid for the presidency in 2016. The fourth chapter delves into the details of that election and the evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. It not only details many of the key contacts and meetings between the two campaigns to elect Trump but also attempts to offer a straightforward explanation of how and why they worked together to ensure his victory. Though Trump and his allies have strenuously denied that collusion occurred, this report outlines the increasingly clear case that he and members of his campaign worked with the Russian government at the highest levels to swing the 2016 election in his favor. This collaboration has created an ongoing crisis within the American political system. Chapter 5 shows that collusion was not confined to the election. Trumps team continued to have secret meetings with Kremlin-linked operatives throughout the transition period, while Trumps behavior toward Putin since taking office has demonstrated precisely why the Kremlin hoped to ensure h

americanprogressaction.org

Media Contact Government Affairs In this article U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands before attending a joint press conference after a meeting in Helsinki on July 16, 2018. (Getty/Yuri Kadobnov) This report contains corrections. Introduction and summary At the turn of the 18th century, a newly elected president of the United Statesonly the second in the nations then-brief historycautioned the American people about the danger to our liberties if anything partial or extraneous should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections. In particular, John Adams pointed to threats from abroad, warning that if a changed election outcome can be obtained by foreign nations by flattery or menaces, by fraud or violence, by terror, intrigue, or venality, the Government may not be the choice of the American people, but of foreign nations. It may be foreign nations who govern us, and not we, the people, who govern ourselves. Speaking before a joint session of Congress, he thus pleaded with the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives to [preserve] our Constitution from its natural enemies, including the profligacy of corruption, and the pestilence of foreign influence, which is the angel of destruction to elective governments.1 The threat of foreign influence over our elections did not wane in the intervening 220 years: Today, the United States has a president whose election was aided by the fraud and intrigue of a foreign nation. Americans who watched how President Donald Trump, in the words of the late Sen. John McCain, abased himself abjectly before a tyrant in Helsinki, cannot be faulted for wondering whether John Adamss long-ago warning has become a reality.2 Trumps campaign to win the presidency required money, as did the Kremlins campaign to help him. While these two campaigns aligned in their goalTrumps victory3overt monetary contributions from Russia would have drawn regulatory scrutiny, not to mention public ire. Any financial support from abroad, therefore, would have had to be creatively obscured. U.S. law bans foreign nationals from donating to political campaigns, but they can circumvent the restrictions by routing financial support through anonymous bank accounts, shell corporations, front companies, and other opaque transaction vehicles. Such maneuvering does not require a brilliant financial mind or a suite of high-tech instruments: In many places, including the United States, it is easy to set up a company without disclosing its purpose or the identity of its true owners. Foreign adversaries can then use these companies to execute anonymous financial transactions that facilitate attacks on free and fair democratic elections. For example, a network of shell corporations could be used to hide the origin of foreign funds pumped into a political action committee (PAC) or a social media political ad campaign. The Kremlin has long had expertise in this area. During the Soviet Unions heyday, the KGB perfected the craft of anonymously moving funds to seed foreign political campaigns.4 The FSB and the GRU, the agencys heirs, are well-versed in these techniques as well.5 Law enforcement, congressional, and media investigations over the last two years have revealed that Kremlin-linked actors paid considerable sums of money to support Trump and curry his favor. A Russian organization allegedly controlled by an oligarch close to Putin spent more than $1 million a month just on social media campaigns favoring Trump, according to the special counsel.6 A Russian American energy tycoonwho boasted to a Kremlin official in July 2016 of being actively involved in Trumps election campaigndonated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Trump Victory fund.7 And a company affiliated with a sanctioned Russian oligarch paid $1 million to Michael Cohen, then Trumps personal lawyer, for unspecified services after the election.8 These and other transactions examined throughout the

americanprogress.org

The message from Moscow reached Paul Manafort at a crucial moment in the U.S. presidential race, just as he was about to secure the official Republican nomination for his client, Donald Trump. Manaforts overture had been received, the July 2016 message informed him. And Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, would be back in touch soon. In the months before the 2016 elections, Manafort, then Trumps campaign chairman, had tried repeatedly to reach out to Deripaska through intermediaries, according to emails revealed last year by the Washington Post and the Atlantic. The two mens relationship went back a decade; Manafort had worked as a political consultant for Deripaskas business interests in Eastern Europe in the mid-2000s. The messages used coded languageapparent references to money, for instance, were sometimes rendered as black caviar. But the aim of the exchange seems clear. Manafort wanted to offer private briefings about the Trump campaign to one of Russias wealthiest men. That offer has since come under the scrutiny of Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Russias interference in the U.S. presidential race. His investigators want to know whether the Trump campaign had a secret back channel to the Kremlin, and Manafort has agreed to help them answer that question. As part of his guilty plea on Sept. 14 to charges stemming from the Mueller investigation, Manafort agreed to cooperate fully, truthfully, completely, and forthrightly with the special counsel. Already Muellers probe has shown the range of assets Putin brought to bear on the 2016 campaign. Russian hackers stole and leaked the private emails of Trumps opponents and worked to polarize and enrage voters by manipulating social media, according to evidence made public by Mueller. Russian diplomats wooed Trumps advisers, who were eager for information that could hurt Hillary Clintons chances. But it is oligarchs like Deripaska, wielding extraordinary wealth and global connections, who may have played the most important role in the Russian influence campaign. Putin himself has suggested as much. Onstage with Trump at a press conference in Helsinki on July 16, the Russian leader said he can imagine private Russian businessmen supported Trumps bid for the presidency. And so what? Putin demanded. They dont represent the Russian state. In fact, their ties to the state are a lot closer than Putin let on. From the very beginning of his 19 years in power, the Russian President has turned his countrys wealthiest men into a loose but loyal band of operatives. In exchange for lucrative deals with the government, or simply protection from the authorities, these billionaires have gathered contacts at the highest levels of U.S. politics, high enough to influence policy in the service of the Russian state. These are cats that like to bring dead mice to the Kremlin, says Mark Galeotti, a leading expert in Putins influence operations at the Prague-based Institute of International Relations. And in the Trumps, the oligarchs found plump targets. One Russian billionaire hosted Ivanka Trump and her husband, the Presidents senior adviser, Jared Kushner, at a gala in Moscow in 2014. Another has links to a $500,000 payment to Trumps personal lawyer Michael Cohen in 2017. A third ran a propaganda operation that pumped pro-Trump content into the news feeds of millions of American voters. In the heat of the presidential race, a fourth tycoon arranged the meeting where a Russian lawyer offered dirt on Clinton to Trumps closest aides. And then of course there was Deripaska, whose years of fishing for friends in Washington eventually got the chairman of a presidential campaign on the line. The U.S. has begun to hit back. In February, the Justice Department indicted one oligarch, Evgeny Prigozhin, for his role in the 2016 social-media-influence operation. In April, the Treasury Department sanctioned two others, Deripaska and investor

time.com

I heard that Trump Tower has been a hot spot for Russian Oligarch activity and suspected Russian money laundering for many years. Is it true?

Based on the information provided, there have been allegations and spec regarding Russian Oligarch activity and suspected money laundering associated with Trump Tower. These allegations are part of a larger discussion surrounding the connections between individuals from Russia properties linked to the Trump Organization, including Trump Tower.

The allegations have sparked public debate and have been the subject of various investigations and media reports. However, it's essential to emphasize that definitive conclusions regarding these claims remain a matter of ongoing scrutiny investigation. It's crucial to consider verified and substantiated information when these allegations.

The nature and extent of any potential Russian Oligarch activity and suspected money laundering specifically related to Trump Tower require careful consideration and thorough investigation to their accuracy and implications. Due to the complex and controversial nature of these allegations, ongoing scrutiny and evaluation are paramount.

Media Contact Government Affairs In this article U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands before attending a joint press conference after a meeting in Helsinki on July 16, 2018. (Getty/Yuri Kadobnov) This report contains corrections. Introduction and summary At the turn of the 18th century, a newly elected president of the United Statesonly the second in the nations then-brief historycautioned the American people about the danger to our liberties if anything partial or extraneous should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections. In particular, John Adams pointed to threats from abroad, warning that if a changed election outcome can be obtained by foreign nations by flattery or menaces, by fraud or violence, by terror, intrigue, or venality, the Government may not be the choice of the American people, but of foreign nations. It may be foreign nations who govern us, and not we, the people, who govern ourselves. Speaking before a joint session of Congress, he thus pleaded with the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives to [preserve] our Constitution from its natural enemies, including the profligacy of corruption, and the pestilence of foreign influence, which is the angel of destruction to elective governments.1 The threat of foreign influence over our elections did not wane in the intervening 220 years: Today, the United States has a president whose election was aided by the fraud and intrigue of a foreign nation. Americans who watched how President Donald Trump, in the words of the late Sen. John McCain, abased himself abjectly before a tyrant in Helsinki, cannot be faulted for wondering whether John Adamss long-ago warning has become a reality.2 Trumps campaign to win the presidency required money, as did the Kremlins campaign to help him. While these two campaigns aligned in their goalTrumps victory3overt monetary contributions from Russia would have drawn regulatory scrutiny, not to mention public ire. Any financial support from abroad, therefore, would have had to be creatively obscured. U.S. law bans foreign nationals from donating to political campaigns, but they can circumvent the restrictions by routing financial support through anonymous bank accounts, shell corporations, front companies, and other opaque transaction vehicles. Such maneuvering does not require a brilliant financial mind or a suite of high-tech instruments: In many places, including the United States, it is easy to set up a company without disclosing its purpose or the identity of its true owners. Foreign adversaries can then use these companies to execute anonymous financial transactions that facilitate attacks on free and fair democratic elections. For example, a network of shell corporations could be used to hide the origin of foreign funds pumped into a political action committee (PAC) or a social media political ad campaign. The Kremlin has long had expertise in this area. During the Soviet Unions heyday, the KGB perfected the craft of anonymously moving funds to seed foreign political campaigns.4 The FSB and the GRU, the agencys heirs, are well-versed in these techniques as well.5 Law enforcement, congressional, and media investigations over the last two years have revealed that Kremlin-linked actors paid considerable sums of money to support Trump and curry his favor. A Russian organization allegedly controlled by an oligarch close to Putin spent more than $1 million a month just on social media campaigns favoring Trump, according to the special counsel.6 A Russian American energy tycoonwho boasted to a Kremlin official in July 2016 of being actively involved in Trumps election campaigndonated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Trump Victory fund.7 And a company affiliated with a sanctioned Russian oligarch paid $1 million to Michael Cohen, then Trumps personal lawyer, for unspecified services after the election.8 These and other transactions examined throughout the

americanprogress.org

Heydar Aliyev Prospekti, a broad avenue in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, connects the airport to the city. The road is meant to highlight Bakus recent modernization, and it is lined with sleek new buildings. The Heydar Aliyev Center, an undulating wave of concrete and glass, was designed by Zaha Hadid. The state oil company is housed in a twisting glass tower, and the headquarters of the state water company looks like a giant water droplet. Its like Potemkin, my translator told me. Its only the buildings right next to the road. Behind the gleaming structures stand decaying Soviet-era apartment blocks, with clothes hanging out of windows and wallboards exposed by fallen brickwork.As you approach the city center, a tower at the end of the avenue looms in front of you. Thirty-three stories high and curved to resemble a sail, the building was clearly inspired by the Burj Al Arab Hotel, in Dubai, but it is boxier and less elegant. When I visited Baku, in December, five enormous white letters glowed at the top of the tower: T-R-U-M-P.The building, a five-star hotel and residence called the Trump International Hotel & Tower Baku, has never opened, though from the road it looks ready to welcome the public. Reaching the property is surprisingly difficult; the tower stands amid a welter of on-ramps, off-ramps, and overpasses. During the nine days I was in town, I went to the site half a dozen times, and on each occasion I had a comical exchange with a taxi-driver who had no idea which combination of turns would lead to the buildings entrance.The more time I spent in the neighborhood, the more I wondered how the hotel could have been imagined as a viable business. The development was conceived, in 2008, as a high-end apartment building. In 2012, after Donald Trumps company, the Trump Organization, signed multiple contracts with the Azerbaijani developers behind the project, plans were made to transform the tower into an ultra-luxury property. According to a Trump Organization press release, a hotel with expansive guest rooms would occupy the first thirteen floors; higher stories would feature residences with spectacular views of the city and Caspian Sea. For an expensive hotel, the Trump Tower Baku is in an oddly unglamorous location: the underdeveloped eastern end of downtown, which is dominated by train tracks and is miles from the main business district, on the west side of the city. Across the street from the hotel is a discount shopping center; the area is filled with narrow, dingy shops and hookah bars. Other hotels nearby are low-budget options: at the AYF Palace, most rooms are forty-two dollars a night. There are no upscale restaurants or shops. Any guests of the Trump Tower Baku would likely feel marooned.The timing of the project was also curious. By 2014, when the Trump Organization publicly announced that it was helping to turn the tower into a hotel, a construction boom in Baku had ended, and the occupancy rate for luxury hotels in the city hovered around thirty-five per cent. Jan deRoos, of Cornell University, who is an expert in hotel finance, told me that the developer of a five-star hotel typically must demonstrate that the project will maintain an average occupancy rate of at least sixty per cent for ten years. There is a long-term master plan to develop the area around the Trump Tower Baku, but if it is implemented the hotel will be surrounded for years by noisy construction projects, making it even less appealing to travellers desiring a luxurious experienceespecially considering that there are many established hotels on the citys seaside promenade. There, an executive from ExxonMobil or the Israeli cell-phone industry can stay at the Four Seasons, which occupies a limestone building that evokes a French colonial palace, or at the J. W. Marriott Absheron Baku, which has an outdoor terrace overlooking the water. Tiffany, Ralph Lauren, and Armani are among the dozens of companies that have boutiques along the promen

newyorker.com

In the fall of 1992, after he cut a deal with U.S. banks to work off nearly a billion dollars in personal debt, Donald Trump put on a big gala for himself in Atlantic City to announce his comeback. Party guests were given sticks with a picture of Trump's face glued to them so they could be photographed posing as the famous real-estate mogul. As the theme music from the movie Rocky filled the room, an emcee shouted, Let's hear it for the king! and Trump, wearing red boxing gloves and a robe, burst through a paper screen. One of his casino executives announced that his boss had returned as a winner, according to Trump biographer Michael DAntonio. In the fall of 1992, after he cut a deal with U.S. banks to work off nearly a billion dollars in personal debt, Donald Trump put on a big gala for himself in Atlantic City to announce his comeback. Party guests were given sticks with a picture of Trumps face glued to them so they could be photographed posing as the famous real-estate mogul. As the theme music from the movie Rocky filled the room, an emcee shouted, Lets hear it for the king! and Trump, wearing red boxing gloves and a robe, burst through a paper screen. One of his casino executives announced that his boss had returned as a winner, according to Trump biographer Michael DAntonio. But it was mainly an act, DAntonio told Foreign Policy. In truth Trump was all but finished as a major real-estate developer, in the eyes of many in the business, and thats because the U.S. banking industry was pretty much finished with him. By the early 1990s he had burned through his portion of his father Freds fortune with a series of reckless business decisions. Two of his businesses had declared bankruptcy, the Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City and the Plaza Hotel in New York, and the money pit that was the Trump Shuttle went out of business in 1992. Trump companies would ultimately declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy two more times. When would-be borrowers repeatedly file for protection from their creditors, they become poison to most major lenders and, according to financial experts interviewed for this story, such was Trumps reputation in the U.S. financial industry at that juncture. For the rest of the 90s a chastened Trump launched little in the way of major new business ventures (with a few exceptions, such as the Trump World Tower across from the United Nations, which began construction in 1999 and was financed by two German lenders, Deutsche Bank and Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank). He took about 10 years off, and really sort of licked his wounds and tried to recover, DAntonio said. As late as 2003, Trump was in such desperate financial trouble that at a meeting with his siblings following his fathers death he pressed them to hurriedly sell his fathers estate off, against the late Fred Trumps wishes, the New York Times reported in an investigation of Trump family finances in October. And his businesses kept failing: In 2004, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts filed for bankruptcy with $1.8 billion dollars of debt. But Trump eventually made a comeback, and according to several sources with knowledge of Trumps business, foreign money played a large role in reviving his fortunes, in particular investment by wealthy people from Russia and the former Soviet republics. This conclusion is buttressed by a growing body of evidence amassed by news organizations, as well as what is reportedly being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the Southern District of New York. It is a conclusion that even Trumps eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., has appeared to confirm, saying in 2008after the Trump Organization was prospering againthat Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. Trumps former longtime architect, Alan Lapidus, echoed this view in an interview with FPthis month. Lapidus said that based on what he knew from the internal workings of the organization, in the aftermath of Trumps earlier financial

foreignpolicy.com

What are some examples of Russian companies or Russian Oligarchs renting space in Trump towers, that may have caused suspicions of Russian money laundering activity?

Based on the provided information, there have been allegations and reports suggesting possible links between Russian individuals or entities and properties such as Trump Tower. For instance, there have been reports alleging that a Russian émigré named David Bogatin purchased apartments New York City, specifically in Trump Tower, in the 1980s.

However, it's important to note that mere coinc property investments, even in high-profile buildings like Trump Tower, do not necessarily imply illicit activity such as money laundering. While these reports have sparked discussion have been the subject of media coverage, definitive conclusions regarding any potential Russian money laundering activity associated with Trump Tower remain a matter of ongoing scrutiny and investigation.

The nature and implications of these alleged connections, as well as any suspicions of money laundering, require careful consideration and thorough investigation to establish the accuracy of these claims. The and contentious nature of these allegations underscores the need for continued scrutiny, evaluation, and reliance on verified and substantiated information to determine their ver and implications.

Media Contact Government Affairs In this article U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands before attending a joint press conference after a meeting in Helsinki on July 16, 2018. (Getty/Yuri Kadobnov) This report contains corrections. Introduction and summary At the turn of the 18th century, a newly elected president of the United Statesonly the second in the nations then-brief historycautioned the American people about the danger to our liberties if anything partial or extraneous should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections. In particular, John Adams pointed to threats from abroad, warning that if a changed election outcome can be obtained by foreign nations by flattery or menaces, by fraud or violence, by terror, intrigue, or venality, the Government may not be the choice of the American people, but of foreign nations. It may be foreign nations who govern us, and not we, the people, who govern ourselves. Speaking before a joint session of Congress, he thus pleaded with the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives to [preserve] our Constitution from its natural enemies, including the profligacy of corruption, and the pestilence of foreign influence, which is the angel of destruction to elective governments.1 The threat of foreign influence over our elections did not wane in the intervening 220 years: Today, the United States has a president whose election was aided by the fraud and intrigue of a foreign nation. Americans who watched how President Donald Trump, in the words of the late Sen. John McCain, abased himself abjectly before a tyrant in Helsinki, cannot be faulted for wondering whether John Adamss long-ago warning has become a reality.2 Trumps campaign to win the presidency required money, as did the Kremlins campaign to help him. While these two campaigns aligned in their goalTrumps victory3overt monetary contributions from Russia would have drawn regulatory scrutiny, not to mention public ire. Any financial support from abroad, therefore, would have had to be creatively obscured. U.S. law bans foreign nationals from donating to political campaigns, but they can circumvent the restrictions by routing financial support through anonymous bank accounts, shell corporations, front companies, and other opaque transaction vehicles. Such maneuvering does not require a brilliant financial mind or a suite of high-tech instruments: In many places, including the United States, it is easy to set up a company without disclosing its purpose or the identity of its true owners. Foreign adversaries can then use these companies to execute anonymous financial transactions that facilitate attacks on free and fair democratic elections. For example, a network of shell corporations could be used to hide the origin of foreign funds pumped into a political action committee (PAC) or a social media political ad campaign. The Kremlin has long had expertise in this area. During the Soviet Unions heyday, the KGB perfected the craft of anonymously moving funds to seed foreign political campaigns.4 The FSB and the GRU, the agencys heirs, are well-versed in these techniques as well.5 Law enforcement, congressional, and media investigations over the last two years have revealed that Kremlin-linked actors paid considerable sums of money to support Trump and curry his favor. A Russian organization allegedly controlled by an oligarch close to Putin spent more than $1 million a month just on social media campaigns favoring Trump, according to the special counsel.6 A Russian American energy tycoonwho boasted to a Kremlin official in July 2016 of being actively involved in Trumps election campaigndonated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Trump Victory fund.7 And a company affiliated with a sanctioned Russian oligarch paid $1 million to Michael Cohen, then Trumps personal lawyer, for unspecified services after the election.8 These and other transactions examined throughout the

americanprogress.org

In 1984, a Russian migr named David Bogatin went shopping for apartments in New York City. The 38-year-old had arrived in America seven years before, with just $3 in his pocket. But for a former pilot in the Soviet Armyhis specialty had been shooting down Americans over North Vietnamhe had clearly done quite well for himself. Bogatin wasnt hunting for a place in Brighton Beach, the Brooklyn enclave known as Little Odessa for its large population of immigrants from the Soviet Union. Instead, he was fixated on the glitziest apartment building on Fifth Avenue, a gaudy, 58-story edifice with gold-plated fixtures and a pink-marble atrium: Trump Tower.A monument to celebrity and conspicuous consumption, the tower was home to the likes of Johnny Carson, Steven Spielberg, and Sophia Loren. Its brash, 38-year-old developer was something of a tabloid celebrity himself. Donald Trump was just coming into his own as a serious player in Manhattan real estate, and Trump Tower was the crown jewel of his growing empire. From the day it opened, the building was a hitall but a few dozen of its 263 units had sold in the first few months. But Bogatin wasnt deterred by the limited availability or the sky-high prices. The Russian plunked down $6 million to buy not one or two, but five luxury condos. The big check apparently caught the attention of the owner. According to Wayne Barrett, who investigated the deal for the Village Voice, Trump personally attended the closing, along with Bogatin.If the transaction seemed suspiciousmultiple apartments for a single buyer who appeared to have no legitimate way to put his hands on that much moneythere may have been a reason. At the time, Russian mobsters were beginning to invest in high-end real estate, which offered an ideal vehicle to launder money from their criminal enterprises. During the 80s and 90s, we in the U.S. government repeatedly saw a pattern by which criminals would use condos and high-rises to launder money, says Jonathan Winer, a deputy assistant secretary of state for international law enforcement in the Clinton administration. It didnt matter that you paid too much, because the real estate values would rise, and it was a way of turning dirty money into clean money. It was done very systematically, and it explained why there are so many high-rises where the units were sold but no one is living in them. When Trump Tower was built, as David Cay Johnston reports in The Making of Donald Trump, it was only the second high-rise in New York that accepted anonymous buyers.In 1987, just three years after he attended the closing with Trump, Bogatin pleaded guilty to taking part in a massive gasoline-bootlegging scheme with Russian mobsters. After he fled the country, the government seized his five condos at Trump Tower, saying that he had purchased them to launder money, to shelter and hide assets. A Senate investigation into organized crime later revealed that Bogatin was a leading figure in the Russian mob in New York. His family ties, in fact, led straight to the top: His brother ran a $150 million stock scam with none other than Semion Mogilevich, whom the FBI considers the boss of bosses of the Russian mafia. At the time, Mogilevichfeared even by his fellow gangsters as the most powerful mobster in the worldwas expanding his multibillion-dollar international criminal syndicate into America.In 1987, on his first trip to Russia, Trump visited the Winter Palace with Ivana. The Soviets flew him to Moscowall expenses paidto discuss building a luxury hotel across from the Kremlin.Maxim Blokhin/TASSSince Trumps election as president, his ties to Russia have become the focus of intense scrutiny, most of which has centered on whether his inner circle colluded with Russia to subvert the U.S. election. A growing chorus in Congress is also asking pointed questions about how the president built his business empire. Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, has called for a d

newrepublic.com

Donald Trump knows absolutely everybody but cant remember their names or faces, especially when theyre in trouble, and even more so when their mother tongue is Russian. Last month Congress began its inquiry into whether or not the president committed an impeachable offense (or offenses) by withholding U.S. military aid to Ukraine until Kyiv agreed to dig up dirt on his likely rival for the White House in next years election. Since then, America has grown acquainted with enough characters from the post-Soviet mob milieu to fill the Star Wars cantina.Some are newcomers to Trumpland, thanks to the tireless efforts of Trumps personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, whose legal reputation has swung pendulously from that of latter-day Eliot Ness to bug-eyed conspiracy theorist more at home with low-rent Ukrainian Capones. But many of these scrofulous figures are familiar from their prior appearances in the two-year-long Mueller investigation. Russian oligarchs, bankers and two-bit grifters featured more often in that doorstop report than suspected or probable spies. That was surely no accident.Since the late 1970s, when Donald J. Trump, the scion of a racist slumlord from Queens, washed ashore on the island of Manhattan desperate to put his name on everything and dip it all in gold, The Donald has surrounded himself with a certain track-suited species of clientele from Brighton Beach. These figures, as we now know, were part of a broader nexus with a marked affinity for Trump properties that helped him regain his losses after a series of bankruptcies threatened his wealth. Time and again, Trump and his business relied on the shady ties detailed below to expand his companys fortuneand eventually land him enough wealth, and enough clout, to launch a successful 2016 bid for the American presidency.Some have rap sheets and did time; others wound up living in Trump Tower.Trumps favorite kind of immigrants have a common life story. They came to the land of opportunity from some former Soviet Socialist Republic with barely two kopecks to rub together. They then amassed enormous fortunes either through opaque business practices or completely unknown means. Some have rap sheets and did time; others wound up living in Trump Tower, if not living it up at one of the presidents many bankrupted casinos or resorts. Still others have tried to help Trump erect glittering and gaudy monuments to himself, from Fort Lauderdale to Moscow, only to fail miserably.All, however, have boasted about their warm personal or professional relationships with the celebrity mogul turned commander-in-chief, even if the favor hasnt always been returned. And every one of them has alleged connections, either directly or through their own dubious associations, to Russian organized crimewhich they categorically deny.To make things easier for laymen and specialists alike, The Daily Beast has compiled sketches of what were calling The Donalds Dirty Dozen. Many of these ties were first unearthed and detailed in a seminal work from investigative journalist Craig Unger, whose House of Trump, House of Putin remains the go-to book on the topic.In the past 18 months, Ungers index hath runneth over as still new underworld-ish no-good-niks have stepped into the light, professing their love for a president who doesnt remember being photographed with them. Below are the connected businessmen, alleged fraudsters, con men, racketeers and mobsters implicated in Donald Trumps long career who snuck out from the wrong end of the Iron Curtain and, whether by accident or design, discerned that special it-factor in Americas own budding oligarch, the very quality that would one day catapult him all the way into the White House.Theres one name that consistently hangs over all of the discussions of the globe-trotting Russian mafia: Semion Mogilevich, and while there is no evidence he and Trump ever met face to face, there are multiple connections that lead back to him. Think of him as the spider at the c

thedailybeast.com

What is a "Russian émigré"?

A "Russian émigré" refers to a person who has left Russia, following significant historical events such as the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War. These individuals, known as émigrés, sought refuge in other countries due to political,, or economic reasons. The term is commonly used to describe members of the Russian upper and middle classes who fled their country during periods of political upheaval. Russian émigrés have made substantial contributions to fields such as literature, the, science, and politics in various countries where they sought refuge.

Besides David Bogatin, who else rented space at Trump tower over the past 40 years?

Besides David Bogatin, there have been various other tenants at Trump Tower in New York over the past 40 years It has housed a range of commercial and residential tenants, including businesses, retail shops, restaurants, and private individuals. However, specific about individual tenants and their leasing arrangements are not readily available in the information provided.

If you have any specific names or categories of tenants in mind, feel free to provide more details, and I can assist in providing relevant information based on the available data.

This article is about the building in Lower Manhattan sometimes called the Trump Building. For the building in Midtown Manhattan, see Trump Tower. For other buildings named after Donald Trump, see Trump Tower (disambiguation). 40 Wall Street40 Wall Street in December 2005Alternative namesThe Trump Building, Manhattan Company BuildingRecord heightTallest in the world from the first week of May 1930 to May 27, 1930[a][I]Preceded byWoolworth BuildingSurpassed byChrysler BuildingGeneral informationArchitectural styleNeo-GothicLocation40 Wall StreetNew York, NY 10005Coordinates404225N 74035W / 40.70694N 74.00972WConstruction startedMay 1929CompletedMay 1, 1930[1]OpeningMay26, 1930; 93 years agoLandlordDonald TrumpHeightArchitectural927ft (283m)Top floor836ft (255m)Technical detailsFloor count70 (+2 below ground)Floor area1,111,675sqft (103,278.0m2)Lifts/elevators36Design and constructionArchitect(s)H. Craig Severance (main architect)Yasuo Matsui (associate architect)Shreve & Lamb (consulting architect)Websitewww.trump.com/commercial-real-estate-portfolio/40-wall-streetManhattan Company BuildingU.S. National Register of Historic PlacesU.S. Historic districtContributing propertyNew York City LandmarkNo.1936 Location40 Wall Street, New York, NYArealess than one acreBuilt19291930ArchitectH. Craig Severance, Yasuo Matsui, et al.ArchitecturalstyleSkyscraperPart ofWall Street Historic District (ID07000063)NRHPreferenceNo.00000577[4]NYCLNo.1936Significant datesAdded to NRHPJune 16, 2000[4]DesignatedNYCLDecember 12, 1995[5]References[2][3] 40 Wall Street (also known as the Trump Building; formerly known as the Bank of Manhattan Trust Building and Manhattan Company Building) is a 927-foot-tall (283m) neo-Gothic skyscraper on Wall Street between Nassau and William streets in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. Erected in 19291930 as the headquarters of the Manhattan Company, the building was designed by H. Craig Severance with Yasuo Matsui and Shreve & Lamb. The building is a New York City designated landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP); it is also a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District, an NRHP district. The building is on an L-shaped site. While the lower section has a facade of limestone, the upper stories incorporate a buff-colored brick facade and contain numerous setbacks. The facade also includes spandrels between the windows on each story, which are recessed behind the vertical piers on the facade. At the top of the building is a pyramid with a spire at its pinnacle. Inside, the lower floors contained the Manhattan Company's double-height banking room, a board room, a trading floor, and two basements with vaults. The remaining stories were rented to tenants; there were private clubs on several floors, as well as an observation deck on the 69th and 70th floors. Plans for 40 Wall Street were revealed in April 1929, with the Manhattan Company as the primary tenant, and the structure was completed in May 1930. 40 Wall Street and the Chrysler Building competed for the distinction of world's tallest building at the time of both buildings' construction; the Chrysler Building ultimately won that title. 40 Wall Street initially had low tenancy rates due to the Great Depression and was not fully occupied until 1944. Ownership of the building and the land underneath it, as well as the leasehold on the building, has changed several times throughout its history. Since 1982, the building has been owned by two German companies. The leasehold was held by interests on behalf of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the mid-1980s. A company controlled by developer and later U.S. president Donald Trump bought the lease in 1995. Site[edit] 40 Wall Street is in the Financial District of Manhattan, in the middle of the block bounded by Pine Street to the north, William Street to the east, Wall Street to the south, and Nassau Street to the west. The site is L-shaped, with a long

en.wikipedia.org

Trump TowerView from Fifth AvenueGeneral informationStatusCompletedTypeRetail, office, and residentialArchitectural styleModernismLocation721 Fifth AvenueManhattan, New YorkCoordinates404545N 735826W / 40.7625N 73.9738WCurrent tenantsThe Trump OrganizationNamed forDonald TrumpInauguratedNovember30, 1983; 40 years agoCost$300 millionOwnerGMAC Commercial Mortgage[1]HeightArchitectural664ft (202m)[2]Technical detailsMaterialConcreteFloor count58Lifts/elevators34Design and constructionArchitect(s)Der ScuttArchitecture firmPoor, Swanke, Hayden & ConnellDeveloperDonald TrumpStructural engineerIrwin CantorOther informationNumber of units232Number of restaurants3Number of bars1 Trump Tower is a 58-story, 664-foot-tall (202m) mixed-use condominium skyscraper at 721725 Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, between East 56th and 57th Streets. The building contains the headquarters for the Trump Organization, as well as the penthouse residence of its developer, businessman and former U.S. president Donald Trump. Several members of the Trump family also live, or have resided, in the building. The tower stands on a plot where the flagship store of department-store chain Bonwit Teller was formerly located. Der Scutt of Swanke Hayden Connell Architects designed Trump Tower, and Trump and the Equitable Life Assurance Company (now the AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company) developed it. Although it is in one of Midtown Manhattan's special zoning districts, the tower was approved because it was to be built as a mixed-use development. Trump was permitted to add more stories to the tower in return for additional retail space and for providing privately owned public space on the ground floor, the lower level, and two outdoor terraces. There were controversies during construction, including the destruction of historically important sculptures from the Bonwit Teller store; Trump's alleged underpaying of contractors; and a lawsuit that Trump filed because the tower was not tax-exempt. Construction on the building began in 1979. The atrium, apartments, offices, and stores opened on a staggered schedule from February to November 1983. At first, there were few tenants willing to move into the commercial and retail spaces; the residential units were sold out within months of opening. After Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and subsequent election, the tower saw large increases in visitation, though security concerns required the area around the tower to be patrolled for several years. Site Trump Tower is at 721725 Fifth Avenue in the northern section of Midtown Manhattan, on the east side of Fifth Avenue between East 56th and 57th Streets. It is adjacent to the Tiffany & Co. flagship store to the north and 590 Madison Avenue to the east. Other nearby buildings include the LVMH Tower and Fuller Building to the northeast; the L. P. Hollander & Company Building to the north; the Bergdorf Goodman Building and Solow Building to the northwest; the Crown Building to the west; 712 Fifth Avenue and the townhouses at 10 and 12 West 56th Street to the southwest; and 550 Madison Avenue to the southeast.[3] The building's main entrance is on Fifth Avenue,[4] with a side entrance on 56th Street only for residents.[5] On the sidewalk opposite the main entrance, there is a four-sided brown-and-beige clock, which was created by the Electric Time Company and is nearly 16 feet (4.9m) tall.[6] In August 2023, The New York Times wrote that the clock had been installed illegally, as the building's owner, the Trump Organization, had neither applied for nor received a permit. The Trump Organization finally applied for a permit in 2015, but the New York City Department of Transportation reminded the Trump Organization of its "2015 notification regarding unauthorized structures" in July 2023.[7] Architecture The 58-story[8] Trump Tower was designed by Der Scutt of Swanke Hayden Connell Architects.[9] Developed by real-estate developer and later U.S.

en.wikipedia.org

This post is a list of buildings or locations in NYC associated with or built by Donald Trump and the Trump Organization. Many of these buildings can be seen on our free walking tours. INTRODUCTION Donald Trump is the second native New Yorker to be elected to the Oval Office, the first having been Theodore Roosevelt, who was born in Gramercy Park. Trump, who was born in the borough of Queens, also happens to be one of the biggest real estate tycoons in the city. He has more than 30 properties in the United States. Trump's real estate imprint, buildings that he currently or formerly owns, is all over Manhattan. From Soho to Chelsea, Midtown to Downtown, and Upper West Side to the Upper East Side, there is a Trump connection. This self-guided tour lists the addresses as well as links to our neighborhood guides so you can explore on your own. You might consider timing your visits to these buildings to sync up with one of our many pay-what-you-wish walking tours. LIST OF TRUMP PROPERTIES IN NYC MIDTOWN Trump Tower 721 5th Avenue between 56th and 57th Street This 58-story skyscraper, completed in 1983, is a mix of apartments, offices, and stores. It is the central headquarters of The Trump Organization. It also is where President Trump's penthouse is located. Trump Tower is the location of the "You're fired boardroom for NBC's The Apprentice. If you plan on going here, see our post,Visiting Trump Tower in New York City. In the summer of 2016, during the height of the presidential election race, a man attempted to scale the building, claiming he had an important message to deliver. Just days after Trump won the election, protesters gathered outside, changing the flashy class of the tower into a site of the outrage. This video shows both: The Grand Hyatt Hotel at Grand Central Just east of Grand Central Terminal stands the 295 ft. (90 m), 26-story Grand Hyatt Hotel. When it opened in 1919, it was known as the Commodore hotel, named after railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt's nickname was the Commodore. In 1976, Trump teamed up with the Hyatt Corporation to buy it. In 1996, the Hyatt Corporation bought Trump's share for $142 million. It has undergone renovations in 1980, 1996, and 2011 and it features 1,306 rooms. Check out our Grand Central Terminal tour and Midtown tour. SOHO Trump SoHo Hotel 246 Spring Street Trump SoHo, a $450 million, 46-story, 391-room hotel opened in 2010 and is by run y Trump's children Donald Jr. and Ivanka. As of 2016, this is the latest building project constructed by Trump with his name on it. It is a four-and-a-half-star hotel with amazing amenities such as an outdoor pool deck complete with a waterfall, cabanas, and drinks from the Bar DEau. Standard rooms go from $317 to $671. If you can't get a room here, you may want to coordinate your visit so you can take our pay-what-you-wishSoHo, Little Italy & Chinatown tour, which meets only one block away! LOWER MANHATTAN 40 Wall Street Between Nassau Street and William Street Also known as the Trump Building, this 71-story commercial skyscraper, completed in 1930 after 11 months of construction, is probably the most historic of all of Trump's buildings. Originally known as the Bank of Manhattan Trust Building as well as the Manhattan Company Building, it was renamed the Chase Manhattan Bank building then bought by Donald Trump and renamed The Trump Building. It remains 100% commercial space. In 2003, Trump's efforts to sell the building for more than $300 million proved unsuccessful. In 1998, the building was designated an NYC landmark. In 2007, Trump stated he paid $1 million for 40 Wall Street and that it was worth $600 million in 1995, a $200 million increase from two years earlier. It has also been reported that he paid $10 million and which is worth about $400 million. Be sure to take our Lower Manhattan or All-in-One Downtown tourfor an up-close look at this iconic edifice, which was the tallest building in the world for only four days! Rea

freetoursbyfoot.com

Let me rephrase my question. "Besides David Bogatin, who else with Russian ties or connections, rented space at Trump tower, over the past 40 years?"

I currently do not have detailed information on specific individuals with Russian or connections who rented space at Trump Tower over the past 40 years.

For precise details regarding the identities of individuals or entities with Russian ties who have leased space at Trump Tower, it's recommended to consult credible and up-to-date sources such as official records, news reports, or statements from involved parties. These sources could provide a comprehensive and accurate representation of the tenants associated with Russian ties or connections at Trump Tower during the specified timeframe.

Media Contact Government Affairs In this article U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands before attending a joint press conference after a meeting in Helsinki on July 16, 2018. (Getty/Yuri Kadobnov) This report contains corrections. Introduction and summary At the turn of the 18th century, a newly elected president of the United Statesonly the second in the nations then-brief historycautioned the American people about the danger to our liberties if anything partial or extraneous should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections. In particular, John Adams pointed to threats from abroad, warning that if a changed election outcome can be obtained by foreign nations by flattery or menaces, by fraud or violence, by terror, intrigue, or venality, the Government may not be the choice of the American people, but of foreign nations. It may be foreign nations who govern us, and not we, the people, who govern ourselves. Speaking before a joint session of Congress, he thus pleaded with the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives to [preserve] our Constitution from its natural enemies, including the profligacy of corruption, and the pestilence of foreign influence, which is the angel of destruction to elective governments.1 The threat of foreign influence over our elections did not wane in the intervening 220 years: Today, the United States has a president whose election was aided by the fraud and intrigue of a foreign nation. Americans who watched how President Donald Trump, in the words of the late Sen. John McCain, abased himself abjectly before a tyrant in Helsinki, cannot be faulted for wondering whether John Adamss long-ago warning has become a reality.2 Trumps campaign to win the presidency required money, as did the Kremlins campaign to help him. While these two campaigns aligned in their goalTrumps victory3overt monetary contributions from Russia would have drawn regulatory scrutiny, not to mention public ire. Any financial support from abroad, therefore, would have had to be creatively obscured. U.S. law bans foreign nationals from donating to political campaigns, but they can circumvent the restrictions by routing financial support through anonymous bank accounts, shell corporations, front companies, and other opaque transaction vehicles. Such maneuvering does not require a brilliant financial mind or a suite of high-tech instruments: In many places, including the United States, it is easy to set up a company without disclosing its purpose or the identity of its true owners. Foreign adversaries can then use these companies to execute anonymous financial transactions that facilitate attacks on free and fair democratic elections. For example, a network of shell corporations could be used to hide the origin of foreign funds pumped into a political action committee (PAC) or a social media political ad campaign. The Kremlin has long had expertise in this area. During the Soviet Unions heyday, the KGB perfected the craft of anonymously moving funds to seed foreign political campaigns.4 The FSB and the GRU, the agencys heirs, are well-versed in these techniques as well.5 Law enforcement, congressional, and media investigations over the last two years have revealed that Kremlin-linked actors paid considerable sums of money to support Trump and curry his favor. A Russian organization allegedly controlled by an oligarch close to Putin spent more than $1 million a month just on social media campaigns favoring Trump, according to the special counsel.6 A Russian American energy tycoonwho boasted to a Kremlin official in July 2016 of being actively involved in Trumps election campaigndonated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Trump Victory fund.7 And a company affiliated with a sanctioned Russian oligarch paid $1 million to Michael Cohen, then Trumps personal lawyer, for unspecified services after the election.8 These and other transactions examined throughout the

americanprogress.org

In the fall of 1992, after he cut a deal with U.S. banks to work off nearly a billion dollars in personal debt, Donald Trump put on a big gala for himself in Atlantic City to announce his comeback. Party guests were given sticks with a picture of Trump's face glued to them so they could be photographed posing as the famous real-estate mogul. As the theme music from the movie Rocky filled the room, an emcee shouted, Let's hear it for the king! and Trump, wearing red boxing gloves and a robe, burst through a paper screen. One of his casino executives announced that his boss had returned as a winner, according to Trump biographer Michael DAntonio. In the fall of 1992, after he cut a deal with U.S. banks to work off nearly a billion dollars in personal debt, Donald Trump put on a big gala for himself in Atlantic City to announce his comeback. Party guests were given sticks with a picture of Trumps face glued to them so they could be photographed posing as the famous real-estate mogul. As the theme music from the movie Rocky filled the room, an emcee shouted, Lets hear it for the king! and Trump, wearing red boxing gloves and a robe, burst through a paper screen. One of his casino executives announced that his boss had returned as a winner, according to Trump biographer Michael DAntonio. But it was mainly an act, DAntonio told Foreign Policy. In truth Trump was all but finished as a major real-estate developer, in the eyes of many in the business, and thats because the U.S. banking industry was pretty much finished with him. By the early 1990s he had burned through his portion of his father Freds fortune with a series of reckless business decisions. Two of his businesses had declared bankruptcy, the Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City and the Plaza Hotel in New York, and the money pit that was the Trump Shuttle went out of business in 1992. Trump companies would ultimately declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy two more times. When would-be borrowers repeatedly file for protection from their creditors, they become poison to most major lenders and, according to financial experts interviewed for this story, such was Trumps reputation in the U.S. financial industry at that juncture. For the rest of the 90s a chastened Trump launched little in the way of major new business ventures (with a few exceptions, such as the Trump World Tower across from the United Nations, which began construction in 1999 and was financed by two German lenders, Deutsche Bank and Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank). He took about 10 years off, and really sort of licked his wounds and tried to recover, DAntonio said. As late as 2003, Trump was in such desperate financial trouble that at a meeting with his siblings following his fathers death he pressed them to hurriedly sell his fathers estate off, against the late Fred Trumps wishes, the New York Times reported in an investigation of Trump family finances in October. And his businesses kept failing: In 2004, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts filed for bankruptcy with $1.8 billion dollars of debt. But Trump eventually made a comeback, and according to several sources with knowledge of Trumps business, foreign money played a large role in reviving his fortunes, in particular investment by wealthy people from Russia and the former Soviet republics. This conclusion is buttressed by a growing body of evidence amassed by news organizations, as well as what is reportedly being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the Southern District of New York. It is a conclusion that even Trumps eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., has appeared to confirm, saying in 2008after the Trump Organization was prospering againthat Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. Trumps former longtime architect, Alan Lapidus, echoed this view in an interview with FPthis month. Lapidus said that based on what he knew from the internal workings of the organization, in the aftermath of Trumps earlier financial

foreignpolicy.com

Donald Trump used to bank with the big guns. Now hes borrowing fromAxos Financial,anobscure, internet-only institution based in San Diego andLas Vegas.In mid-February, Axosrefinanced a $100 millionTrumpTower mortgage due in September, a New York City Finance Department document shows. The new loanwas madejustdays after TheTrumpOrganizations auditor resigned, saying that 10 years of the companys financial statements could not be relied upon.In lending to TheTrumpOrganization,Axosis stepping up when other banks have balked.But this is not unheard-of forAxos. An examination of legal filings, internal documents and land records showsAxoshas a history of handling atypical loans.Axoshas teamed up with nonbank lenders on loans to small businesses that carriedcripplingly high double- andtriple-digiteffective annualinterest rates, loan documents show.The bank has also specialized in loans to foreign nationals, internal documents and its websitestate, and has offered a type of loan that allows borrowers who paid cash for a property to turn around and instantly take money out. Such loans may pose money laundering risks, banking analysts say.Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York City on Aug. 24, 2018.Spencer Platt / Getty Images fileThe bank has also been sued by two former employees who say they werewrongfullyfiredafterthey raised questions about its practices. On March 21, Jennifer Brear Brinker,hired in 2018 to review the banks loan portfolios for its Governance, Risk Management and Compliance Department, filed suit against Axos in federal court in California.Brinker accused the bank of intentionally understaffing its compliance department in an effort to conceal its failure to comply with federal banking regulations and contendsshe was terminated in January 2021 while completing a report highlighting deficiencies at Axos including significant issues in the banks anti-money laundering practices.A spokesman forAxos, who asked not to be identified,said the bank disputes Brinkers allegations and her perception of the underlying factual circumstances. Axos intends to defend against the lawsuit vigorously, the spokesman added.A lawyer representing Brinker declined to comment further on her case but said they both look forward to proving her claims in court.Later thismonth,Axos is scheduled to face a former internal auditorin awrongful termination case inCalifornia federal court. That auditor, Charles Matthew Erhart, 35, was fired by Axos after he raised concerns about its practices, his 2015 lawsuit says.Among otherpracticesalleged by Erhart Axosallegedly failed to advise regulators of substantial and risky loans to dubious borrowers, did not disclose to regulators that it had received grand jury and other subpoenas, improperly denied that it held documents responsiveto a Securities and Exchange Commission subpoenaand instructed employees not to communicate with regulatory officials.The banks spokesman saiditdenies every one of Erharts allegations.All were investigated, both internally byAxossaudit committee and independent counsel, and externally by government regulators and outside auditors, the statement said. None of the investigations or audits found any merit in Erharts allegations.Cash-recapture loansAxoswas founded in 2000 as Bank of Internet USA, orBofI, a digital enterprise with no brick-and-mortar branches; it changed its name toAxosin 2018.Its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange.With$15.5 billionin assets at the end of 2021, Axosis a relatively small, federally chartered savings institution.J.P. Morgan Chase, by comparison, holdsover $3trillion in assets.Some$12.6billion ofAxosassets are loans, including residential mortgages and loans on commercial real estate and multi-family dwellings,SEC filings show.Axosisoverseen by GregoryGarrabrants, a lawyer, former Goldman SachsbankerandMcKinsey& Co. consultant. Before joiningAxosin October 2007,Garrabrantswas an executive atIndymac, a huge California savings & loan that col

nbcnews.com

Have any Russian companies ever rented space at Trump towers?

Based on the available information, while individual Russians have invested heavily in Trump properties, and there have been reports of interactions Russian individuals and the Trump organization, there is no clear and readily available data to indicate specific Russian companies have rented space at Trump Tower. The information available mainly points to individual investments and interactions, than corporate leasing arrangements. For precise details regarding Russian companies renting space at Trump Tower, it's to consult credible sources or official records that might provide specific information on corporate tenants at the property.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Donald Trump has pursued business deals in Russia since 1987, and has repeatedly traveled there to explore potential business opportunities. In 1996, Trump trademark applications were submitted for potential Russian real estate development deals. Trump, his children, and his partners have repeatedly visited Russia, connecting with real estate developers and Russian government officials to explore joint venture opportunities. Trump was never able to successfully conclude any real estate deals in Russia. However, individual Russians have invested heavily in Trump properties, and, following Trump's bankruptcies in the 1990s, he borrowed money from Russian sources. Both Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have said that Russia was an important source of money for the Trump businesses. Efforts to build a Trump building in Moscow continued into June 2016 while Trump was securing the Republican nomination for the presidential election. In January 2017, BuzzFeed News reported the existence of the then-unverified Steele dossier (also called the TrumpRussia dossier), which alleges connections between Trump associates and Russia. Trump responded the next day, and again at a February news conference, that he has no financial connections to Russia. In response to ongoing questions, White House press secretary Sean Spicer reiterated in May that Trump has no business connections to Russia. Also in May, Trump's tax lawyers sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee saying Trump had not received any income from Russian sources over the past 10 years "with a few exceptions". Trump's pre-Presidential business dealings with Russia were scrutinized by the special counsel.[1] In July 2018, The Daily Beast reported on a search engine optimization project intended to minimize public awareness of Trump's connections to an associate who worked on these projects with him.[2] Becoming well known[edit] In 1987, Trump visited Russia to investigate developing a hotel, invited by Ambassador Yuri Dubinin whom he had met in New York the year before.[3] British journalist Luke Harding alleged in 2017 that this trip likely began a long-term cultivation operation typical of the KGB's Political Intelligence Department, under written directives initiated by First Chief Directorate head Vladimir Kryuchkov, to recruit politically ambitious Westerners susceptible to flattery, egotism and greed.[3] In 1996, Trump partnered with Liggett-Ducat, a small company, and planned to build an upscale residential development on a Liggett-Ducat property in Moscow. Trump commissioned New York architect Ted Liebman, who did the sketches. Trump visited Moscow again with Howard Lorber to scout potential properties for "skyscrapers and hotels".[4] During that trip, Trump promoted the proposal and acclaimed the Russian economic market. At a news conference reported by The Moscow Times, Trump said he hadn't been "as impressed with the potential of a city as I have been with Moscow" in contrast to other cities had visited "all over the world."[5] By this time, Trump had made known his desire to build in Moscow to government officials for almost ten years "ranging from the Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev (they first met in Washington in 1987) to the military figure Alexander Lebed."[5] Moscow's mayor, Yuri M. Luzhkov, showed Trump plans for a very large shopping mall to be located underground in the vicinity of the Kremlin. The mayor complimented Trump's suggestion that this mall should have access to the Moscow Metro, and it was eventually connected to the Okhotny Ryad station. Although the 1996 residential development did not happen, Trump was by this time well known in Russia.[6] Projects[edit] Trump's business strategy included Russia in ventures intended to internationally expand his brand. He transitioned in the mid-2000s from building and investing in real estate to simply licensing his name to hotels, condominiums, and commercial towers. A

en.wikipedia.org

In 1984, a Russian migr named David Bogatin went shopping for apartments in New York City. The 38-year-old had arrived in America seven years before, with just $3 in his pocket. But for a former pilot in the Soviet Armyhis specialty had been shooting down Americans over North Vietnamhe had clearly done quite well for himself. Bogatin wasnt hunting for a place in Brighton Beach, the Brooklyn enclave known as Little Odessa for its large population of immigrants from the Soviet Union. Instead, he was fixated on the glitziest apartment building on Fifth Avenue, a gaudy, 58-story edifice with gold-plated fixtures and a pink-marble atrium: Trump Tower.A monument to celebrity and conspicuous consumption, the tower was home to the likes of Johnny Carson, Steven Spielberg, and Sophia Loren. Its brash, 38-year-old developer was something of a tabloid celebrity himself. Donald Trump was just coming into his own as a serious player in Manhattan real estate, and Trump Tower was the crown jewel of his growing empire. From the day it opened, the building was a hitall but a few dozen of its 263 units had sold in the first few months. But Bogatin wasnt deterred by the limited availability or the sky-high prices. The Russian plunked down $6 million to buy not one or two, but five luxury condos. The big check apparently caught the attention of the owner. According to Wayne Barrett, who investigated the deal for the Village Voice, Trump personally attended the closing, along with Bogatin.If the transaction seemed suspiciousmultiple apartments for a single buyer who appeared to have no legitimate way to put his hands on that much moneythere may have been a reason. At the time, Russian mobsters were beginning to invest in high-end real estate, which offered an ideal vehicle to launder money from their criminal enterprises. During the 80s and 90s, we in the U.S. government repeatedly saw a pattern by which criminals would use condos and high-rises to launder money, says Jonathan Winer, a deputy assistant secretary of state for international law enforcement in the Clinton administration. It didnt matter that you paid too much, because the real estate values would rise, and it was a way of turning dirty money into clean money. It was done very systematically, and it explained why there are so many high-rises where the units were sold but no one is living in them. When Trump Tower was built, as David Cay Johnston reports in The Making of Donald Trump, it was only the second high-rise in New York that accepted anonymous buyers.In 1987, just three years after he attended the closing with Trump, Bogatin pleaded guilty to taking part in a massive gasoline-bootlegging scheme with Russian mobsters. After he fled the country, the government seized his five condos at Trump Tower, saying that he had purchased them to launder money, to shelter and hide assets. A Senate investigation into organized crime later revealed that Bogatin was a leading figure in the Russian mob in New York. His family ties, in fact, led straight to the top: His brother ran a $150 million stock scam with none other than Semion Mogilevich, whom the FBI considers the boss of bosses of the Russian mafia. At the time, Mogilevichfeared even by his fellow gangsters as the most powerful mobster in the worldwas expanding his multibillion-dollar international criminal syndicate into America.In 1987, on his first trip to Russia, Trump visited the Winter Palace with Ivana. The Soviets flew him to Moscowall expenses paidto discuss building a luxury hotel across from the Kremlin.Maxim Blokhin/TASSSince Trumps election as president, his ties to Russia have become the focus of intense scrutiny, most of which has centered on whether his inner circle colluded with Russia to subvert the U.S. election. A growing chorus in Congress is also asking pointed questions about how the president built his business empire. Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, has called for a d

newrepublic.com

In the fall of 1992, after he cut a deal with U.S. banks to work off nearly a billion dollars in personal debt, Donald Trump put on a big gala for himself in Atlantic City to announce his comeback. Party guests were given sticks with a picture of Trump's face glued to them so they could be photographed posing as the famous real-estate mogul. As the theme music from the movie Rocky filled the room, an emcee shouted, Let's hear it for the king! and Trump, wearing red boxing gloves and a robe, burst through a paper screen. One of his casino executives announced that his boss had returned as a winner, according to Trump biographer Michael DAntonio. In the fall of 1992, after he cut a deal with U.S. banks to work off nearly a billion dollars in personal debt, Donald Trump put on a big gala for himself in Atlantic City to announce his comeback. Party guests were given sticks with a picture of Trumps face glued to them so they could be photographed posing as the famous real-estate mogul. As the theme music from the movie Rocky filled the room, an emcee shouted, Lets hear it for the king! and Trump, wearing red boxing gloves and a robe, burst through a paper screen. One of his casino executives announced that his boss had returned as a winner, according to Trump biographer Michael DAntonio. But it was mainly an act, DAntonio told Foreign Policy. In truth Trump was all but finished as a major real-estate developer, in the eyes of many in the business, and thats because the U.S. banking industry was pretty much finished with him. By the early 1990s he had burned through his portion of his father Freds fortune with a series of reckless business decisions. Two of his businesses had declared bankruptcy, the Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City and the Plaza Hotel in New York, and the money pit that was the Trump Shuttle went out of business in 1992. Trump companies would ultimately declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy two more times. When would-be borrowers repeatedly file for protection from their creditors, they become poison to most major lenders and, according to financial experts interviewed for this story, such was Trumps reputation in the U.S. financial industry at that juncture. For the rest of the 90s a chastened Trump launched little in the way of major new business ventures (with a few exceptions, such as the Trump World Tower across from the United Nations, which began construction in 1999 and was financed by two German lenders, Deutsche Bank and Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank). He took about 10 years off, and really sort of licked his wounds and tried to recover, DAntonio said. As late as 2003, Trump was in such desperate financial trouble that at a meeting with his siblings following his fathers death he pressed them to hurriedly sell his fathers estate off, against the late Fred Trumps wishes, the New York Times reported in an investigation of Trump family finances in October. And his businesses kept failing: In 2004, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts filed for bankruptcy with $1.8 billion dollars of debt. But Trump eventually made a comeback, and according to several sources with knowledge of Trumps business, foreign money played a large role in reviving his fortunes, in particular investment by wealthy people from Russia and the former Soviet republics. This conclusion is buttressed by a growing body of evidence amassed by news organizations, as well as what is reportedly being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the Southern District of New York. It is a conclusion that even Trumps eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., has appeared to confirm, saying in 2008after the Trump Organization was prospering againthat Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. Trumps former longtime architect, Alan Lapidus, echoed this view in an interview with FPthis month. Lapidus said that based on what he knew from the internal workings of the organization, in the aftermath of Trumps earlier financial

foreignpolicy.com

What are some of the arguments Trump supporters use to dismiss the Mueller report findings?

Some arguments presented by Trump supporters to dismiss the findings of the Mueller report include assertion that the report did not establish a criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia. They also emphasize the lack of conclusive evidence of wrongdoing implicating President Trump. Additionally, some supporters challenge the credibility of the investigation, citing alleged bias among investigators and questioning the legitimacy of the evidence presented. Other arguments put forward include a focus on the of charges related to conspiracy or coordination with Russia and an emphasis on the categorical denial of collusion by President Trump and his. These viewpoints often highlight the report's failure to recommend charges against the president, portraying it as indicative of exoneration. It's important to note that these arguments reflect a specific perspective and that the report's findings have been the subject of significant debate interpretation across the political spectrum.

The redacted version of the Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election was released to the public by the Department of Justice on April 18, 2019. The Mueller report, officially titled Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election, is the official report documenting the findings and conclusions of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 United States presidential election, allegations of conspiracy or coordination between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia, and allegations of obstruction of justice. The report was submitted to Attorney General William Barr on March 22, 2019,[1] and a redacted version of the 448-page report was publicly released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on April 18, 2019. It is divided into two volumes. The redactions from the report and its supporting material were placed under a temporary "protective assertion" of executive privilege by then-President Trump on May 8, 2019, preventing the material from being passed to Congress,[2] despite earlier reassurance by Barr that Trump would not exert privilege.[3] The report concludes that the investigation "did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities".[4][5][6] Investigators had an incomplete picture of what happened due in part to some communications that were encrypted, deleted, or not saved, as well as testimony that was false, incomplete, or declined.[7][8][9] However, the report states that Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was illegal and occurred "in sweeping and systematic fashion"[10][11][12] but was welcomed by the Trump campaign as it expected to benefit from such efforts.[13][14][15] It also identifies myriad links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies,[16] about which several persons connected to the campaign made false statements and obstructed investigations.[4] Mueller later stated that his investigation's conclusion on Russian interference "deserves the attention of every American".[17] Volume II of the report addresses obstruction of justice. The investigation intentionally took an approach that could not result in a judgment that Trump committed a crime.[18][19][20] This decision was based on an Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion that a sitting president is immune from criminal prosecution,[21][22][23] and Mueller's belief that it would be unfair to accuse the president of a crime even without charging him because he would have no opportunity to clear his name in court; furthermore it would undermine Trump's ability to govern and preempt impeachment.[19][22][24][21][25] As such, the investigation "does not conclude that the President committed a crime"; however, "it also does not exonerate him",[26][27] with investigators not confident of Trump's innocence.[28][29][30][31] The report describes ten episodes where Trump may have obstructed justice while president and one before he was elected,[32][33] noting that he privately tried to "control the investigation".[34][35][36] The report further states that Congress can decide whether Trump obstructed justice and take action accordingly,[19][37][38] referencing impeachment.[39][40] On March 24, 2019, Barr sent Congress a four-page letter detailing the report's conclusions. On March 27, Mueller privately wrote to Barr, stating that Barr's March 24 letter "did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this office's work and conclusions" and that this led to "public confusion".[41] Barr declined Mueller's request to release the report's introduction and executive summaries ahead of the full report.[42] Also, Barr's March 24 letter stated that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein concluded that the evidence was "not sufficient to establish" that Trump had obstructed justice.

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When we joined other legal experts earlier this month to testify before the House Judiciary Committee regarding lessons from special counsel Robert Muellers investigation, it became apparent from the questioning that a number of misconceptions continue to exist regarding Muellers findings. The narrative was shaped by Attorney General William Barr, who issued his description of Muellers conclusions three weeks before the public saw the full 448-page report. In a letter to Barr, Mueller complained that Barrs summary did not fully capture the context, nature and substance of his teams work and conclusions, and created public confusion. Here is our effort to dispel some of those myths. Myth: Mueller found no collusion. Response: Mueller spent almost 200 pages describing numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump Campaign. He found that a Russian entity carried out a social media campaign that favored presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and disparaged presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. He also found that a Russian intelligence service conducted computer-intrusion operations against the Clinton campaign and then released stolen documents. While Mueller was unable to establish a conspiracy between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians involved in this activity, he made it clear that [a] statement that the investigation did not establish particular facts does not mean there was no evidence of those facts. In fact, Mueller also wrote that the investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts. To find conspiracy, a prosecutor must establish beyond a reasonable doubt the elements of the crime: an agreement between at least two people, to commit a criminal offense and an overt act in furtherance of that agreement. One of the underlying criminal offenses that Mueller reviewed for conspiracy was campaign-finance violations. Mueller found that Trump campaign members Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner met with Russian nationals in Trump Tower in New York June 2016 for the purpose of receiving disparaging information about Clinton as part of Russia and its governments support for Mr. Trump, according to an email message arranging the meeting. This meeting did not amount to a criminal offense, in part, because Mueller was unable to establish willfulness, that is, that the participants knew that their conduct was illegal. Mueller was also unable to conclude that the information was a thing of value that exceeded $25,000, the requirement for campaign finance to be a felony, as opposed to a civil violation of law. But the fact that the conduct did not technically amount to conspiracy does not mean that it was acceptable. Trump campaign members welcomed foreign influence into our election and then compromised themselves with the Russian government by covering it up. Mueller found other contacts with Russia, such as the sharing of polling data about Midwestern states where Trump later won upset victories, conversations with the Russian ambassador to influence Russias response to sanctions imposed by the U.S. government in response to election interference, and communications with Wikileaks after it had received emails stolen by Russia. While none of these acts amounted to the crime of conspiracy, all could be described as collusion. Myth: Mueller found no obstruction. Response: Mueller found at least four acts by Trump in which all elements of the obstruction statute were satisfied attempting to fire Mueller, directing White House counsel Don McGahn to lie and create a false document about efforts to fire Mueller, attempting to limit the investigation to future elections and attempting to prevent Manafort from cooperating with the government. As Mueller stated, while this report does not conc

time.com

Special counsel Robert Mueller walks with his wife, Ann, in Washington, D.C., on Sunday. The Justice Department is expected to send a summary of his findings to Congress. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images Special counsel Robert Mueller walks with his wife, Ann, in Washington, D.C., on Sunday. The Justice Department is expected to send a summary of his findings to Congress. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images Updated at 6:56 p.m. ET Special counsel Robert Mueller did not find evidence that President Trump's campaign conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 election, according to a summary of findings submitted to Congress by Attorney General William Barr. "The Special Counsel's investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election," Barr wrote in a letter to leaders of the House and Senate judiciary committees on Sunday afternoon. That was despite "multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign," he wrote. However, Mueller's investigation did not take a position on whether Trump obstructed justice by trying to frustrate the ongoing investigation. "[W]hile this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him," Barr quotes from Mueller's report. The attorney general wrote that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had concluded that the findings of the special counsel were "not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction-of-justice offense." The Justice Department leaders reached that conclusion, Barr wrote, without regard to the "constitutional considerations" that surround whether the department can seek an indictment of a sitting president. White House exults Trump talked with reporters as he prepared to return from Florida to the White House, calling the investigation "an illegal take-down that failed." "It was just announced there was no collusion with Russia, the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. There was no obstruction, and it was a complete and total exoneration," Trump said before boarding Air Force One. "It's a shame our country had to go through this, and to be honest, it's a shame your president had to go through this." Trump also said: "Hopefully someone's going to look at the other side," seeming to revive suggestions that he wanted an investigation into his 2016 Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, which he has called for several times. At Trump's rallies, there are frequent chants of "Lock her up!" FBI Director James Comey announced in 2016 that Clinton would not be charged. Trump's outside attorneys, including Rudy Giuliani and Jay Sekulow, released a statement on Sunday hailing what they said was "a complete and total vindication of the president." Top Republicans also seized on the news, arguing that Trump has now been absolved. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who played golf on Sunday afternoon in Florida with the president, said in a statement: "Good day for the rule of law. Great day for President Trump and his team." No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA GREAT! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2019 "The cloud hanging over President Trump has been removed by this report," Graham added. "Bad day for those hoping the Mueller investigation would take President Trump down." House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. said: "It is abundantly clear, without a shadow of a doubt, there was no collusion ... This case is closed." Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said Barr's letter should "assure every American there was no collusion between Russia and Donald Trump or his campaign." "The special counsel's investigation was long, thorough and conclusive: There was no collusion. There is no constitutional cr

npr.org

Is there any prescedent, investigations, knowledge or characteristics that are shared between other Russian Oligarchs backgrounds and circumstances that are similar to Trumps background or circumstances? Is there any information with which we can compare the evidence against Trump with evidence used to identify other real Russian Oligarchs?

There have been allegations and investigations into potential connections between certain Russian oligarchs President Donald Trump, as well as his business dealings. These investigations and claims outline perceived similarities between the backgrounds and circumstances of Trump and those Russian oligarchs. However, it's essential to approach this information with consideration for its contentious nature and to critical differences in the context of the evidence.

Claims and media reports have suggested potential similarities between Trump's business dealings and connections individuals associated with the Russian government, as well as Russian oligarchs. These claims range from financial transactions to discussions interactions that have raised questions about potential collusion, influence, or financial tiesIn comparing the evidence against Trump with the evidence used to identify other Russian oligarchs, it's important to recognize the complexities and distinct circumstances of each case. The evidence against oligarchs may involve investigations into financial transactions, business operations, political connections and potential links to illicit activities. Similarly, the evidence related to Trump could involve investigations into his business transactions, with foreign entities, and potential conflicts of interest.

It's crucial to approach any comparison with a nuanced understanding of the context and evidence related to each case. Thorough analysis and objective evaluation of evidence are essential to assess the veracity and of these claims.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Russian oligarchs (Russian: , tr. oligarkhi) are business oligarchs of the former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth in the 1990s via the Russian privatisation that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The failing Soviet state left the ownership of state assets contested, which allowed for informal deals with former USSR officials (mostly in Russia and Ukraine) as a means to acquire state property. The Russian oligarchs emerged as business entrepreneurs under Mikhail Gorbachev (General Secretary, 19851991) during his period of market liberalization.[1] Boris Berezovsky, a mathematician and formerly a researcher, became the first well-known Russian business oligarch.[citation needed] Oligarchs became increasingly influential in Russian politics during Boris Yeltsin's presidency (19911999); they helped finance his re-election in 1996. Well-connected oligarchs like Roman Abramovich, Michail Khodorkovsky, Boris Berezovsky and Vladimir Potanin acquired key assets at a fraction of the value at the loans for shares scheme auctions conducted in the run-up to the election.[2] Defenders of the out-of-favor oligarchs argue that the companies they acquired were not highly valued at the time because they still ran on Soviet principles, with non-existent stock control, huge payrolls, no financial reporting and scant regard for profit.[3] Since 2014, hundreds of Russian oligarchs and their companies have been hit by the US sanctions for their support of "the Russian government's malign activity around the globe".[4][5] In 2022, many Russian oligarchs and their close family members were targeted and sanctioned by countries around the world as a rebuke of Russia's war in Ukraine. Yeltsin era, 19911999[edit] During Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika (c.19851991), many businessmen in Russia imported goods such as personal computers and jeans into the country and sold them for a hefty profit. Once Boris Yeltsin became President of Russia in July 1991, the oligarchs emerged as well-connected entrepreneurs who started from nearly nothing and became rich through participation in the market via connections to the corrupt, but elected, government of Russia during the state's transition to a market-based economy. The so-called voucher privatization program of 19921994 enabled a handful of young men to become billionaires, specifically by arbitraging the vast difference between old domestic prices for Russian commodities (such as natural gas and oil) and the prices prevailing on the world market. These oligarchs became unpopular with the Russian public and are often blamed for the turmoil that plagued the Russian Federation following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.[6][7][8][9] Emergence[edit] Economists Sergei Guriev and Andrei Rachinsky contrast older oligarchs with nomenklatura ties and younger-generation entrepreneurs such as Kakha Bendukidze who built their wealth from scratch because Gorbachev's reforms affected a period "when co-existence of regulated and quasi-market prices created huge opportunities for arbitrage."[10] The majority of oligarchs were promoted (at least initially) by the Soviet apparatchiks, with strong connections to Soviet power-structures and access to the funds of the Communist Party.[3][11][12] Boris Berezovsky himself was Head of the Department of System Design at another Academy of Sciences research centre. His private company was established by the Institute as a joint venture.[13] Mikhail Khodorkovsky started his business importing computers under auspices of the Komsomol-authorised Center for Scientific and Technical Creativity of the Youth in 1986, briefly serving as a deputy secretary of the Komsomol for a district in Moscow in 1987. His move into banking two years later was funded with the support of Komsomol alumni working in Moscow city government. Later, he served in the Russian government as an adviser to the prime minister and a deputy minister o

en.wikipedia.org

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in a meeting with Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich (on the left, in the center) in 2010. Alexei Nikolsky/AP hide caption toggle caption Alexei Nikolsky/AP Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in a meeting with Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich (on the left, in the center) in 2010. Alexei Nikolsky/AP It's been a rough few weeks for Roman Abramovich. The British government blocked him from entering the country and froze his assets, depriving him of a glittering collection of sports cars, his 15-bedroom mansion in central London, his penthouse overlooking the River Thames, and the Chelsea soccer club. The European Union is also messing with his finances and banning him from traveling into its 27 member states. No more summering in Saint-Tropez or wintering in Chamonix. In the United States, members of Congress are now calling on President Biden to sanction Abramovich, threatening his megamansion on the Upper East Side. It's not just governments. Last week, a Pro-Ukraine activist in Spain chartered a boat and attempted to graffiti Abramovich's 458-foot superyacht, Solaris, which was docked in a Barcelona marina. Although the activist failed, Abramovich directed his two superyachts (he has another one) to head east for safety. Abramovich, himself, has fled east for safety, back home to Russia, which seems to be one of the few nations where he's welcome these days. All of this is a lot of unwanted publicity for a man with a reputation for shunning the spotlight. An orphan who grew up in the frozen tundra of Siberia, Abramovich rose from nothing to become a tycoon worth an estimated $13 billion. Younger than most in the first generation of Russian "oligarchs" as the Russians would come to disparagingly call them the boyish Abramovich became known as "the stealth oligarch" because, unlike many of his plutocratic contemporaries, he kept his head down. In the 1990s, Abramovich became the protg of Boris Berezovsky, who was probably the least stealthy oligarch. Berezovsky had a big mouth. In 2000, he made the mistake of openly challenging a new president by the name of Vladimir Putin, someone Berezovsky had played a big role in helping to get elected president. When Putin threw down the hammer, Berezovsky was forced to flee Russia and Abramovich, a staunch (and tight-lipped) Putin loyalist, took over much of Berezovsky's oil and media empires. Berezovsky remained a vocal Putin critic after moving to London. He was found dead there in 2013, hanging from a noose in his bathroom. Investigators are divided on whether it was suicide or murder. With the exception of Abramovich and a few other notables, the cast of characters comprising Russia's oligarchy has been largely replaced since the 1990s, after Putin began purging oligarchs and anointing his own oligarchs in an effort to fortify his reign. However, the power structure remains the same. It's a symbiotic relationship in which the oligarchs' economic power buttresses the political power of the Russian president, and the president's power buttresses the economic power of the oligarchs like a medieval king getting tribute from his aristocracy in exchange for his protection. It's an arrangement that the West is now fighting to disrupt. It's impossible to know what would have happened to Russia in an alternate universe, where the nation's transition to capitalism was handled more gradually and fairly, and the oligarchs had never taken the helm of Russia's economy. We do know, however, that their story is crucial to understanding the rise of Putin. The Rise Of The Oligarchy The Russian oligarchy arose out of the mayhem of rapid privatization in the 1990s. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russian president Boris Yeltsin, a leader in the revolt against communism, had to figure out how to transition from a command-and-control economy to a market one. Yeltsin turned to the Russian economists Yegor Gaidar and Anatoly Chubais, who, with the aid

npr.org

Russian oligarchs, tycoons who reaped enormous fortunes in the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.When the centrally planned economy of the then-Soviet Union crashed, a group of quick-thinking men picked up the pieces and turned them into vast private wealth. They also became politically active in the 1990s as President Boris Yeltsin attempted to steer Russia toward capitalism and democracy. This marriage of wealth and power that defined them as oligarchs was not unlike the sugar barons, coffee planters, and bankers who once held sway in Latin America. After the Cold War, oligarchs who held wealth and power appeared throughout the former Soviet Union and its satellites. The rise of the oligarchs In Soviet times, state control of the economy was all-encompassing, from colossal reserves of oil and gas, timber, metals, and diamonds, to an archipelago of factories, refineries, and mines. The state set prices, owned all property, and controlled foreign trade. The economy was commanded by red directors, who ran the immense factories; Communist Party officials who supervised them; or the officers of the KGB, the Soviet secret police. But when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachevs perestroika and glasnost reforms began to set off tremors of change in the late 1980sallowing, among other things, the first private businessesvery few of the old guard remained in control. Rather, daring young men, from outside the power structure, unencumbered by old ways of thinking, seized the moment and became the first oligarchs. On the day Gorbachev came to power in March 1985, it would have been impossible to pick out these future billionaires in a crowd. Mikhail Khodorkovsky, then 21, was a year away from graduation at the Mendeleev Institute for Chemical Technology, a prestigious school for training chemical engineers. Boris Berezovsky, 39, was a specialist in theories of human decision-making at the Institute of Control Sciences, a bastion of Soviet applied science. Vladimir Gusinsky, 32, once dreamed of a career in the theater but failed to make it, so drove an unlicensed taxi. All three acquired massive fortunes in the next decade and a half. There were dozens more. Are you a student? Get Britannica Premium for only $24.95 - a 67% discount! Subscribe Now How did they do it? The transition from socialism to capitalism was astonishingly fast. Yeltsins group of radical market reformers decided to free prices, property, and trade first, and install rules and institutions of a market economy only later. The result was that Russian capitalism was born into a vacuum without effective laws. In addition, the state was so badly weakened that it could not enforce laws that were on the books. Such a huge transition from socialism to capitalism all at once had never been attempted. How it worked In the Western experience, tycoons often built wealth from the government and private capital. J.P. Morgan was a bridge between British lenders and American railroads. But Russias first tycoons got rich almost entirely from one source: the state. They keenly saw, and exploited, its many weaknesses. Enormous imbalances in prices, property, and trade could be used to mint unbelievable profits. The young oligarchs learned how to take advantage of the hyperinflation that gripped Russia in the early 1990s. Rubles could be borrowed for 10 to 13 percent a year, but inflation was eroding their value at 25 percent a month. Consider a deal Berezovsky once struck. He agreed to buy 35,000 cars from the huge AvtoVaz factory. He paid for them over time in rubles, which lost their value due to hyperinflation. He had agreed to pay the ruble equivalent of $2,989 later for each car, but after two and a half years of inflation, he would pay back only the ruble equivalent of $360 for each. He sold them for $4,590 each. The oligarchs became masters at manipulating the economic imbalances. They imported personal computers from abroad and sold them at a huge markup inside Russia; they export

britannica.com

What are the primary traits, connections, circumstances or other evidence by which the United States determines who in Russia is an elite or Russian Oligarch? What makes the Oligarchs or Elites different from just rich people? The USA has to have some way they measure whether a person in Russia is an Oligarch, in order to sanction Russian Oligarchs, which they have done in 2022. What are some of the red flags or signs that indicate a person is likely a Russian oligarch?

Determining who qualifies as a Russian oligarch involves assessing various factors, such as the level of influence and wealth that individuals have amassed through the rapid acquisition of state assets during the privatization period the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. Specifically, the elite or oligarchs in Russia are distinguished by their significant influence in both business and politics, along with their accumulation substantial wealth. These individuals are known to have acquired state assets through deals with former Soviet officials, and they often possess close ties to the Russian regime.

The United States government, in accordance with the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), has outlined criteria for identifying Russian oligarchs and senior foreign political figures. This includes evaluating their worth and ascertaining their proximity to the Russian regime, in addition to identifying any indices of corruption associated with these.

In distinguishing oligarchs from merely wealthy individuals, the focus lies on the oligarchs' extensive influence, political connections, and the methods through which they accumulated their wealth, particularly through their involvement in the acquisition of state assets the 1990s. The designation of an individual as a oligarch typically involves a combination of significant personal wealth, close ties to Russian political system, influence over key sectors of the economy, and a history of involvement in controversial and opaque business dealings.

The key red or signs indicating that a person is likely a Russian oligarch include rapid wealth accumulation during the privatization period, close relationships with the regime, and significant influence in both the political and business arenas. Furthermore, opaque and controversial business transactions, along with indications of corruption, play a crucial role in identifying potential Russian oligarchs.

By assessing these various factors, the U.S. government aims to identify and sanction Russian oligarchs who are perceived to be closely tied to the Russian regime and have potentially utilized their influence and resources in ways that are detrimental to U.S. interests.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Russian oligarchs (Russian: , tr. oligarkhi) are business oligarchs of the former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth in the 1990s via the Russian privatisation that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The failing Soviet state left the ownership of state assets contested, which allowed for informal deals with former USSR officials (mostly in Russia and Ukraine) as a means to acquire state property. The Russian oligarchs emerged as business entrepreneurs under Mikhail Gorbachev (General Secretary, 19851991) during his period of market liberalization.[1] Boris Berezovsky, a mathematician and formerly a researcher, became the first well-known Russian business oligarch.[citation needed] Oligarchs became increasingly influential in Russian politics during Boris Yeltsin's presidency (19911999); they helped finance his re-election in 1996. Well-connected oligarchs like Roman Abramovich, Michail Khodorkovsky, Boris Berezovsky and Vladimir Potanin acquired key assets at a fraction of the value at the loans for shares scheme auctions conducted in the run-up to the election.[2] Defenders of the out-of-favor oligarchs argue that the companies they acquired were not highly valued at the time because they still ran on Soviet principles, with non-existent stock control, huge payrolls, no financial reporting and scant regard for profit.[3] Since 2014, hundreds of Russian oligarchs and their companies have been hit by the US sanctions for their support of "the Russian government's malign activity around the globe".[4][5] In 2022, many Russian oligarchs and their close family members were targeted and sanctioned by countries around the world as a rebuke of Russia's war in Ukraine. Yeltsin era, 19911999[edit] During Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika (c.19851991), many businessmen in Russia imported goods such as personal computers and jeans into the country and sold them for a hefty profit. Once Boris Yeltsin became President of Russia in July 1991, the oligarchs emerged as well-connected entrepreneurs who started from nearly nothing and became rich through participation in the market via connections to the corrupt, but elected, government of Russia during the state's transition to a market-based economy. The so-called voucher privatization program of 19921994 enabled a handful of young men to become billionaires, specifically by arbitraging the vast difference between old domestic prices for Russian commodities (such as natural gas and oil) and the prices prevailing on the world market. These oligarchs became unpopular with the Russian public and are often blamed for the turmoil that plagued the Russian Federation following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.[6][7][8][9] Emergence[edit] Economists Sergei Guriev and Andrei Rachinsky contrast older oligarchs with nomenklatura ties and younger-generation entrepreneurs such as Kakha Bendukidze who built their wealth from scratch because Gorbachev's reforms affected a period "when co-existence of regulated and quasi-market prices created huge opportunities for arbitrage."[10] The majority of oligarchs were promoted (at least initially) by the Soviet apparatchiks, with strong connections to Soviet power-structures and access to the funds of the Communist Party.[3][11][12] Boris Berezovsky himself was Head of the Department of System Design at another Academy of Sciences research centre. His private company was established by the Institute as a joint venture.[13] Mikhail Khodorkovsky started his business importing computers under auspices of the Komsomol-authorised Center for Scientific and Technical Creativity of the Youth in 1986, briefly serving as a deputy secretary of the Komsomol for a district in Moscow in 1987. His move into banking two years later was funded with the support of Komsomol alumni working in Moscow city government. Later, he served in the Russian government as an adviser to the prime minister and a deputy minister o

en.wikipedia.org

On January 29, 2018, the US Treasury Department (Treasury) delivered five reports to Congress, as required under the Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). Please see our prior blog post on CAATSA here. Among these reports was a list identifying Russian senior political figures, oligarchs, and parastatal entities pursuant to CAATSA Section 241. This report was released during the same week that other CAATSA sanctions targeting Russia have gone into effect. CAATSA Section 241 Report Under CAATSA Section 241, Congress required Treasury, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence and the Secretary of State, to submit a report (Report) on: Russian oligarchs and the most significant senior foreign political figures as determined by their closeness to the Russian regime and their net worth, including an identification of any indices of corruption with respect to such individuals; Russian parastatal entities, including an assessment of their role in the Russian economy and their leadership structures; the exposure of key US economic sectors to Russian politically exposed persons and parastatal entities (e.g., banking, securities, insurance); the potential effects of imposing debt and equity restrictions on Russian parastatal entities or designating such entities on the US List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN List); and the potential impacts of imposing secondary/extraterritorial sanctions with respect to Russian oligarchs, state-owned enterprises, and parastatal entities. The Report delivered to Congress names 114 senior Russian political figures and 96 oligarchs in an unclassified annex, including the Russian Prime Minister and other Cabinet Ministers, among others. The Report indicates that the list of senior political figures consists of (i) senior members of the Russian Presidential Administration; (ii) members of the Russian Cabinet; and (iii) other senior political leaders. The list of oligarchs includes those individuals determined by Treasury to have an estimated net worth of $1 billion or more. The Report also includes a classified annex that is not publicly available. The classified annex includes additional Russian senior political figures and oligarchs, as well as the list of Russian parastatal entities and the remaining analysis required under CAATSA Section 241. Parastatal entities are defined as those entities in which Russian state ownership is at least 25% and that had 2016 revenues of approximately $2 billion or more. Implications of the Report Notably, CAATSA Section 241 does not require that the identified individuals and entities be designated on US restricted parties lists (e.g., the SDN List, the Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List) or otherwise sanctioned by the US Government. In the Report and a subsequent FAQ, Treasury confirmed that the Report is not a sanctions list and inclusion in it does not constitute the determination by any agency that any of those individuals or entities meet the criteria for designation under any sanctions program. It also does not, in and of itself, imply, give rise to, or create any other restrictions, prohibitions, or limitations on dealings with such persons by either U.S. or foreign persons. At a Senate Committee hearing on January 30, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned that he expects some of the individuals identified in the Report will be sanctioned in the next few months. Some of the individuals listed in the unclassified annex to the Report are already targeted by US sanctions programs (i.e., they are already SDNs). These individuals are identified with an asterisk (*) in the Report. Related Developments and Context The Report follows an announcement by the Trump Administration that it would not impose sanctions on parties engaging in significant transactions with parties linked to Russias defense and intelligence sectors under CAATSA Section 231. The Administration was required to impose such

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Today, the United States, in coordination with Allies and partners, is targeting additional Russian elites and family members who continue supporting President Putin despite his brutal invasion of Ukraine. These individuals have enriched themselves at the expense of the Russian people, and some have elevated their family members into high-ranking positions. Others sit atop Russias largest companies and are responsible for providing the resources necessary to support Putins invasion of Ukraine. These individuals and their family members will be cut off from the U.S. financial system, their assets in the United States will be frozen and their property will be blocked from use. The Department of Treasury will share financial intelligence and other evidence where appropriate with the Department of Justice to support criminal prosecutions and seizure of assets.Today, the United States will sanction an expansive list of Putins cronies and their family members. One of the elites is Alisher Burhanovich Usmanov, one of Russias wealthiest individuals and a close ally of Putin. His property will be blocked from use in the United States and by U.S. persons including his superyacht, one of the worlds largest, and just seized by our ally Germany, and his private jet, one of Russias largest privately-owned aircraft. The United States will also sanction Dmitry Peskov, who as Putins spokesman is a top purveyor of Putins propaganda. The United States will also impose visa restrictions on 19 oligarchs and 47 of their family members and close associates. As President Biden said, we, we will continue to work with our Allies and partners to hold accountable the Russian oligarchs and corrupt leaders who are profiting from this violent regime. The United States and governments all over the world will work to identify and freeze the assets Russian elites and their family members hold in our respective jurisdictions their yachts, luxury apartments, money, and other ill-gotten gains:Full blocking sanctions on an expansive new list of Russian elites and their family members who enable Putin: Nikolai Tokarev (his wife Galina, daughter Mayya, and his two luxury real estate companies)Boris Rotenberg (his wife Karina, and his sons Roman and Boris)Arkady Rotenberg (His sons Pavel and Igor and daughter Liliya)Sergei Chemezov (His wife Yekaterina, his son Stanislav, and stepdaughter Anastasiya)Igor Shuvalov (His five companies, his wife Olga, his son Evgeny and his company and jet, and his daughter Maria and her company)Yevgeniy Prigozhin (His three companies, his wife, Polina, his daughter Lyubov, and his son Pavel),Dmitry Peskov, President Putins press secretaryAlisher Usmanov (His superyacht, one of the worlds largest and just seized by our ally Germany, and his private jet, one of Russias largest privately-owned aircraft) Imposing Visa Restrictions on 19 Russian Oligarchs, their 47 Family Membersand Close Associates: Today the Department of State is announcing a new visa restriction policy to restrict the issuance of visas to certain Russian oligarchs, their family members, and close associates. These oligarchs are known to direct, authorize, fund, significantly support, or carry out malign activities in support of Russias destabilizing foreign policy. In an initial action under this policy, we have taken steps to place visa restrictions on 19 oligarchs and 47 family members and close associates.Full blocking sanctions on disinformation targets:Treasury will designate seven Russian entities, SDN Strategic Culture Foundation and associated outlets Odna Rodyna, Rhythm of Eurasia, and Journal Kamerton; SouthFront; SDN InfoRos; New Eastern Outlook; Oriental Review; United World International; and Geopolitical. In addition, Treasury will designate 26 Russia and Ukraine-based individuals who play central roles in these organizations, enabling the Government of the Russian Federations efforts to spread disinformation and influence perceptions as a part of their

whitehouse.gov

How does Russia create, and then manage, Russian Oligarchs? Can Russia do so in countries outside of Russia? If so, how do they accomplish that?

The rise and management Russian oligarchs are rooted in the rapid accumulation of wealth during the Russian privatization period following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. The failing Soviet state ushered in a period where state assets became contested, leading to informal deals with former USSR officials predominantly in Russia and Ukraine, allowing individuals to acquire state property. This environment provided fertile ground for the emergence of business oligarchs who rapidly amassed significant wealth and became influential in both business and politics.

Regarding the ability of Russia to create and manage Russian oligarchs outside of Russia, while there isn't explicit information on this matter, it's important to consider Russia's influence and reach beyond its borders. Political, economic, and strategic interests often shape interactions between countries and business elites, and it's not uncommon for governments to seek influence and control through various means, including the support or manipulation of wealthy individuals.

In the case of Russian oligarchs' impact beyond Russia's borders, it's possible that Russia may seek to extend its influence by cultivating relationships with individuals in other countries who possess significant wealth and political connections. This influence could take various forms, including investment partnerships, political alliances, or other cooperative endeavors. However, specific details concerning such efforts and their scope remain outside the current information available.

In conclusion, while it's conceivable that Russia could aim to create and manage individuals with oligarch-like influence outside of Russia, the specific methods and extent of this influence remain unclear and would require a more in-depth analysis of geopolitical dynamics and individual case studies.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Russian oligarchs (Russian: , tr. oligarkhi) are business oligarchs of the former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth in the 1990s via the Russian privatisation that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The failing Soviet state left the ownership of state assets contested, which allowed for informal deals with former USSR officials (mostly in Russia and Ukraine) as a means to acquire state property. The Russian oligarchs emerged as business entrepreneurs under Mikhail Gorbachev (General Secretary, 19851991) during his period of market liberalization.[1] Boris Berezovsky, a mathematician and formerly a researcher, became the first well-known Russian business oligarch.[citation needed] Oligarchs became increasingly influential in Russian politics during Boris Yeltsin's presidency (19911999); they helped finance his re-election in 1996. Well-connected oligarchs like Roman Abramovich, Michail Khodorkovsky, Boris Berezovsky and Vladimir Potanin acquired key assets at a fraction of the value at the loans for shares scheme auctions conducted in the run-up to the election.[2] Defenders of the out-of-favor oligarchs argue that the companies they acquired were not highly valued at the time because they still ran on Soviet principles, with non-existent stock control, huge payrolls, no financial reporting and scant regard for profit.[3] Since 2014, hundreds of Russian oligarchs and their companies have been hit by the US sanctions for their support of "the Russian government's malign activity around the globe".[4][5] In 2022, many Russian oligarchs and their close family members were targeted and sanctioned by countries around the world as a rebuke of Russia's war in Ukraine. Yeltsin era, 19911999[edit] During Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika (c.19851991), many businessmen in Russia imported goods such as personal computers and jeans into the country and sold them for a hefty profit. Once Boris Yeltsin became President of Russia in July 1991, the oligarchs emerged as well-connected entrepreneurs who started from nearly nothing and became rich through participation in the market via connections to the corrupt, but elected, government of Russia during the state's transition to a market-based economy. The so-called voucher privatization program of 19921994 enabled a handful of young men to become billionaires, specifically by arbitraging the vast difference between old domestic prices for Russian commodities (such as natural gas and oil) and the prices prevailing on the world market. These oligarchs became unpopular with the Russian public and are often blamed for the turmoil that plagued the Russian Federation following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.[6][7][8][9] Emergence[edit] Economists Sergei Guriev and Andrei Rachinsky contrast older oligarchs with nomenklatura ties and younger-generation entrepreneurs such as Kakha Bendukidze who built their wealth from scratch because Gorbachev's reforms affected a period "when co-existence of regulated and quasi-market prices created huge opportunities for arbitrage."[10] The majority of oligarchs were promoted (at least initially) by the Soviet apparatchiks, with strong connections to Soviet power-structures and access to the funds of the Communist Party.[3][11][12] Boris Berezovsky himself was Head of the Department of System Design at another Academy of Sciences research centre. His private company was established by the Institute as a joint venture.[13] Mikhail Khodorkovsky started his business importing computers under auspices of the Komsomol-authorised Center for Scientific and Technical Creativity of the Youth in 1986, briefly serving as a deputy secretary of the Komsomol for a district in Moscow in 1987. His move into banking two years later was funded with the support of Komsomol alumni working in Moscow city government. Later, he served in the Russian government as an adviser to the prime minister and a deputy minister o

en.wikipedia.org

Note: This is Part Two of a two-part Planet Money newsletter series on the Russian oligarchs. You can read Part One here and subscribe to the newsletter here. In the summer of 2000, 21 of the richest men in Russia exited their bulletproof limousines and entered the Kremlin for a historic meeting. In the previous decade, these men had risen seemingly out of nowhere, amassing spectacular fortunes as the country around them descended into chaos. Through shady deals, outright corruption, and even murder, these rapacious "oligarchs" as Russians had come to derisively call them had seized control of much of Russia's economy, and, increasingly, its fledgling democracy. But now, their nation's newly elected president, Vladimir Putin, wanted to tell them, face to face, who was really in charge. "I want to draw your attention to the fact that you built this state yourself, to a great degree, through the political or semi-political structures under your control,'' Putin reportedly said in the closed-door meeting. ''So there is no point in blaming the reflection in the mirror. So let us get down to the point and be open and do what is necessary to do to make our relationship in this field civilized and transparent.'' Putin in 2000 ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images Putin in 2000 ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images Putin offered the oligarchs a deal: bend to my authority, stay out of my way, and you can keep your mansions, superyachts, private jets, and multibillion-dollar corporations (corporations that, just a few years before, had been owned by the Russian government). In the coming years, the oligarchs who reneged on this deal and undermined Putin would be thrown into a Siberian prison or be forced into exile or die in suspicious circumstances. The loyalists who remained and the new ones who got filthy rich during Putin's long reign became like ATM machines for the president and his allies. "These individuals have enriched themselves at the expense of the Russian people," the White House said in a recent statement announcing sanctions against over a dozen oligarchs connected to Putin. "[They] sit atop Russia's largest companies and are responsible for providing the resources necessary to support Putin's invasion of Ukraine." Putin Shows Who's Boss Putin came to power thanks in no small part to the original class of oligarchs, who got ostentatiously rich through crooked privatization deals during the presidency of Boris Yeltsin. These oligarchs created and bankrolled what became Putin's political party, Unity, the predecessor to what is now called United Russia. They engineered President Boris Yeltsin's stunning comeback victory in the 1996 presidential elections. Without this victory, Yeltsin could have never appointed Putin as his prime minister, a position that proved to be Putin's launching pad for his presidential bid. The oligarchs helped fuel Putin's meteoric rise. Two of them, Vladimir Gusinsky and Boris Berezovsky, deployed their television stations and newspapers to turn Putin from an unknown figure into a household name. But Putin was a shrewder politician than they initially realized. When Putin's 2000 presidential election campaign heated up, he began paying lip service to Russia's hatred of the oligarchs and the corrupt deals that enriched them. Shortly before election day, Putin was asked by a radio station how he felt about the oligarchs. If by oligarchs, he said, one meant those who "help fusion of power and capital there will be no oligarchs of this kind as a class." But, once in power, Putin didn't actually eliminate the oligarchy. He only targeted individual oligarchs who threatened his power. He first aimed at Vladimir Gusinsky, the rare oligarch who built most of his wealth from scratch as opposed to merely taking over extractive industries that once belonged to the government. Back in the mid-1980s, Gusinsky was a cab driver with broke

npr.org

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in a meeting with Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich (on the left, in the center) in 2010. Alexei Nikolsky/AP hide caption toggle caption Alexei Nikolsky/AP Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in a meeting with Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich (on the left, in the center) in 2010. Alexei Nikolsky/AP It's been a rough few weeks for Roman Abramovich. The British government blocked him from entering the country and froze his assets, depriving him of a glittering collection of sports cars, his 15-bedroom mansion in central London, his penthouse overlooking the River Thames, and the Chelsea soccer club. The European Union is also messing with his finances and banning him from traveling into its 27 member states. No more summering in Saint-Tropez or wintering in Chamonix. In the United States, members of Congress are now calling on President Biden to sanction Abramovich, threatening his megamansion on the Upper East Side. It's not just governments. Last week, a Pro-Ukraine activist in Spain chartered a boat and attempted to graffiti Abramovich's 458-foot superyacht, Solaris, which was docked in a Barcelona marina. Although the activist failed, Abramovich directed his two superyachts (he has another one) to head east for safety. Abramovich, himself, has fled east for safety, back home to Russia, which seems to be one of the few nations where he's welcome these days. All of this is a lot of unwanted publicity for a man with a reputation for shunning the spotlight. An orphan who grew up in the frozen tundra of Siberia, Abramovich rose from nothing to become a tycoon worth an estimated $13 billion. Younger than most in the first generation of Russian "oligarchs" as the Russians would come to disparagingly call them the boyish Abramovich became known as "the stealth oligarch" because, unlike many of his plutocratic contemporaries, he kept his head down. In the 1990s, Abramovich became the protg of Boris Berezovsky, who was probably the least stealthy oligarch. Berezovsky had a big mouth. In 2000, he made the mistake of openly challenging a new president by the name of Vladimir Putin, someone Berezovsky had played a big role in helping to get elected president. When Putin threw down the hammer, Berezovsky was forced to flee Russia and Abramovich, a staunch (and tight-lipped) Putin loyalist, took over much of Berezovsky's oil and media empires. Berezovsky remained a vocal Putin critic after moving to London. He was found dead there in 2013, hanging from a noose in his bathroom. Investigators are divided on whether it was suicide or murder. With the exception of Abramovich and a few other notables, the cast of characters comprising Russia's oligarchy has been largely replaced since the 1990s, after Putin began purging oligarchs and anointing his own oligarchs in an effort to fortify his reign. However, the power structure remains the same. It's a symbiotic relationship in which the oligarchs' economic power buttresses the political power of the Russian president, and the president's power buttresses the economic power of the oligarchs like a medieval king getting tribute from his aristocracy in exchange for his protection. It's an arrangement that the West is now fighting to disrupt. It's impossible to know what would have happened to Russia in an alternate universe, where the nation's transition to capitalism was handled more gradually and fairly, and the oligarchs had never taken the helm of Russia's economy. We do know, however, that their story is crucial to understanding the rise of Putin. The Rise Of The Oligarchy The Russian oligarchy arose out of the mayhem of rapid privatization in the 1990s. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russian president Boris Yeltsin, a leader in the revolt against communism, had to figure out how to transition from a command-and-control economy to a market one. Yeltsin turned to the Russian economists Yegor Gaidar and Anatoly Chubais, who, with the aid

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Then, is it even possible to prove anyone is a Russian Oligarch, or is the conclusion always going to be ambiguous and subjective, no matter what?

Proving whether an individual qualifies as a Russian oligarch involves evaluating a combination factors such as their level of wealth, influence in the Russian economy, political connections, and the methods through which they accumulated their assets during the privatization period following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. While there are specific criteria and considerations used to assess the status of Russian oligarchs, the process does entail a certain level of subjectivity.

The determination of whether someone is considered a Russian oligarch often involves a mix of quantitative data such as their net worth, along with qualitative assessments of their political influence and relationships within the Russian regime. This blend of quantitative and qualitative data, combined with complex geopolitical dynamics, can introduce a degree of subjectivity into the identification process.

Given the intricacies involved in evaluating wealth, political connections, and influence, the conclusion regarding an individual's status as a Russian oligarch may not be entirely devoid of ambiguity or subjectivity. It is essential for such conclusions to be based on thorough analysis and assessment, while recognizing the potential for differing interpretations.

In conclusion, while there are specific criteria and considerations utilized to evaluate the status of Russian oligarchs, the determination may still involve a measure of subjective assessment due to the multifaceted nature of wealth, influence, and political connections.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Russian oligarchs (Russian: , tr. oligarkhi) are business oligarchs of the former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth in the 1990s via the Russian privatisation that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The failing Soviet state left the ownership of state assets contested, which allowed for informal deals with former USSR officials (mostly in Russia and Ukraine) as a means to acquire state property. The Russian oligarchs emerged as business entrepreneurs under Mikhail Gorbachev (General Secretary, 19851991) during his period of market liberalization.[1] Boris Berezovsky, a mathematician and formerly a researcher, became the first well-known Russian business oligarch.[citation needed] Oligarchs became increasingly influential in Russian politics during Boris Yeltsin's presidency (19911999); they helped finance his re-election in 1996. Well-connected oligarchs like Roman Abramovich, Michail Khodorkovsky, Boris Berezovsky and Vladimir Potanin acquired key assets at a fraction of the value at the loans for shares scheme auctions conducted in the run-up to the election.[2] Defenders of the out-of-favor oligarchs argue that the companies they acquired were not highly valued at the time because they still ran on Soviet principles, with non-existent stock control, huge payrolls, no financial reporting and scant regard for profit.[3] Since 2014, hundreds of Russian oligarchs and their companies have been hit by the US sanctions for their support of "the Russian government's malign activity around the globe".[4][5] In 2022, many Russian oligarchs and their close family members were targeted and sanctioned by countries around the world as a rebuke of Russia's war in Ukraine. Yeltsin era, 19911999[edit] During Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika (c.19851991), many businessmen in Russia imported goods such as personal computers and jeans into the country and sold them for a hefty profit. Once Boris Yeltsin became President of Russia in July 1991, the oligarchs emerged as well-connected entrepreneurs who started from nearly nothing and became rich through participation in the market via connections to the corrupt, but elected, government of Russia during the state's transition to a market-based economy. The so-called voucher privatization program of 19921994 enabled a handful of young men to become billionaires, specifically by arbitraging the vast difference between old domestic prices for Russian commodities (such as natural gas and oil) and the prices prevailing on the world market. These oligarchs became unpopular with the Russian public and are often blamed for the turmoil that plagued the Russian Federation following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.[6][7][8][9] Emergence[edit] Economists Sergei Guriev and Andrei Rachinsky contrast older oligarchs with nomenklatura ties and younger-generation entrepreneurs such as Kakha Bendukidze who built their wealth from scratch because Gorbachev's reforms affected a period "when co-existence of regulated and quasi-market prices created huge opportunities for arbitrage."[10] The majority of oligarchs were promoted (at least initially) by the Soviet apparatchiks, with strong connections to Soviet power-structures and access to the funds of the Communist Party.[3][11][12] Boris Berezovsky himself was Head of the Department of System Design at another Academy of Sciences research centre. His private company was established by the Institute as a joint venture.[13] Mikhail Khodorkovsky started his business importing computers under auspices of the Komsomol-authorised Center for Scientific and Technical Creativity of the Youth in 1986, briefly serving as a deputy secretary of the Komsomol for a district in Moscow in 1987. His move into banking two years later was funded with the support of Komsomol alumni working in Moscow city government. Later, he served in the Russian government as an adviser to the prime minister and a deputy minister o

en.wikipedia.org

Criteria for the US Administrations Kremlin Report On August 2, 2017, US President Donald J. Trump signed H.R. 3364, Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), into law. Section 241 of the Act calls on the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence and the Secretary of State to submit to Congress a detailed reportwith the option of making part of it classifiedincluding identification of the most significant senior foreign political figures and oligarchs in the Russian Federation, as determined by their closeness to the Russian regime and their net worth. Section 241 mandates that the report address the relation of these persons with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and identify their corruption, estimated net worth, and known sources of income. The section also poses similar questions about Russian parastatal entities of diffuse ownership but serving the state. The Kremlin Report, as it might be termed, is due on or around February 1, 2018. Section 241 has generated intense interest, even anxiety, within Moscows political and business classes, more so than any other section of H.R. 3364. It is clear why. Speculation is abundant in Moscow about who among political figures, oligarchs, and others may be listed, and what that might mean for them, for Russias ruling political and business elite in general, and for Russias already beleaguered standing in the West. These anxieties suggest that the Kremlin Report can serve US, Western, and genuine Russian interests in two ways: First, it can signal to the current Russian political and business classes that, as individuals, their interests would best be served by maintaining a distance from the Putin regime. It also may indicate that these groups would be better off if the Russian leadership refrained from starting new aggressive wars or attacking the political system of the United States and other democratic countries, as it did during the 2016 US presidential campaign and subsequent elections throughout Europe. Second, the Kremlin Reports identification of corrupt individuals close to the Putin regime may expose them to increased scrutiny and potential action by those US government institutions enforcing US laws and regulations beyond sanctions, such as measures against money laundering and other financial malfeasance, e.g., Treasurys Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), among others. That process could in turn lead to future actions to freeze the assets of corrupt individuals and, at the right point, legal processes to return ill-gotten assets to the Russian people. Metrics for Identifying Senior Political Figures, Oligarchs, and Parastatal Entities Close to the Kremlin Senior political figures, oligarchs, and parastatal entities constitute what we may call members of the Russian ruling elite. Section 241 stipulates several metrics to be used in the identification of them. We note two: Closeness of senior political figures, business people, or parastatal entities to the Russian political regime. This could be measured a number of ways, including involvement (open or hidden) in the Putin regimes aggressive (or even illegal) actions. Such actions include Russias interference in the 2016 US presidential election, as well as its military aggression against Georgia and Ukraine, including the purported annexation of Crimea; responsibility for bombing civilians in Chechnya and Syria; and murders of Yuriy Shchekochikhin, Anna Politkovskaya, Alexander Litvinenko, Sergei Magnitsky, Boris Nemtsov, and other opposition politicians, civil activists, journalists, and lawyers. Involvement of political figures, businessmen, and parastatal entities close to the Putin regime in corruption that allowed them to enrich themselves at the expense of the Russian people. As Section 241 suggests, the Russian political elite has developed a sophisticated system of kleptocracy in which public

atlanticcouncil.org

Shortly after global sanctions were imposed in response to Russias invasion of Ukraine, President Biden announced the U.S. will identify, hunt down, and freeze the assets of Russian oligarchsyachts, mansions, and any other ill-gotten gains. Immediately, reports of seized yachts and villas and frozen bank accounts in Europe started pouring in. The world rejoiced at the possibility that oligarchs will feel the squeeze, or better yet, put pressure on the Kremlin to stop the war or pay for Ukraines reconstruction. But first things first: getting the assets.To take ownership of such property, one tool the government uses is forfeiture. There are three types of forfeiture: criminal, civil, and administrative. Criminal forfeiture depends on a conviction, which would require an oligarchs presence in the U.S., something that is unlikely. Administrative forfeiture is not for real property or assets valued higher than $500,000 (yachts can cost tens or hundreds of millions). This leaves civil forfeiturea potentially complex and lengthy process.Forfeiture 101Civil forfeiture is a judicial process against the assets, not their owners. The government would need to (1) establish a crime and (2) trace the property to it. While the decision to seize oligarchs assets came in the context of the war in Ukraine, the crime need not and likely will not be related to it. Assets anywhere in the world could be forfeited if they were involved in money laundering, for example.Moreover, real estate can be forfeited even if it was not purchased with tainted funds. Improvements and loan payments with laundered funds are enough to establish the required link. As for tracing fungible assets like money and stocks, accounting presumptions, such as first in, first out, help the government. These came into play in the 2017 forfeiture against Prevezon Holdings assets involved in the Russian tax fraud scheme.The Practical A forfeitures success depends on several factors. First, the government needs to identify the property. That could prove difficult, considering the oligarchs are known to mask their ownership by titling assets in the names of family members, associates, and offshore companies. But governments may already have a good idea of where the assets are. The U.K. estimates seven oligarchs own about $19.5 billion worth of assets there. It is also no secret, for example, that Oleg Deripaska is linked to real properties in the U.S. Two were raided by the FBI in October 2021 in relation to an unspecified criminal investigation. And shortly after Russias invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. government unsealed indictments involving Russia-related activityfor failure to register as a Russian agent, Crimea-related sanctions violations, and on March 14, illegal campaign contributions by an oligarch. All were based on investigations that were underway for years. So, too, the government may be able to pull the trigger quickly on forfeitures, especially with the new KleptoCapture and Russian elites, proxies, and oligarchs (REPO) task forces.Once civil forfeiture is filed, the government needs to prove its case by a preponderance of the evidence. This standard is not as high as in criminal cases, but the government must establish a substantial connection between the assets and the alleged crime. A prime example of this process is the recent forfeiture effort related to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad.In over 40 1MDB actions, art works, real estate, movie proceeds, a jet, a yacht, and money were forfeited, culminating in the recovery of over $1 billion. This was often done with little or no resistance. For example, no one showed up to fight for a Van Gogh drawing or a Claud Monet painting, together worth hundreds of millions. Jho Low, the 1MDB mastermind, and his family relinquished assets worth over $700 million. This happens because criminal actors are reluctant to enter a U.S. court over property, no matter how valuable, and expose themselves to U.S. jurisdiction, broad di

news.bloomberglaw.com

How long was the privatization period?

The privatization period in Russia, which involved the large-scale privatization of state-owned assets, particularly in the industrial, energy, and financial sectors, took place primarily in the early and mid-1990s under the presidency of Boris Yeltsin. This period marked a significant shift from state ownership to private ownership of enterprises and property, which had essentially been illegal throughout the Soviet era. The transition facilitated the transfer of significant wealth to a relatively small group of business oligarchs and New Russians, particularly executives in the natural gas and oil sectors.

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columbia.edu

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Russians protest the economic depression caused by the reforms with the banner saying: "Jail the redhead!", 1998. Privatization in Russia describes the series of post-Soviet reforms that resulted in large-scale privatization of Russia's state-owned assets, particularly in the industrial, energy, and financial sectors. Most privatization took place in the early and mid-1990s under Boris Yeltsin, who assumed the presidency following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Private ownership of enterprises and property had essentially remained illegal throughout the Soviet era, with Soviet Communism emphasizing national control over all means of production but human labor.[1] Under the Soviet Union, the number of state enterprises was estimated at 45,000.[2] Privatization facilitated the transfer of significant wealth to a relatively small group of business oligarchs and New Russians, particularly natural gas and oil executives.[3] This economic transition has been described as katastroika,[4] which is a combination of catastrophe and the term perestroika, and as "the most cataclysmic peacetime economic collapse of an industrial country in history".[5] A few strategic assets, including much of the Russian defense industry, were not privatized during the 1990s. The mass privatization of this era remains a highly contentious issue in Russian society, with many Russians calling for revision or reversal of the reforms.[6] Privatization during the Soviet Union[edit] In the late 1980s, as part of the perestroika reformation movement, legislation championed by Mikhail Gorbachevwho pledged to build a "mixed socialist economy"[7]effectively transferred some controlling rights over enterprises from the government to the employees and management. In 1987, over the opposition of some of his allies,[8] Gorbachev succeeded in passing a "law on state enterprise" through the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, which granted work collectives a greater role in running enterprises.[9] In 1988, the Law on Cooperatives legitimized "socialist cooperatives," which functionally operated as private companies and were permitted to directly deal with foreign companies, and reduced reliance on central planning.[10] Later that year, private Soviet farmers were permitted to rent land from the state, purchase equipment, and hire workers, a significant step away from mandated collective farming following decades of dominance by state-owned agricultural concerns. The new regulations were seen as an effort to break state farms into smaller units and address critical food shortages in the Soviet Union.[7] The legislation also enabled these enterprises to withdraw from associations on their own, which led to the process of so-called spontaneous privatization in which control over some industrial assets was acquired by their managers. However, this accounted for only several thousand enterprises, a small fraction of the Soviet industry.[citation needed] In September 1990, the Soviet parliament granted Gorbachev emergency privatization powers, including the authority to transform state enterprises into joint-stock companies with shares offered on stock exchanges.[11] One of the largest privatization efforts during the Soviet era was the transformation of the Ministry of Fuel and Energy into a joint stock company known as Rosneftgaz in September 1991. In the months before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991, soon-to-be president Boris Yeltsin began assembling a team of economic reformers led by Yegor Gaidar, then a young reformist economist, and including Anatoly Chubais. The reform team initially considered Swedish social democracy as a model for Russia, but Gaidar opted instead to study Hungary as a template and was influenced by Poland's use of shock therapy. Both Gaidar and Chubais were convinced that despite Russia's uniquely non-capitalist economic history, a market economy could successfully take hold in the c

en.wikipedia.org

Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin at Putin's inauguration in 2000. Itar-Tass Pool/EPA. The 1990s are remembered as a chaotic and turbulent period in Russian history. After the Soviet Union broke apart at the end of 1991, many thought capitalism and democracy would flood into Russia. However, despite efforts to bring liberalism to the country, present-day Russia is marked by an authoritarian leader, thriving organized crime, massive economic inequality, and a remarkable contempt for the West, most recently demonstrated by the invasion of Ukraine. How is it possible that Russia in 1992, full of opportunity and hope, became the Russia we know in 2022? The answer lies in the privatization process used by the Russian government (and advocated for by the American advisors who helped them). Overall, the Russian government failed to implement protections, regulations, and a capitalist culture before attempting to privatize, leading to a chaotic and dangerous situation that allowed for crony capitalism and the rise of Vladimir Putin. The first misstep of the newly constituted Russian Federation was the decision to transition to a market economy without the necessary institutional foundation. When the USSR dissolved, the economic infrastructure of Russia went with it. Consequently, there were no regulations or protections for new private businesses. Without protection, citizens lacked incentives to invest because there was no guarantee a business would be protected from the rising presence of the Russian mafia or government corruption. Similarly, Russia lacked the necessary culture for a market economy to function. Although many of the American advisors believed an inner capitalist, or economic man, would emerge, this belief was unfounded. Market economies, just like planned economies, are learned by the citizens and are not an inherent part of human nature. Because the Russian economy functioned as a planned economy for seventy years, and only had a brief interlude of capitalism after the abolishment of feudalism in 1876, Russian citizens lacked an accepted code of business behavior, or a capitalist culture. Therefore, the development of capitalism and privatization in Russia was inhibited by mass confusion, illegal dealings, and a lack of faith and confidence. Without these economic institutions or capitalist culture, the privatization process was chaotic and lead to massive inequality. In an attempt to mitigate this, the Russian government first decided to pursue a process called shock therapy, a series of rapid reforms aimed at economic liberalization, stabilization, and privatization to open the economy to international trade and investment. Those advising the Russian government at the time thought this was the only feasible solution in the face of a deepening economic crisis. However, the resulting period of hyperinflation decimated the Russian economy and depleted the savings of ordinary Russians. Following the failed shock therapy experiment, the government used a voucher system to transfer the state-owned assets to private hands. In 1992, 98% of Russian citizens received a paper voucher representing their share of the Soviet economy. However, the lack of economic institutions and capitalist culture meant these vouchers were viewed as worthless by many Russian citizens. This allowed a handful of citizens to amass thousands of vouchers, either taking the ones being given away for free or buying them at a nominal cost. Their accumulation of vouchers privileged well-placed Russians when the government began to auction off shares of state-owned industries. Additionally, these auctions were ostensibly open to the public, however, in reality they were largely underpublicized and often took place in remote areas. This allowed those who had amassed thousands of vouchers to collude and buy state-owned assets at low prices, thus further enshrining their status in the Russian economy and becoming what we know today as the original Russian

americansecurityproject.org

I noticed Vivek Ramaswamy always makes the same arguments Russian propaganda makes. But does Vivek have any dealings or ties with Russia, if so who are those entities with which he has the Russian ties?

According to the provided information, Vivek Ramaswamy has a position on foreign policy that includes a proposal relating to the conflict, which some critics have deemed as potentially aligning with Russian interests. There is no explicit information indicating dealings or ties between Vivek Ramaswamy and Russian entities. However, the specific entities or individuals with whom he may have ties to Russia have not been mentioned in the excerpt provided.

Given the context of his comments and proposed foreign policy positions, further investigation and reliable sourcing would necessary to conclusively ascertain any potential connections or dealings he might have Russian entities. It's essential to rely on verified information when evaluating such claims.

ATLANTA (AP) A political novice and one of the worlds wealthiest millennials, Vivek Ramaswamy has waged a whirlwind presidential campaign mirroring his meteoric rise as a biotech entrepreneur. On everything from deporting people born in the United States to ending aid to Israel and Ukraine, he consistently displays the bravado of a populist, self-declared outsider.I stand on the side of revolution, he declares. Thats what Im going to lead in a way that no establishment politician can.In business and politics, though, Ramaswamy has run into skeptics and sometimes hard facts that threatened to derail his ambitions. In the 2024 campaign, the Israel-Hamas war has refocused the Republican primary on foreign policy and exposed just how much Ramaswamys self-declared revolutionary approach puts him at odds with the partys most powerful figures and many of its voters. At Wednesdays primary debate, Ramaswamy joined the rest of the field in supporting Israels offensive but returned to his practice of not just critiquing his opponents but mocking them. Ramaswamy skewered Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who some online sleuths suggest wears lifts in his boots, by asking, Do you want Dick Cheney in three-inch heels? The performance drew eye rolls and derision on stage. When Ramaswamy implied Haley was being hypocritical in criticizing the social media platform TikTok because her daughter has previously used it, the 51-year-old mother of two called him scum. Ramaswamy, an Ohio native who also lives there, has wowed many audiences with his rapid-fire, wide-ranging discourse. Yet even some Republican voters who come away impressed are not backing him. Hes among a group of candidates who trail former President Donald Trump and generally fall behind DeSantis in national surveys, polling in the mid to high single digits. Ann Trimble Ray, a Republican activist from Early, Iowa, suggested Ramaswamy exposes his naivete in part with what hes said about Israel, but also his inexperience. Unless youve had the experience of someone who has had exposure to the briefings, what you communicate is a whole lot of conjecture, said Ray, who is leaning toward backing Haley.The 38-year-old son of Indian immigrants has spent his adult life as a sort of boastful savior. In business, that meant building a fortune by hyping a drug that ultimately failed. In politics, it means arguing he can return Trumps America First vision to the White House without the baggage.Ramaswamy set his course at Harvard, a pillar of the American establishment. Ramaswamy majored in biology and participated in the campus Republican club, standing out even there as a libertarian. He drew attention from the campus newspaper for his alter ego, Da Vek, a rapper who performed using libertarian ideology as lyrics. I consider myself a contrarian; I like to argue, Ramaswamy told The Crimson. Harvard introduced Ramaswamy to the hedge-fund class. He interned at Goldman Sachs, the most prestigious Wall Street investment house, then won a job at QVT Financial, founded by another Harvard alumnus, Dan Gold. Ramaswamy led the firms pharmaceutical investments. Ramaswamy launched his own venture in 2014. He named it Roivant the ROI standing for return on investment and had a clear business model in mind: Buy discount patents for drugs languishing in the development phase, then resurrect them. In his first big move, Ramaswamy used a subsidiary, Axovant, and paid GlaxoSmithKline $5 million for RVT-101, a potential Alzheimers drug already put through multiple trials and deemed not promising enough to continue. Ramaswamy rebranded it as intepirdine and, despite the earlier studies, touted it as a game-changer, a best-in-class drug candidate, he told The New York Times during Axovants infancy. He landed on the cover of Forbes magazine.The hype worked. Intepirdine never would.Axovants initial public stock offering in 2015 drew $315 million, the largest-ever biotech IPO

apnews.com

When the Fox News hosts asked the eight Republican presidential candidates on the debate stage last week who would not support continued funding for Ukraine, only Vivek Ramaswamy raised his hand. The 38-year-old entrepreneur and political newcomer has laid out a radical stance on foreign policy, featuring what his critics see as a Putin-friendly proposal to end the Ukraine war. Ramaswamy wants to cede territory taken by Russia in eastern Ukraine in return for Moscow exiting its military alliance with China. He would also block Ukraines candidacy to the Western security alliance NATO and end U.S. sanctions on Russia. Its a position that has found little public support from fellow Republicans, but Americans are growing more tired of financing the war. And the two leading candidates for the GOP nomination, former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have shared Ramaswamys skepticism of U.S. support for Kyiv. Justin Logan, the director of defense and foreign policy studies at the conservative think tank Cato Institute, said Ramaswamy is echoing popular themes presented by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson about the Ukraine war pushing Russians into the arms of the Chinese. I would suspect that you would see a continued erosion of Republican support for funding Ukraine, Logan said. And then independents, who are not as partisan on the issue one way or the other, kind of calling balls and strikes, [asking if this is] good money. Logan, however, said ceding territory is a little bit less popular than these more abstract ideas of breaking apart Sino-Russian alliances. Recent polling has shown that Americans are about evenly split on whether to continue sending Ukraine money, as some Republicans argue that tax dollars should be focused on domestic issues like disaster responses. Meena Bose, the chairwoman of presidential studies at Hofstra University, said Ramaswamy is speaking to Americans frustrated with conditions at home and delivering them a very simplistic foreign policy message. But extended scrutiny could break apart his policy platform, she said. Its not clear that this will hold up, Bose said. This will be a topic that Ramaswamy will be pressed on in a lot more detail. Hes already come under fire. On the debate stage last week in Milwaukee, Wis., Ramaswamys foreign policy stances came under attack from former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Vice President Mike Pence. Haley called out Ramaswamys lack of foreign policy experience, saying his refusal to back Ukraine was playing into the hands of the murderer Russian President Vladimir Putin. He wants to hand Ukraine to Russia, Haley said. You dont do that to friends Ukraine is a front line of defense. Putin has said once Russia takes Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics are next. Thats a world war. We are trying to prevent war. Ramaswamy said the U.S. should refocus military strength at the U.S.-Mexico border. I think this is disastrous, Ramaswamy said of Ukraine support, that we are protecting against an invasion across somebody elses border when we should use those same military resources to prevent the invasion of our own southern border. Ramaswamy said in an email to The Hill that ceasing Russias growing military alliance with China should be the foremost priority after Moscow and Beijing signed a treaty in 2001 to establish closer relations and cemented the bond in 2022. The Sino-Russia alliance presents the greatest military risk the U.S. has ever faced. Russia and China together outmatch the U.S. in every area of great power competition, Ramaswamy said in the statement. But in absence of Russias support, China would have to think twice before risking war with the U.S. over Taiwan. As part of the deal, Russia would permanently suspend all military-technical cooperation and joint military exercises with China, unpause a major nuclear pact with the U.S. and pull back its nuclear weapons abroad, Ramaswamy said. Along with

thehill.com

The breakout star of the GOP primary is peddling wishful thinking.Danny Wilcox Frazier for The AtlanticVivek Ramaswamy, the 38-year-old entrepreneur running for the Republican presidential nomination, has initiated a war against what he views as an outdated, establishment foreign policy. He is deeply skeptical of NATO. He wants to swiftly end the war in Ukraine, detach Russia from China, and compel Taiwan to defend itself without America. He also proposed reducing American financial aid to Israel, a stance long considered politically impossible on the right, before saying he would do so only with Israels approval. This week, Ramaswamy attempted to justify such stands with an essay in The American Conservative called A Viable Realism and Revival Doctrine.Invoking Presidents George Washington, James Monroe, and Richard Nixonwhom Ramaswamy has called the most underappreciated president of our modern history in this country, probably in all of American historythe article appears to be an effort to lend coherence and gravitas to Ramaswamys worldview. It also seems to be an attempt to counter the attack by former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley that he has no foreign policy experience, and it shows. In the article, Ramaswamy promises to restore American national pride and identity after decades of feckless liberal internationalist and neoconservative policies. We will be Uncle Sucker no more, he writes.David A. Graham: Ramaswamy and the restIt would be foolish to underestimate Ramaswamy, who has vaulted past many of his detractors to become a breakout star in the GOP primary. And at a moment when Republican support for the war in Ukraine is plummeting, his call for retrenchment, much like Donald Trumps denunciation of the Iraq War in 2016, is perfectly pitched to appeal to the partys nationalist wing. But just how realistic and viable is his vision?The truth is that Ramaswamy is slapping the realist brand onto a hodgepodge of policy proposals that are divorced from reality. Realism is about a number of thingsthe balance of power, national interests, spheres of influencebut one thing it is not about is wishful thinking. Yet that is what Ramaswamy is peddling. His vision is no less dogmatic than the neoconservatism he professes to despise, substituting the belief that America should intervene everywhere with the conviction that it shouldnt intervene anywhere. And his proposals almost seem calculated to injure, not promote, American interests.Like more than a few Republicans these days, Ramaswamy is obsessed with China, which he depicts as the locus of evil in the world, and cavalier about Russia, which stands accused of perpetrating war crimes in the heart of Europe. He does not explain how Chinas current troublesa faltering economy, an aging population, grave environmental problemscan be reconciled with his portrait of a totalitarian power about to turn a new generation of Americans, as he averred in a speech at the Nixon library, into a bunch of Chinese serfs.Read: Vivek Ramaswamys truthRamaswamys demagoguery about China is reminiscent of the apprehensions voiced by American conservatives after World War II, when the GOP contained an Asia First wing, led by Senator Robert A. Taft and others who disparaged American aid to Europe and claimed, improbably, that American military supplies to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek would allow him to easily topple the communist dictatorship on the mainland. Ramaswamy seems to want to avert a conflict with Beijing, but his truculent calls for confronting China would render a fresh world war more, not less, probable.In his American Conservative essay, Ramaswamy lauds Nixon as the president whose foreign policy he most admires. He got us out of Vietnam, Ramaswamy writes. Not exactly. As president, Nixon embarked upon the policy of Vietnamization to reduce American troops, but he needlessly expanded the war with a secret bombing campaign against Cambodia, where the Khmer Rouge, led by the genocid

theatlantic.com

I want to look at all the evidence for and against whether Trump is working for Russian interest.

The information provided highlights several actions and statements made by President Trump that have raised questions about his stance on Russian interests. Some arguments suggesting a potential connection between President Trump and Russian interests include the United States' withdrawal from international agreements such as climate and nuclear arms, antagonizing international allies, and undermining democratic norms and institutions. Additionally, there are references to President Trump's public statements, including a call for Russia to find missing emails, coinciding with Russian hackers' activities during the 2016 election.

On the other hand, it's important to approach such claims with critical analysis and to consider the complexity of geopolitical relationships. While the provided information raises concern, it's essential to thoroughly evaluate and verify each piece of evidence to draw comprehensive and balanced conclusions.

In assessing the evidence, it's crucial to consider multiple viewpoints, conduct thorough fact-checking, and ensure the use of credible sources. Understanding the broader context and the interplay of various geopolitical factors is also essential when evaluating claims of potential alignment with Russian interests.

Ultimately, comprehensive and well-informed conclusions regarding President Trump's stance on Russian interests require careful consideration of the intricate details and a balanced assessment of the available evidence.

Under President Trump, the United States has abandoned international climate and nuclear arms agreements. It has announced its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, questioned the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and antagonized stalwart allies like Germany.Americas past presidents have long promoted democracy, human rights and the rule of law abroad, yet Trump instead has waged an assault on those values at home, where he has weakened institutions, shredded norms and declared without evidence that the upcoming election will be rigged.Americas moral authority also has been undercut by the devastatingly high death toll and wrenching economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, coupled with the racial reckoning that has convulsed the country.These highlights from Trumps nearly four years in office read like Vladimir Putins wish list. Few countries have benefited more geopolitically from Trumps time in office than Russia.In his two decades as Russias autocratic leader, Putin has systematically sought to grow his nations influence at Americas expense by breaking up its long-standing alliance structure and discrediting its democratic institutions and values.Over the past four years, Putin has succeeded to a remarkable degree, aided by the credibility and support on the world stage that Trump has given him, according to national security and foreign policy experts, some of them Trumps most strident critics.The more dysfunctional, polarized and erratic the United States seems at home, the more beset by domestic problems, the more ineffective in demonstrating leadership and dealing with them, especially during the pandemic, the better that is for Russia because they benefit from a world in which the United States is seen as unreliable and unpredictable, said William J. Burns, a former deputy secretary of state and U.S. ambassador to Russia under George W. Bush who now leads the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin echoed each other and reiterated falsehoods in a news conference following their meeting on July 16, 2018. (Video: Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)Trump argues that he has been tough on Russia. He cites a series of economic sanctions leveled on the country, including those imposed in response to its 2018 poisoning of former Russian military officer and double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, with a chemical nerve agent in Salisbury, England.After the Salisbury attack, the United States also expelled 60 Russian intelligence officers and forced the closure of Russias consulates in San Francisco and Seattle, as well as other facilities. Separately, the administration has provided lethal aid to Ukraine in its battle against occupying Russian forces.There has been nobody tougher on Russia than Donald Trump, Trump said in Thursday nights debate with Democratic nominee Joe Biden. He argued that his years-long effort to strong-arm NATO allies into increasing their defense spending allocations had helped fortify the guard against Russia.But the administrations aggressive measures have met with stiff resistance from the president, who has had to be cajoled and prodded into supporting policies that enjoy strong bipartisan support, according to intelligence officials and his own public statements.John Ullyot, a spokesman for Trumps National Security Council, argued in a statement, While President Trump strives for good relations with all nations, no president since Ronald Reagan has shown as much resolve toward Moscow.He added, President Trump knows that peace comes through strength and we seek another path with Russia one in which Russia refrains from aggression abroad and becomes a friendly partner to the United States and Europe. For example, Ullyot said, the administration was cautiously optimistic about reaching an agreement with Russia and China on an arms-control framework to limit nuclear weapons.An array of national security expe

washingtonpost.com

Strikingly, the July indictment showed that Russian hackers first attempt to infiltrate the computer servers in Clintons personal offices had taken place on July 27, 2016, the same day that Trump had declared, Russia, if youre listening, I hope youre able to find the thirty thousand e-mails that are missing, adding, I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.Another revelation from the indictment which jumped out at Jamieson was that the Russian hackers had stolen the Clinton campaigns data analytics and voter-turnout models. A month later, when we met in Philadelphia, Jamieson said, So were starting to close in on a pretty strong inference that they had everything needed to target the messaging at key constituencies that did effectively mobilize in this election. Cocking an eyebrow, she added, The possibility that this happened starts to become a probabilitystarts to become a likelihoodpretty quickly.Joel Benenson, the Clinton pollster, was stunned when he learned, from the July indictment, that the Russians had stolen his campaigns internal modelling. I saw it and said, Holy shit! he told me. Among the proprietary information that the Russian hackers could have obtained, he said, was campaign data showing that, late in the summer of 2016, in battleground states such as Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, an unusually high proportion of residents whose demographic and voting profiles identified them as likely Democrats were Hillary defectors: people so unhappy with Clinton that they were considering voting for a third-party candidate. The Clinton campaign had a plan for winning back these voters. Benenson explained that any Clinton opponent who stole this data would surely have realized that the best way to counter the plan was to bombard those voters with negative information about Clinton. All they need to do is keep that person where they are, he said, which is far easier than persuading a voter to switch candidates. Many critics have accused Clinton of taking Michigan and Wisconsin for granted and spending virtually no time there. But Benenson said that, if a covert social-media campaign targeting Hillary defectors was indeed launched in battleground states, it might well have changed the outcome of the election.Benenson said, We lost Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsinthree states of our Blue Wallby about eighty thousand votes. Six hundred and sixty thousand votes were cast in those three states for third-party candidates. Winning those three states would have got us to two hundred and seventy-eight electoral votes. In other words, if only twelve per cent of those third-party voters were persuaded by Russian propagandabased on hacked Clinton-campaign analyticsnot to vote for Clinton, then Jamiesons theory could be valid.Benenson said that, when he first learned about the theft, he called another consultant on the campaign and said, This is unreal. The consultant reminded him that, in focus groups with undecided voters in the fall of 2016, wed hear these things like I really hate Trump, but Hillarys going to murder all these peopleall sorts of crazy stuff. Benenson admitted that many Americans had long disliked the Clintons, and had for years spread exaggerated rumors of their alleged misdeeds and deceptions. But he wonders if some of those conspiracy-minded voters hadnt been unknowingly influenced by Russian propagandists who were marshalling the Clinton campaigns own analytics.Philip Howard, the director of the Oxford Internet Institute, in England, agrees that the Russian interference could have been decisive, but he is less convinced that the stolen analytics were key. He told me, Its plausible, but the Russians wouldnt have needed the Clinton campaignthey could just as easily have targeted the network of Bernie Sanders supporters.Did we make mistakes? Benenson asked, about the Clinton campaigns performance. Sure. But, he said, he believes that Russian interference in the 2016 election was the bigges

newyorker.com

As Jack Smith, a special counsel for the Justice Department, closes in on the end of an investigation into former President Donald Trumps possession of hundreds of classified documents, his team has made use of the work of another special counsel who previously investigated Trumps ties to Russia, according to a person familiar with the investigation. A lengthy section of the Mueller Report, which examined ties between Russia and Trumps 2016 presidential campaign, has been instructive to the current inquirys prosecutors, who are viewing Trumps actions around federal requests to return the classified documents as part of a broader pattern, the person said. Robert Mueller, a former director of the FBI, released his highly anticipated report in April 2019, shortly after then-Attorney General William Barr released a short summary of the report that was viewed by many in hindsight as downplaying the reports findings. More from TIME Prosecutors have looked closely at Section II of the Mueller report, titled Factual Results of the Obstruction Investigation. That 142-page section goes into vivid detail, with extensive footnotes and copies of emails and text messages, about Trump taking steps to thwart the work of federal prosecutors investigating Russias effort to influence the 2016 election. That part of the report details how Trump tried to get the FBI to drop its investigation of Michael Flynn, Trumps first national security advisor, for lying to FBI agents about meetings he had with Russias Ambassador to the U.S. weeks before Trump took office. Flynn eventually pled guilty to lying to the bureau and was later pardoned by Trump. The section also showed Trump deciding to fire his first FBI director, James Comey, who was overseeing the investigation into the campaigns ties to Russia, because Comey would not say publicly that Trump himself wasnt under investigation. But Trump instructed his press office to falsely tell reporters that it was senior leaders at the Department of Justice who had first recommended Comey be fired. The report also detailed Trumps efforts to fire Mueller as special counsel after press reports showed that Mueller was investigating whether Trump obstructed the investigation. And it illustrated how Trump responded in June 2017 when he learned about an email from his 2016 campaign setting up a meeting for Trumps son Don Jr. with Russians. Those Russian nationals were claiming to offer negative details about Hillary Clinton as part of Russia and its governments support for Mr. Trump, according to an email to Don Jr. As he flew aboard Air Force One back to Washington from a summit in Germany, Trump dictated a statement to his aide Hope Hicks to be attributed to Don Jr. saying that the meeting was about Russias policy toward Americans adopting Russian children. It is unclear if the special counsels office has decided to use any material from Muellers investigation in building their case. There are limits to how prosecutors can use evidence from prior investigations. Called 404(b) evidence, information from a previous criminal investigation can be used to show a targets motive, intent or that an action wasnt a mistake or accident. But, under the Federal Rules of Evidence, prosecutors cannot submit evidence from previous bad actions in order to show that a person acted consistent with certain character traits. The Mueller investigation would be helpful for prosecutors in learning how to deal with Trump, said a former federal prosecutor who worked on a similar case, and requested anonymity to speak more freely. But using evidence from the Mueller investigation or pointing out sections of the Mueller Report to grand jurors could be an unnecessary tangent, given how heated the political debate around Muellers investigation became. Any association with Mueller is not going to be helpful for Jack Smith, the former prosecutor said. Even before the Mueller report was released, Trumps allies pointed to Barrs summary of it to

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