Posted on 11/01/2016 11:23:38 PM PDT by Mr. Mojo
Top Hillary Clinton campaign officials were warned last summer that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would make contributions to the campaign through American proxies to gain favor, but chose to take money from one of the people they were warned about nonetheless.
The warning came last August in an email to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. Michael Werz, an expert on Turkey who used to work for Podesta’s Center for American Progress, told Podesta that the “Erdogan faction” was making investments in Democratic candidates such as Clinton.
“Am told that the Erdogan crew also tries to make inroads via donations to Democratic candidates, including yours,” Werz told Podesta. “Two names that you should be aware of are Mehmet Celebi and Ali Cinar.”
Werz, who did not respond to a request for comment, wrote that the “Erdogan faction is making substantial investments in U.S. to counter opposition (CHP, Kurds, Gülenists etc.) outreach to policymakers and USG.”
Podesta forwarded the email to Dennis Cheng, who runs the campaign’s fundraising operation.
The email was posted online by Wikileaks. The U.S. director of national intelligence and the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security have accused “Russia’s senior-most officials” of hacking and leaking the emails to influence the 2016 election.
Ali Cinar, one of the men Werz warned about, had already given Clinton $2,700 three months earlier in May. This year, Cinar gave an additional $2,000 to Clinton this August and $500 more in September.
Cinar has also given $1,080 to the Democratic National Committee this cycle.
The Clinton campaign would not answer questions on the donations from Cinar.
Cinar is currently president of the Turkish Heritage Organization, a recognized non-profit based in the United States that was recently probed by the FBI after hacked emails from the Erdogan administration revealed that the group was lobbying on behalf of the Turkish presidency in the United States.
Steven Cook, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, questioned whether the work done by the group should threaten its non-profit status.
“Hacked emails demonstrate that the Turkish Heritage Organization is working on behalf of the Turkish presidency,” Cook wrote. “Isn’t that a violation of its 501(c)3 status?”
The hacked emails showed that Erdogan’s son-in-law, who is also Turkey’s energy minister, was in direct contact with the Turkish Heritage Organization over its political work in the United States. The group’s former president, Halil Danizmaz, resigned in the wake of the FBI investigation, giving way for Cinar to take over as the official president.
Cinar has managed to make headway in the Democratic Party. He was given a top post on the National Democratic Ethnic Coordinating Council, which was created to foster support within ethnic communities.
Dr. Aykan Erdemir, a former member of the Turkish Parliament who is now a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Erdogan’s effort to gain influence through the Turkish Heritage Organization and Cinar goes back to his 2013 rift with Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish religious leader who lives in the United States.
“Gülen and Erdogan had a very good relationship until December 2013—they used to be working together and hence Erdogan didn’t need much help lobbying because Gülen’s reach was very strong in the United States,” Erdemir explained. “After the fallout between the two, Erdogan tried to replace the Gülen network with an alternative network.”
“That is when the Turkish Heritage Organization came forth,” Erdemir said.
Erdogan has blamed Gülen for orchestrating the unsuccessful coup attempt earlier this year and has called for the United States to turn him over to Turkey.
Last month Erdogan referred to Clinton as a “political novice.”
Email records show that Clinton maintained a relationship with Gülen-aligned forces while she was secretary of state. The Gülen network has also flooded money into both Clinton political operations and the Clinton Foundation.
Erdemir said “the Democratic Party itself has become the battleground for Erdogan-Gülen battles.”
“Erdogan, through people like Ali Cinar within the DNC, is lobbying in the United States,” Erdemir said. “Ali Cinar is also working with the Democratic Party. His efforts there are an attempt on the Turkish side to prevent pro-Gülen Turkish-American activity there.”
Attempts to reach Cinar through the Turkish Heritage Organization were unsuccessful. His Twitter account has recently been deleted, perhaps due to “self-incriminating” comments that could influence the FBI probe, Erdemir said.
Head's up to start figuring what the price should be..............
She has not been elected, she will likely NOT be elected and yet she’s already got the most corrupted executive administration in American history.
Silly, they weren’t warned. They were given a hot tip.
This warning reads like “The Russians” and the “Tsarnov Brothers”...
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