Posted on 07/08/2017 5:13:49 PM PDT by SkyPilot
Ms. Veselnitskaya was also deeply involved in the making of an anti-Magnitsky film that premiered just weeks before the Trump Tower meeting. Titled “The Magnitsky Act — Behind the Scenes,” the film echoes the Kremlin line that the widely accepted version of Mr. Magnitsky’s life and death is wrong. The film claims that he was not assaulted and alleges that he never testified that government officials conspired to steal $230 million in fraudulent tax rebates.
In the film’s telling, the true culprit of the fraud was William F. Browder, an American-born financier who hired Mr. Magnitsky to investigate the fraud after he had three of his investment funds companies in Russia seized. On RussiaTV5, a station whose owners are known to be close to Mr. Putin, Ms. Veselnitskaya was lauded as “one of those who gave the film crew the real proofs and records of testimony.”
Mr. Browder, who stopped the screening of the film in Europe by threatening libel suits, called the film a state-sponsored smear campaign.
“She’s not just some private lawyer,” Mr. Browder said of Ms. Veselnitskaya. “She is a tool of the Russian government.”
EXCLUSIVE: Russian TV: Bill Browder is CIA agent, recruited Navalny. Browder furious! Navalny sues!
Bill Browder, born into a notable Jewish family in Chicago, is the grandson of Earl Browder, the former leader of the Communist Party USA,[2] and the son of Eva (Tislowitz) and Felix Browder, a mathematician. . .
Bill Browder and Edmond Safra founded Hermitage Capital Management in 1996 for the purpose of investing initial seed capital of $25 million in Russia. The business was very successful, profiting from the wave of privatizations occurring in Russia at that time, and increased its investor base substantially. Following the Russian financial crisis of 1998 Browder remained committed to Hermitage's original mission of investing in Russia, despite significant outflows from the fund. Hermitage became a prominent activist shareholder in the Russian gas giant Gazprom, the large oil company Surgutneftegaz, RAO UES, Sberbank, Sidanco, Avisma and Volzhanka. In 1995-2006 Hermitage Capital Management was one of the biggest foreign investors in Russia[9] and Browder has amassed a significant fortune through his management of the fund. For example, in 2006 he earned an estimated £125-150 million.[10] In 2007 he earned a further £125-£150 million.[11] In March 2013, HSBC, a bank that serves as the trustee and manager of Hermitage Capital Management, announced that it would be ceasing the fund's operations in Russia. The decision was taken amid a libel court case in London and a trial in absentia for tax evasion in Moscow, both against Browder. . . .
In 2006, after ten years doing business in the country, he was blacklisted by the Russian government as a "threat to national security" and denied entry to the country. The Economist wrote that the Russian government blacklisted Browder because he interfered with the flow of money to "corrupt bureaucrats and their businessmen accomplices". Browder had been a supporter of Russian president Vladimir Putin before, though. . .
In February 2013, Russian officials announced that Browder and Magnitsky would both be put on trial for evading $16.8 million in taxes. Furthermore, as announced in March 2013, Russian authorities will be investigating Hermitage's acquisition of Gazprom shares worth $70 million. The investigation will be focusing on whether Browder violated any Russian laws when Hermitage used Russian companies registered in the region of Kalmykia to buy shares. (An investigation by the Council of Europe's Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights cleared Browder of the accusations of improprieties that surfaced at this time.)[16] At the time, according to the Russian law, foreigners were barred from directly owning Gazprom shares. Browder has also been charged with trying to gain access to Gazprom's financial reports.[17] Browder admitted having sought influence in Gazprom but denied any wrongdoing;[18] in his view, purchasing Gazprom shares was an investment in the Russian economy, while the desire to influence the Gazprom management was driven by the need to expose a "huge fraud going on at the company", and the scheme with Russian-registered subsidiaries entitled to tax advantages was practised by other foreign investors at the time and was not illegal.[19] He also said that he believed the trial was in response to the United States passing the Magnitsky Act, which had blacklisted Russian officials involved in Magnitsky's death from entering the U.S. . .
Magnitsky Act - Wikipedia
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This documentary caused an uproar in Russia when it appeared in April of 2016.
This film was made by the main Russian government news broadcasting company, Rossiya 1.
It alleges that Bill Browder, the legendary American hedge fund manager who from 1995 - 2005 was the largest foreign investor in Russia, controlling billions of $ and a significant share of Russia’s leading companies, was in fact a CIA front.
At one point his funds owned 7% of Gazprom, using what the film argues were illegal schemes to acquire shares
The film argues that Browder’s whole involvement with Russia was a CIA operation to disrupt Russia politically and economically
It alleges that in 2006, Browder was instructed by the CIA to provide financial support to the rising opposition politician, Alexei Navalny, and that the two then closely cooperated for the next 5 years.
As evidence, the film cites hacked CIA email and skype correspondence which it claims fell into Russian hands during the government upheaval in Kiev in 2014.
When the film appeared, Browder and Navalny charged that the evidence was faked, and Navalny sued Rossiya 1 for libel. As of the translation of this video, (July 2016), the suit has not been concluded.
Browder was expelled from Russia in 2006, after which he led a highly successful public campaign criticizing Russia and Putin. The film argues that the campaign was financed by the CIA.
The campaign demanded sanctions against Russia for what Browder alleged was the murder of one of his employees, Sergei Magnitsky, and theft from his companies, by corrupt Russian officials.
His campaign resulted in the famous “Magnitsky Act” sanctions against Russia, passed by Congress in 2012.
The film alleges that this cynically misrepresents the facts. It alleges that Magnitsky ended up in jail for carrying out major fraud for Browder, and that he was on the verge of testifying against Browder when he died. It cites the hacked CIA mail as evidence that the CIA managed to orchestrate Magnitsky’s death in prison.
The film argues that the only people with a motive for Magnitsky’s death were Browder and the CIA, because his testimony about the tax fraud would have been devastating.
The film includes embarrassing details of tax avoidance schemes used by Browder and Magnitsky, including hiring barely literate invalids in remote corners of Russia as fake executives in order to receive tax breaks amounting to 100s of millions of $.
The film then alleges, again citing the hacked CIA correspondence, that in 2010 Browder paid Navalny $300,000 to conduct a PR campaign in Russia in support of the Magnitsky Act.
This documentary was never aired separately, rather appeared as a segment within the April 13, 2016 episode of the popular Russian political talk show “Spetsialnii Korrespondent” https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAkt...
The episode consisted of an emotional 1.5 hour discussion of the film, with several people who appeared in the film present https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37GZ3... (only in Russian)
Of the 10-plus guests, all but one, an American journalist, argued heatedly that Browder had clearly committed gross financial crimes and agreed with the film.
The comment leading into the beginning of the film is typical of the tone of the talk show, where the Deputy Chairman of Russia’s parliament compares Browder to an “intestinal tapeworm”.
At the conclusion of the film, the talk show guests discussed the film for a further 1.5 hours. About half of the guests were also featured in the film, and they were able to go into much more detail about their knowledge of the Browder case.
The discussion became very emotional, with some guests shouting about what they alleged are Browder’s crimes.
That debate has taken center stage in recent weeks because of Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea and its role in stirring up unrest in eastern Ukraine. But this time the Obama administration is heralding the benefits of freezing the assets of people close to Russian President Vladimir Putin as a way of pressuring him to de-escalate the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. So far, the U.S. has sanctioned 45 people and 19 entities, including four banks.
But in 2010, when Maryland Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin introduced the bill that Browder championed, the Obama administration balked. . .
Browder wanted the U.S. to go after the Russian officials responsible for Magnitsky’s death, but his timing was terrible. The bill began gaining steam in 2011, just as the administration was focused on normalizing trade relations with Russia ahead of its scheduled entrance into the World Trade Organization the following year. Officials from the State Department, Treasury Department, and President Barack Obama’s National Security Council fanned out across Capitol Hill to lobby against the bill and argue that the administration already had enough power to impose sanctions on Russia.
"The administration, starting with Hillary Clinton and then John Kerry, did everything they could do to stop the Magnitsky act," Browder said in an interview..
In early 2012, the Magnitsky Act got a surprising boost. The administration wanted to win congressional support for repealing the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, a Soviet-era law that denied Russia normal trade relations with the U.S. If the 1974 law remained on the books, U.S. companies who wanted to sell goods to Russia would face higher tariffs, putting them at a disadvantage to other international companies. Powerful lawmakers signaled they’d only support the repeal if the Magnitsky Act was signed into law. The two provisions were lumped together and approved by the House and the Senate in December 2012. Obama signed them into law almost immediately.
The administration added 18 names, mostly mid-level officials, to the Magnitsky list in April 2013, but supporters of the law want the administration to do more in light of Russia’s actions not only at home, but also in Ukraine. Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) sent a letter to the administration in January asking the State and Treasury departments to "clarify when we can expect additional names to be added to the Magnitsky list.". . .
Thanks for the back ground info.
But how can any of this be used against the Trump campaign?
>>Time for US AG Session to send Podesta and Team Hillary to an federal grand jury.
I for one am wondering about just what Mr. Jeff Sessions is up to these days. Something about him that raises suspicions about his loyalty to the POTUS, but I can’t put my finger on it.
Sue?
Not yet, dig deeper and stop the corruption of the Democrat Party....
Wow...wouldn’t that be something? The GOP and President Trump save the Democrats from themselves.
In order to get the big picture here you have to understand what the NYT is not telling you about some of the players in the background.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Browder
Browder’s Hermitage Capital Management was taking full advantage of “investing” in Russia’s privatization of its economy, which put Hermitage in the company of some very “interesting” people from all over the globe. Browder is from a Chicago family of Jewish decent, and his grandfather was a communist.
From Forbes.com:
More on Bill Browder and Russia.
President Trump’s eldest son briefly gathered others for the meeting, including his brother-in-law Jared Kushner, as well as then-presidential campaign manager Paul Manafort for the meeting at Trump Tower in New York City with the lawyer, identified by Trump family lawyers as Natalia Veselnitskaya. (Step One of Trump Dossier)
The president’s legal team said Saturday they believe the entire meeting may have been part of a larger election-year opposition effort aimed at creating the appearance of improper connections between Trump family members and Russia that also included a now-discredited intelligence dossier produced by a former British intelligence agent named Christopher Steele who worked for a U.S. political firm known as Fusion GPS. (Step Two of the Trump Dossier)
“We have learned from both our own investigation and public reports that the participants in the meeting misrepresented who they were and who they worked for,” Specifically, we have learned that the person who sought the meeting is associated with Fusion GPS, a firm which according to public reports, was retained by Democratic operatives to develop opposition research on the President and which commissioned the phony Steele dossier.said Mark Corallo, a spokesman for President Trump’s legal team. (Step Three of Trump Dossier)
The connection drawn by the president’s lawyers between Veselnitskaya and Fusion GPS comes from a letter this spring by the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Charles Grassley, who disclosed that Fusion GPS also provided litigation support in the Prevezon case.
Prevezon also apparently lobbied against the Magnitsky Act, according to Grassley’s letter.
Prevezon’s lobbying efforts were reportedly commissioned by Mr. Katsyv, who organized them through a Delaware non-profit he formed and through the law firm then representing Prevezon in the asset forfeiture case, Baker Hostetler. Among others, the efforts involved lobbyist Rinat Akhmetshin and Fusion GPS, a political research firm led by Glenn Simpson,”Grassley has asked the Justice Department to look at all the connections and is seeking information from Fusion GPS on whether opponents of Trump funded the creation of a salacious intelligence dossier to hurt his presidential bid. The FBI has said it has been unable to corroborate many of the allegations in the dossier that involved Trump (Step Four of the Trump Dossier)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3567734/posts (Related to this story)
As you can see, Fusion GPS is a firm that the Clinton Foundation has used along with the DNC...John McCain is involved in this situation as he flew to Russia to meet with Christoper Steele, the ‘author’ of the Dossier...
This is how the DNC, RINO’s, Deep State, and most of the RNC and Clinton Foundation work, when I first read this article earlier today, it has the fingerprints of Clinton all over it...
Study these two articles, they are actually ‘hit pieces’ to take President Trump down, and this is Muller’s whole purpose in life is to take Trump out...Stand Ready Patriots!!!
PING!!!
Article and all comments, esp #1, AND #59 thru #72 among others
The president’s legal team said Saturday they believe the entire meeting may have been part of a larger election-year opposition effort aimed at creating the appearance of improper connections between Trump family members and Russia that also included a now-discredited intelligence dossier produced by a former British intelligence agent named Christopher Steele who worked for a U.S. political firm known as Fusion GPS.
Thanks, SkyPilot
REFERENCE---Then-Pres Obama and his minions started developing the “Russian hacked the election” narrative to give them cover for their blatantly illegal spying on the Trump campaign....... Obama spying on Trump started a year earlier. This is the stuff of third-rate banana republics. Susan Rice, and all concerned, including BO, should be in prison right this minute. (hat tip Junk Silver)
============================================
FROM ONE OF THE MANY EXPOSES---Seeking to retain his position as CIA director under Hillary, Obama-era Brennan at the CIA used phony foreign intel as a pretext for a multi-agency investigation into Trump.....that led the FBI to probe a computer server connected to Trump Tower and gave cover to Susan Rice's sifting operations....
Not only Brennan.... "Susan The Sifter" had a dog in this hunt......Hillary tapped her for Secy of State. One could conclude Comey also had his reasons .....to stay on as FBI director.
Mighty powerful incentives for anti-Trump shenanigans.
.......apparently there are records proving that Obama's CIA director, John Brennan, oversaw repeated spying on the phone calls of President Donald Trump and millions of other private American citizens. An audiotape just released by Federal Judge G. Murray Snow is part of a civil case........
REFERENCE---Then-Pres Obama and his minions started developing the “Russian hacked the election” narrative to give them cover for their blatantly illegal spying on the Trump campaign....... Obama spying on Trump started a year earlier. This is the stuff of third-rate banana republics. Susan Rice, and all concerned, including BO, should be in prison right this minute. (hat tip Junk Silver)
============================================
FROM ONE OF THE MANY EXPOSES---Seeking to retain his position as CIA director under Hillary, Obama-era Brennan at the CIA used phony foreign intel as a pretext for a multi-agency investigation into Trump.....that led the FBI to probe a computer server connected to Trump Tower and gave cover to Susan Rice's sifting operations....
Not only Brennan.... "Susan The Sifter" had a dog in this hunt......Hillary tapped her for Secy of State. One could conclude Comey also had his reasons .....to stay on as FBI director.
Mighty powerful incentives for anti-Trump shenanigans.
.......apparently there are records proving that Obama's CIA director, John Brennan, oversaw repeated spying on the phone calls of President Donald Trump and millions of other private American citizens. An audiotape just released by Federal Judge G. Murray Snow is part of a civil case........
Did they all take turns Peeing on a Bed at the Meeting?
Inquiring minds and all that Jazz.
I always order my Nothingburger with a side of Covfefe.
Federal Judge G. Murray Snow is the scumbag who is trying to put Sheriff Joe in jail on clearly trumped up charges.
I think the full story works in Trump’s favor, actually, because it shows Fusion GPS and allied forces in the U.S., British, and Ukranian intelligence communities were colluding with the Clinton campaign to promote a smear against Trump’s campaign. But as for how Trump’s enemies are trying to use the story, they’re trying to spin it as if Donald Trump, Jr. and Manafort were seeking dirt on Clinton from Russia via Natalia Veselnitskaya; this spin ignores the significance of Fusion GPS’ role in the affair—a role the NYT coverage of the story mentions briefly but buries in the fine print without elaborating on its implications.
The president’s legal team said Saturday they believe the entire meeting may have been part of a larger election-year opposition effort aimed at creating the appearance of improper connections between Trump family members
and Russia that also included a now-discredited intelligence dossier produced by a former British intelligence agent named Christopher Steele
who worked for a U.S. political firm known as Fusion GPS."
" “We have learned from both our own investigation and public reports that the participants in the meeting misrepresented who they were and who they worked for,”
said Mark Corallo, a spokesman for President Trump’s legal team." ----------
A PREMEDITATED and PLANNED meeting to create the impression and appearance of improper meeting and connections between trump family member and Russia ..." without the knowledge of then candidate Trump.
..A meeting whose participants misrepresented who they were and who they worked for..."
For Inquiring minds :
Question : Who would have benefited from such a meeting ?
Question : Who had prior meetings with those who misrepresented themselves and for whom they worked for ?
QUESTION : Who would have benefited from the knowledge of such a meeting ?.. and for what purpose ?
Question : Was this "Plan B" (Failsafe) to discredit candidate Trump if he should win the election ?
Question : For those who have been pushing the "Russian Connection" so arduously, when did they learn about the alleged connection, ..and from whom did they learn about it ?
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