Russiagate
- 1980s
- 1990s
- 2000s
- 2010-2012
- 2013-2015
- January- June 2016
- July – August 2016
- September – October 2016
- November-December 2016
- January-February 2017
- March-April 2017
- May – June 2017
- July-December 2017
- 2018
- 2019
- 2020
January 2016
January 19, 2016: “Please feel free to send me whatever you have,” Scavino wrote to Goldstone on Jan. 19. “Thank you so much for looking out for Mr. Trump and his presidential campaign. A few days later, Sidorkov emailed Scavino, Trump Jr. and Donald Trump’s longtime assistant Rhona Graff. “Nice to meet you and your team,” Sidorkov wrote, attaching information about VK and its social media reach.” Washington Post
Butina allegedly contacts Torshin about logistics for the upcoming National Prayer Breakfast. Washington Post
February 2016
February 1, 2016: “The Iowa caucuses are held, marking the official start of the 2016 presidential primary season. Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic caucus, while Donald Trump takes second place in the Republican contest.” The Atlantic
February 4, 2016: “The National Prayer Breakfast is held with Torshin in attendance. He regularly attended the event.”Washington Post
February 14, 2016: “Torshin tweets that Butina is in the United States, where she reports that Trump is “for cooperation with Russia,” according to Mother Jones.”Washington Post
February 17, 2016: “As questions about Russia swirls around Trump, he changes his story” Bill Moyers “At a rally in South Carolina, Trump says of Putin, “I have no relationship with him, other than that he called me a genius.” Mother JonesFebruary 26, 2016:”Sergei Gorkov, an energetic 47-year-old who was deputy chairman of the commercial bank Sberbank, has been trusted with the job of house-cleaning at the debt-ridden VEB. Gorkov has had a varied career. He has a law degree, joined the security services, worked in Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s oil firm Yukos, but then redeemed that black mark on his career by doing valiant service at Sberbank. “This is not the kind of appointment that President Vladimir Putin would have made in his earlier years. Before, Putin’s strategy was one of expansion. The goal was to dislodge members of Boris Yeltsin’s elite, bring governors to heel, win control over major companies, build state corporations, and pump them up with assets and resources. The main qualification for office was loyalty. That was controversial as professionalism was regarded as a lower priority than being “one of us.” Carnegie Moscow Center
February 28, 2016: “Jeff Sessions, then a U.S. senator from Alabama and now the attorney general, formally endorses Trump for president. He becomes a high-profile surrogate during the Republican primaries, and the campaign subsequently names him chair of Trump’s national-security advisory committee on March 3. ” The Atlantic Washington Post
February 29, 2016: “Paul Manafort submits a five-page, single-spaced, proposal to Trump. In it, he outlines his qualifications for helping Trump secure enough convention delegates to win the Republican presidential nomination. Manafort describes how he had assisted rich and powerful business and political leaders, including oligarchs and dictators in Russia and Ukraine: “I have managed presidential campaigns around the world.” [Added April 10, 2017] Bill Moyers
March 2016
March 2. 2016: OPEN LETTER ON DONALD TRUMP FROM GOP NATIONAL SECURITY LEADERS signed by 122 GOP National Security Community “condemning his worldview. In fact, the distance between Trump and the GOP on foreign policy is arguably greater than on any other issue.” What to look for in Trump’s foreign policy speech. Brookings
March 3, 2016: Trump names Sessions chairman of his campaign’s national security advisory committee. [Added March 3, 2017] Washington Post
March 2016:The Washington Post editorial page met with Trump, under pressure, a US official close to the campaign said Trump name Carter Page as a potential National Security Adviser because he had a PhD. Sam Clovis, Campaign Co-Chair gathered names. Campaign denied Trump knew Page prior, but “Page wrote to the House Intelligence committee offering to testify, Page describes more interactions with the campaign…attended events and spent many hours in campaign headquarters on the fifth floor last year”, which would have been before July. CNN
March 2016:“the Kremlin instructed state-backed media outlets, including international platforms Russia Today and Sputnik news agency, to start producing positive reports on Trump’s quest for the U.S. presidency, the officials said.” Reuters
March 5, 2016:Carter Page “thanked Sen. Richard Burr, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Mark Warner, a ranking member of the committee, for their “recent correspondence regarding information that you might at some point desire for ongoing investigations into the 2016 U.S. election.” Business Insider received this letter.
March 6, 2016: ‘Papadopoulos spoke with a Trump campaign official identified in court records as just “Campaign Supervisor [Sam Clovis].” Based on that conversation, the documents said, Papadopoulos understood that a principal foreign policy focus of the Trump campaign was an improved U.S. relationship with Russia.”USA Today
March 10, 2016: The Replublican Debate in Miami CNN Transcript “We have 28,000 soldiers on the line, on the border between North and South Korea”. “I’m self-funding my campaign. Nobody is going to be taking care of me. I don’t want anybody’s money.” “And Sheriff Joe Arpaio recently endorsed me and there’s nobody tougher on the borders than Sheriff Joe. And Jeff Sessions, one of the most respected Senator in Washington, an incredible man, also endorsed me..And there’s nobody that knows more about the borders than Senator Jeff Sessions.”Trump supporter John McGraw, 78, punched protester African-American Rakeem Jones in the face at a Fayetteville, NC, rally. Washington Post
March 11, 2016:Trump Canelled Chicago Rally due to racial tension. Wikipedia
March, 12, 2016: Black Lives Matter v All Lives Matter: political discourse at a Donald Trump rally – video The GuardianBank Employee Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Work as Secret Russian Agent Prosecutors accused Evgeny Buryakovand two other men in New York as being part of a ring that collected intelligence on behalf of the S.V.R., the Russian foreign intelligence agency. NY Times March 12, 2016
March 14, 2016: “While traveling in Italy, Papadopoulos met an individual who was a professor based in London, identified in court records as the “Professor.” [Mifsud] Initially, the Professor seemed uninterested in Papadopoulos. However, after Papadopoulos informed the Professor he had joined the campaign, the Professor appeared to take great interest, the documents said. Papadopoulos was interested in the Professor because, among other reasons, the Professor claimed to have substantial connections with Russian government officials, which Papadopoulos thought could increase his importance as a policy adviser to the Trump campaign.”USA Today
“Butina allegedly emails Person 2 and indicates that Torshin had informed her that “Putin’s side” had approved of her outreach plan to high-profile political figures.” Washington Post
March 17, 2016: “At an event hosted by the American Council for Capital Formation, Sessions discusses Trump’s foreign policy positions. “I think an argument can be made there is no reason for the U.S. and Russia to be at this loggerheads. Somehow, someway we ought to be able to break that logjam,” Sessions said. “Strategically it’s not justified for either country. It may not work. Putin may not be able to be dealt with, but I don’t condemn his instincts that we ought to attempt to do that.” Washington Post
March 19, 2016: “Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s email is hacked, according to a later report from Vice. “USA Today
March 21, 2016:“Trump describes Page as a campaign aide during a Washington Post editorial meeting.” NBC Transcript with WA Post“Trump identifies Carter Page as one of his foreign policy advisers.”Mother Jones “Page had helped open the Moscow office of investment banking firm Merrill Lynch and had advised Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom, in which Page is an investor. He blames 2014 US sanctions relating to Russia’s annexation of Ukraine for driving down Gazprom’s stock price. Earlier in March 2016, Iowa tea party activist Sam Clovis had recommended Page to the Trump campaign. [Supplemented April 24, 2017] Bill Moyers “In a meeting with The Washington Post editorial board, Trump provides a list of five foreign policy advisers: Walid Phares, Carter Page, Joe Schmitz, ret. Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg – and George Papadopoulos.”USA Today
March 22, 2016: “Russian hackers break into the account of Bill Rinehart, A former Democratic National Committee employee who later worked on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.” Business Insider
March 24, 2016:Papadopoulos, Joseph Mifsud (Maltese Professor) and Olga Polonskaya, former manager of a Moscow wine distribution company and maiden name Vinogradova. NY TimesPolitico
“Papadopoulos met with the Professor in London. The Professor brought with him a woman — identified in court records as the “Female Russian National” — who was introduced to Papadopoulos as a relative of Russian President Vladimir Putin with connections to senior Russian government officials.
Papadopoulos emailed Trump campaign officials, including the Campaign Supervisor and several members of the campaign’s foreign policy team, stating: “just finished a very productive lunch with a good friend of mine, [“The Professor”]… — who introduced me to both Putin’s niece [“Female Russian National”] and the Russian Ambassador in London — who also acts as the Deputy Foreign Minister.”
Papadopoulos added: “The topic of the lunch was to arrange a meeting between us and the Russian leadership to discuss U.S.-Russia ties under President Trump. They are keen to host us in a ‘neutral’ city, or directly in Moscow. They said the leadership, including Putin, is ready to meet with us and Mr. Trump should there be interest. Waiting for everyone’s thoughts on moving forward with this very important issue.”
The Campaign Supervisor responded that he would “work it through the campaign,” but that no commitments should be made at that point. The Campaign Supervisor added: “Great work.””USA Today
March 28, 2016:“Trump hires Manafort as ‘convention manager.‘” NBC. Donald Trump Hires Paul Manafort to Lead Delegate Effort. NY Times By Alexander Burns and Maggie Haberman. He got the job through Tom Barrack, one of Trump’s closest friends. Greg Olear
March 29, 2016:“On Roger Stone’s recommendation, Paul Manafort joins the Trump campaign as convention manager, tasked with lining up delegates.” [Added March 27, 2017] Bill Moyers
March 30, 2016:“Page tells Bloomberg that ‘his business has suffered directly from the U.S. economic sanctions imposed on Russia’s escalating involvement in the Ukraine.’” NBC“Bloomberg Businessweekreports on Page’s past advising of Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned gas company. Page tells Bloomberg Businessweek that after Trump named him as an adviser, positive notes from his Russian contacts filled his inbox. “There’s a lot of excitement in terms of the possibilities for creating a better situation” in terms of easing US sanctions on Russia, Page explained.” Mother Jones
“Butina allegedly emails an organizer of the prayer breakfast to suggest that Putin might attend in 2017, given certain conditions. He did not, but the organizer offered 10 spots at the 2017 event for Putin.” Washington Post
March 31, 2016: “[Walid] Phares had met Papadopoulos only once, at a March 31, 2016 meeting of Trump’s national security advisers, a group that included both men.” Washington Post
“Papadopoulos attended a “national security meeting” in Washington with then-candidate Trump and other foreign policy advisers for the campaign. When Papadopoulos introduced himself to the group, he said he had connections that could help arrange a meeting between then-candidate Trump and Putin. After his trip to Washington, documents show Papadopoulos worked with the Professor and the Female Russian National to arrange a meeting between the campaign and the Russian government, and took steps to advise the Trump campaign of his progress.” USA Today
April 2016
“Papadopoulos sent multiple emails to other members of the campaign’s foreign policy team regarding his contacts with “the Russians” and his “outreach to Russia.” USA Today
April 2, 2016:Dana Rohrbacher met Russian legislators in Moscow RT . Natalia Veselnitskaya gave Rohrbacher a propaganda film about the Magnitsky Act. Foreign Policy
April 7, 2016:Paul Manafort joined the Trump campaign: Washington Post Roger Stone takes credit.
April 10, 2016:“Manafort tells Chuck Todd on Meet the Press that Trump is his only client.” NBC
“Papadopoulos emailed the Female Russian National [Olga Polonskaya], re-introducing himself and noting that “[w]e met with [“Professor” Mifsud] in London. The reason for my message is because [“Professor”] sent an email that you tried contacting me.”He added: “It would be a pleasure to meet again. If not, we should have a call and discuss some things.” He ended the email with his mobile number and a request for Female Russian National’s mobile number.” USA Today
April 11, 2016: Olga Polonskaya responded to Papadopoulos
“saying that she was “now back in St. Petersburg” but “would be very pleased to support your initiatives between our two countries and of course I would be very pleased to meet you again.”
Papadopoulos responded, copying The Professor, saying: “I think a good step would be for me to meet with the Russian Ambassador in London sometime this month.” Papadopoulos said he would “like to discuss with him, or anyone else you recommend, about a potential foreign policy trip to Russia.”
The Professor responded to Papadopoulos later that same day: “This is already been agreed. I am flying to Moscow on the 18th for a Valdai meeting, plus other meetings at the Duma.” (It’s unclear what Valdai refers to in this context, though there is a Moscow think tank called the Valdai Discussion Club.)
The Female Russian National responded that she had “already alerted my personal links to our conversation and your request…As mentioned we are all very excited by the possibility of a good relationship with Mr. Trump. The Russian Federation would love to welcome him once his candidature would be officially announced.”” USA Today
April 12, 2016: “A person identified in court records as “Russian MFA Connection” emailed Papadopoulos. MFA refers to the Russia Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Olga Vinogradova-Polonskaya said: “I have already alerted my personal links to our conversation and your request. The Embassy in London is very much aware of this. As mentioned we are all very excited about the possibility of a good relationship with Mr. Trump. The Russian Federation would love to welcome him once his candidature would be officially announced.”” USA Today
April 16, 2016: PAUL MANAFORT announced as new Campaign Manager “The Saturday meeting was held at the campaign’s headquarters at Manhattan’s Trump Tower and was attended by Manafort, Wiley, Lewandowski and deputy campaign manager Michael Glassner, according to the sources familiar with it…[Rick] Wiley, who was hired last week by Manafort as political director. In turn, Wiley, who previously ran Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s disappointing presidential campaign, ” Trump orders new campaign hierarchy, spending plan Politico By KENNETH P. VOGEL and BEN SCHRECKINGER
April 18, 2016: “The Professor emailed Papadopoulos, saying that he had a “long conversation in Moscow with my dear friend [“Russian MFA Connection”] …about a possible meeting between the two of you. [“Russian MFA Connection”] is ready to meet with you in London (or USA or Moscow). I am putting the two of you in touch to discuss when and where this potential meeting can actually take place.”
Russian MFA Connection was copied on the email.
Papadopoulos responded by offering to “try and come to Moscow” and setting up a Skype call with the Russian MFA Connection for 3:00 p.m. “Moscow time.”
Over the next several weeks: Papadopoulos and the Russian MFA Connection had multiple conversations over Skype and email about setting “the groundwork” for a “potential” meeting between the campaign and Russian government officials.” USA Today
Stephen Roh was a panelist with Josef Mifsud at the Valdai Discussion Club with Putin . BuzzFeed “Mr. Mifsud suddenly became a popular pundit with state-run news outlets in Russia, praising the country and Mr. Putin. At his first Valdai conference in 2014, he argued against Western sanctions that punished Russia for its annexation of Crimea that year.” NY Times
April 20, 2016: “Paul Manafort becomes Trump’s campaign manager. Reports surface about his 2007 to 2012 ties to Ukraine’s pro-Putin former president, whom Manafort had helped to elect.” Bill Moyers
April 22, 2016:Trump announces foreign policy speech POLITICO By NICK GASS
Press Release announcing the April 27, 2016, meeting at the National Press Club. Dimitri Simes, Center for National Interest sponsoring. Blog4President.us (posted the 25th)
“The Russian MFA Connection [Ivan Timofeev] sent Papadopoulos an email thanking him “for an extensive talk” and proposing “to meet in London or in Moscow.” Papadopoulos replied by suggesting that “we set one up here in London with the Ambassador as well to discuss a process moving forward.””USA Today
April 25, 2016: “The court filings say that on April 25, 2016, after “multiple conversations” with a Russian national connected to Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs [Ivan Timofeev], Papadopoulos told [Stephen] Miller that “the Russian government has an open invitation by Putin for Mr. Trump to meet him when he is ready,” referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.” Business InsiderPapadopoulos continued, “The advantage of being in London is that these governments tend to speak a bit more openly in ‘neutral’ cities.””USA Today
April 26, 2016 :“The Washington Post reports that Paul Manafort, then Trump’s convention manager (who would later be promoted to campaign chairman), has long-standing ties to pro-Putin Ukrainian officials. Between 2007 and 2012, Manafort worked as a political consultant to Putin ally Viktor Yanukovych and his pro-Russia part. He helped Yanukovych remake his image following the Orange Revolution and mount a successful bid for the Ukrainian presidency.”Mother Jones
“On April 26, Papadopoulos met with Joseph Mifsud — identified in the court filings as an “overseas professor” — for breakfast at a London hotel.” Business Insider “Mr. Mifsud revealed to Mr. Papadopoulos that the Russians had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton in the form of “thousands of emails.” NY Times “During this meeting, the Professor told Papadopoulos that he had just returned from a trip to Moscow where he had met with high-level Russian government officials.”USA Today
April 27, 2016: Papadopoulos wrote [Lewandowski] “to discuss Russia’s interest in hosting Mr. Trump.” Washington Post November 2, 2017 Papadopoulos wrote Stephen Miller: “Have some interesting messages coming in from Moscow about a trip when the time is right,” he wrote, the court filings say.”Business Insider “Papadopoulos also emailed a high-ranking official [Manafort]of the Trump campaign — identified in court records as “High-Ranking Campaign Official” — “to discuss Russia’s interest in hosting Mr. Trump. Have been receiving a lot of calls over the last month about Putin wanting to host him and the team when the time is right.””USA Today“
Trump gives his first foreign policy speech at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. During the speech, he calls for an “easing of tensions” and “improved relations” with Russia. The Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak is in attendance, as well as Sen. Jeff Sessions. According to the Wall Street Journal, before Trump’s remarks, he “met at a VIP reception with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak. Mr. Trump warmly greeted Mr. Kislyak and three other foreign ambassadors who came to the reception.” Mother Jones “Paul Saunders, a Russia specialist at the Center for the National Interest and a former official in the George W. Bush administration…hosted then-candidate Donald Trump for a foreign policy speech in April last year. Kislyak was in the audience as one of four invited foreign ambassadors as Trump proclaimed, “America-first will be the major and overriding theme of my administration.” Washington Post “Trump briefly meets (Russian envoy) Sergey Kislyak in a pre-event reception line shortly before Trump delivers a major foreign-policy speech…Sessions was also in attendance, although there’s no evidence he met Kislyak at the reception.“The line moved quickly and any conversations with Mr. Trump in that setting were inherently brief and could not be private,” the center said in a March 8, 2017, statement. ‘Our recollection is that the interaction between Mr. Trump and Ambassador Kislyak was limited to the polite exchange of pleasantries appropriate on such occasions.’” The Atlantic
Donald TRUMP, Paul MANAFORT Jared KUSHNER Stephen MILLER, Donald TRUMP JR., Jeff SESSIONS, Sam CLOVIS, J.D. GORDON, Corey LEWANDOWSKI, Bud MCFARLANE, George PAPADOPOULOS, Sergey KISLYAK, Igor SECHIN, the CEO of ROSNEFT, Walid PHARES/KISLYAK RNC CLEVELAND,Center for National Interest President Dimitri Simes and Jacob Heilbrunn, CNI, Zalmay Khalilzad
April 2016:Twitter profile called “Don Trumpeone” established, with 58,000 tweets and only 1,205 followers, 65,000 likes. It retweets Pence, Trump, presumably more, and it’s profile says “@POTUS @RealDonaldTrump is God sent to save America!” , pinned Tweet on Inauguration Day says “Our #CommanderInChief brings back #honor #honesty & #hear back to our country! “. Is this an early troll? Same month as Manafort? Discovered in the reply to Stone’s Podesta “time in the barrel” tweet with a graphic of Podesta ties used in anti-Podesta/Clinton and Pizzagate theories on August 21.]“In April 2016, Mifsud introduced Papadopoulos over email to a man in Moscow who told Papadopoulos that he had connections to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, court records show. Emails previously described to The Post indicate that the man is Ivan Timofeev, a program director at a Russian government-funded think tank called the Russian International Affairs Council. Papadopoulos communicated via Skype and email with Timofeev to discuss establishing ties between Russian officials and the Trump campaign.” Washington Post
“Among Mr. Mifsud’s most important new contacts was Ivan Timofeev, a graduate of the elite Moscow State Institute of International Relations and a program director for the Valdai conference.” NY Times
April 29, 2016: “Papadopoulos wrote in an email to the Russian MFA Connection: “I am now in the process of seeing if we will come to Russia. Do you recommend I get in touch with a minister or embassy person in Washington or London to begin organizing the trip?”The Russian MFA Connection [Ivan Timofeev] replied: “I think it would be better to discuss this question with [The Professor Mifsud].” Papadopoulos responded: “Ok. I called him.”USA Today
April 30, 2016:“Papadopoulos thanked Mifsud for his “critical help” in facilitating a meeting that would be “history making if it happens,” the filings say.”Business Insider
Late April 2016: “The Democratic National Committee’s IT department notices suspicious computer activity, contacts the FBI, and hires a private security firm, CrowdStrike, to investigate.” [Added March 13, 2017] Bill Moyers
April to December 2016: Russia’s patent office grants 10-year extensions for six unused Trump trademarks that are set to expire in 2016. Trump had originally acquired the trademarks for hotel and branding deals that never materialized — including “Trump Tower” in 1996 and four more hotel-related trademarks in 2007, when Felix Sater and Bayrock Group were scouting potential deals in Russia. [Added June 19, 2017] Bill Moyers
April and May 2016:“The DNC’s IT department contacts the FBI about unusual computer activity and hires cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike to investigate. In May, Crowdstrike determines that hackers affiliated with Russian intelligence infiltrated the DNC’s network.”Mother Jones
May 2016
May 2016: CrowdStrike determines that highly sophisticated Russian intelligence-affiliated adversaries — denominated Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear — had been responsible for the DNC hack. Fancy Bear, in particular, had indicators of affiliation with Russia’s Main Intelligence Department (also know as the GRU). [Added March 13, 2017] Bill Moyers
May 2016, Torshin requested that Butina write a note to his superiors to justify his attendance at an NRA meeting.
“May 2016: Michael Caputo, senior Trump campaign communications adviser who has had deep business ties to Russia and is described as a protégé of Stone, arranges for Stone to meet in Sunny Isles, Florida with a Russian national, “Henry Greenberg” (a.k.a. Henry Oknyansky) who said he could provide damaging information about Hillary Clinton. Stone told the Washington Post that he met with Greenberg but rejected the man’s proposal because he asked for $2 million. Stone also says that Greenberg did not reveal the information he claimed to possess. Stone told the Post that Greenberg was alone, but Greenberg said he was with a Ukrainian friend who conducted the meeting.
Note: In their congressional testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, neither Caputo (in July 2017) nor Stone (in Sept. 2017) revealed the meeting to congressional investigators. Caputo testified that he had no contacts with Russians during his time on the campaign. Stone testified that he “never had any communication with any Russians or individuals fronting for Russians, in connection with the 2016 presidential election.” Stone has reportedly not been interviewed by the Special Counsel. The Special Counsel interviewed Caputo in May 2018 and asked him about the Florida meeting during a sometimes-heated questioning session, according to Caputo.” Just Security
“Donald J. Trump, then the Republican presidential nominee, speaking at the National Rifle Association convention in Louisville, Ky., in May 2016. A May 2016 email to the campaign adviser, Rick Dearborn, bore the subject line “Kremlin Connection.” In it, the N.R.A. member said he wanted the advice of Mr. Dearborn and Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, then a foreign policy adviser to Mr. Trump and Mr. Dearborn’s longtime boss, about how to proceed in connecting the two leaders. Russia, he wrote, was “quietly but actively seeking a dialogue with the U.S.” and would attempt to use the N.R.A.’s annual convention in Louisville, Ky., to make “ ‘first contact.’ ” The email, which was among a trove of campaign-related documents turned over to investigators on Capitol Hill, was described in detail to The New York Times. The emailed outreach from the conservative operative to Mr. Dearborn came far earlier, around the same time that Russians were trying to make other connections to the Trump campaign. Another contact came through an American advocate for Christian and veterans causes, and together, the outreach shows how, as Mr. Trump closed in on the nomination, Russians were using three foundational pillars of the Republican Party — guns, veterans and Christian conservatives — to try to make contact with his unorthodox campaign.
“Putin is deadly serious about building a good relationship with Mr. Trump,” the N.R.A. member and conservative activist, Paul Erickson, wrote. “He wants to extend an invitation to Mr. Trump to visit him in the Kremlin before the election. Let’s talk through what has transpired and Senator Sessions’s advice on how to proceed.”
It is not clear how Mr. Dearborn handled the outreach. He forwarded a similar proposal, made through Rick Clay, an advocate for conservative Christian causes, to Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and a top campaign aide. Mr. Kushner rebuffed the proposal at the time, according to two people who have seen Mr. Kushner’s email.
Mr. Sessions told investigators from the House Intelligence Committee that he did not recall the outreach.
“The Kremlin believes that the only possibility of a true reset in this relationship would be with a new Republican White House,” Mr. Erickson wrote to Mr. Dearborn, adding, “Ever since Hillary compared Putin to Hitler, all senior Russian leaders consider her beyond redemption.” By “happenstance” and the reach of the N.R.A., Mr. Erickson wrote, he had been put in position to “slowly begin cultivating a back-channel to President Putin’s Kremlin” in recent years. “Russia is quietly but actively seeking a dialogue with the U.S. that isn’t forthcoming under the current administration,” he wrote. “ NY Times
May 4, 2016: “About four days later, Papadopoulos’ contact at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [Ivan Timofeev] told him that the ministry was “open for cooperation.” Papadopoulos forwarded that email to Manafort, asking, “Is this something we want to move forward with?””Business Insider
Trump becomes the presumptive Republican nominee for president after Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich withdraw from the race. The Atlantic
The email was forwarded to Manafort.
May 5, 2016: “Papadopoulos called Clovis. After their phone call, he forwarded Clovis the ministry contact’s [Ivan Timofeev] email with a new subject line: “Russia updates.” Manafort forwarded that email to his longtime business associate Rick Gates and said, “Let’s discuss.” “We need someone to communicate that DT is not doing these trips,” Manafort wrote. “It should be someone low level in the campaign so as not to send any signal.” Business Insider
May 8, 2016 “Russian MFA Connection”[Ivan Timofeev] emailed Papadopoulos and “The Professor” [Mifsud] about putting Papadopoulos in touch with the “MFA head of US desk.”In subsequent weeks, “Russian MFA Connection” set up Skype calls with Papadopoulos and discussed, among other things, the fact that “Russian MFA Connection” reported “good reaction from the US desk at MFA.””USA Today
May 10 and 11, 2016: “Butina allegedly contacts Persons 1 and 2 to set up a series of dinners with influential political figures later that month. At some point in May, Butina is allegedly part of a group seeking a meeting with the Trump campaign to discuss persecutions against Christians, according to Post reporting.”Washington Post
May 13, 2016 “The Professor” [Mifsud] emailed Papadopoulos with “an update” of what they had discussed in their “recent conversations.” The Professor said: “We will continue to liaise through you with the Russian counterparts in terms of what is needed for a high level meeting of Mr. Trump with the Russian Federation.”USA Today
May 14, 2016 “Papadopoulos emailed the High-Ranking Campaign Official and said the “Russian government ha[s] also relayed to me that they are interested in hosting Mr. Trump.”USA Today
May 19, 2016:“Paul Manafort becomes Trump’s campaign chairman and chief strategist.” [Added March 27, 2017] Bill Moyers NBC
May 20, 2016 NRA convention in Louisville, KY. Candidate Trump, Gov. Matt Bevin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sens. Rand Paul and Marco Rubio Kentucky
At the NRA, Trump completes his rapid transformation into a pro-gun voice Washington Post By Jenna Johnson
“At a dinner on the sideline of the NRA convention, Torshin and Trump Jr. are seated near each other and meet briefly.” Washington Post
May 21, 2016: “”Russia has been eager to meet Mr. Trump for quite sometime and have been reaching out to me to discuss,” Papadopoulos wrote to Manafort on May 21.”Business Insider Washington Post identified that Manafort’s deputy Rick Gates received the email. “the subject line “Request from Russia to meet Mr. Trump.” The email included the May 4 email Papadopoulos received from the Russian MFA Connection and added: “Russia has been eager to meet Mr. Trump for quite sometime and have been reaching out to me to discuss.” The campaign official [Gates] forwarded that email to another Trump campaign official (without including Papadopoulos) saying: “Let[‘]s discuss. We need someone to communicate that DT is not doing these trips. It should be someone low level in the campaign so as not to send any signal.””USA Today
27–29 May, 2016: Vladimir Putin is in Athens, Greece — his only visit to Europe between 2015 and the election. George Papadopoulos, the intermediary between the Trump campaign and the Russians, is also in Athens. They meet with many of the same people. Greg Olear
May/June 2016: Michael Flynn’s name is bandied about as a possible “Dark Horse” choice for Trump’s VP. Greg Olear
June 2016
June 2016: Russian Institute for Strategic Studies [en.riss.ru/] “circulated [strategic paper] at the highest levels of the Russian government but was not addressed to any specific individuals. It recommended the Kremlin launch a propaganda campaign on social media and Russian state-backed global news outlets to encourage U.S. voters to elect a president who would take a softer line toward Russia than the administration of then-President Barack Obama, the seven officials said.” Reuters
Around June 2016: As Trump secures the Republican nomination for president, a Chinese financial giant, Anbang Insurance Group, begins talks with Kushner Companies about investing in the redevelopment of 666 Fifth Avenue. Salon
“Jared Kushner assumes control of all data-driven Trump campaign efforts, turning a nondescript building outside San Antonio, Texas into a 100-person data hub. Among the firms he retains is Cambridge Analytica, which reportedly has created “profiles” consisting of several thousand data points for 220 million Americans. Cambridge Analytica’s financial backers include hedge fund tycoon Robert Mercer, who also has a $10 million investment in Breitbart News, which, at the time, is run by Steve Bannon.” Salon.
“The campaign and its new data partner have kept mum about their relationship, though rumors have swirled for weeks about Cambridge Analytica staff being embedded with the Trump camp’s San Antonio-based digital firm Giles [Brad] Parscale.” Entitled “Project Alamo”. Adage
Early June 2016: At a closed-door gathering of high-powered foreign policy experts visiting with the prime minister of India, Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page hails Vladimir Putin as stronger and more reliable than President Obama and touts the positive effect that a Trump presidency would have on US-Russia relations. [Added March 6, 2017] Bill Moyers
June 2016:“Orbis was hired between June and November last year by Fusion GPS, a Washington-based research consultancy to look into Trump’s links with Russia.” The Guardian
June 1, 2016 “Papadopoulos emailed the High-Ranking Campaign Official and asked about Russia. The High-Ranking Campaign Official referred him to the Campaign Supervisor because “[h]e is running point.” Papadopoulos then emailed the Campaign Supervisor, with the subject line “Re: Messages from Russia.” “I have the Russian MFA asking me if Mr. Trump is interested in visiting Russia at some point,” Papadopoulos said. “Wanted to pass this info along to you for you to decide what’s best to do with it and what message I should send (or to ignore).” From mid-June through mid-August 2016, Papadopoulos pursued an “off the record” meeting between one or more campaign representatives and “members of President Putin’s office and the MFA.” USA Today
June 3, 2016 “On June 3, the music publicist Rob Goldstone emailed Donald Trump Jr., saying, “The Crown prosecutor of Russia … offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father.”” Business Insider
10:53 AM From Don Jr. To Rob Goldstone “Thanks Rob I appreciate that. Ia m on the road at the moment but perhaps I just speak to Emin first. Seems we have some time and if it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer. Could we do a call first thing next week when I am back?”
June 6, 2016: Clinton secures enough delegates to become the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. The Atlantic
Russian soldier attacked a Sr. U.S. diplomat at Moscow’s U.S. Embassy door. 2 Russian diplomats from Washington were expelled. Reuters with Video
June 6, 2016 12:40 PM From Rob Goldstone To: Don Jr. “Hi Don Let me know when you are free to talk with Emin by phone about this Hillary info – you had mentioned early this week so wanted to try to schedule a time and day. Best to you and family”
June 6, 2:03PM Form Don Jr. To: Rob Goldstone “Rob could we speak now?”
June 6, 2:38 PM From Don Jr. “My Cell Thanks”
June 6, 3:37 PM From Rob Goldstone To: Don Jr. “Let me track him down in Moscow. What number he could call?”
June 6, 3:38 PM From Don Jr. To Rob Goldstone “Rob thanks for the help.”
June 6, 3:43 From Rob Goldstone To: Don Jr. “Ok he’s on stage in Moscow but should be off within 20 Minutes so I am sure can call Rob”
CHRISTOPHER STEELE DOSSIER Source A Russian Foreign Ministry figure. June 2016: Confided that the Kremlin fed Trump team valuable intelligence on opponents including Hillary Clinton for years, confirmed by Source D. Source D is a Close Trump associate who organized and managed his recent trips to Moscow and reported in June 2016 the Russian Intelligence had been “very helpful”. Confirmed Kremlin fed Trump team valuable intelligence on opponents including Hillary Clinton for years. Witnessed Trump’s perverted conduct in Moscow including hiring the presidential suite of the Ritz Carlton Hotel, where he knew President and Mrs Obama (whom he hated) had stayed on one of their official trips to Russia, and defiling the bed where they had slept by employing a number of prostitutes to perform a ‘golden showers’ (urination) show in front of him. The hotel was known to be under FSB control with microphones and concealed cameras in all the main rooms to record anything they wanted to, Confirmed by Source E. Source E said several of the hotel Staff were aware of it when he/she believed it happened, 2013, and provided introduction to ethnic source F, a staffer at the Ritz Carlton in 2013.
June 7, 2016: Trump Announced his anti-Hillary Clinton speech “Trump to Give Major Hillary Speech Monday [June 13] ‘Hillary Clinton turned the State Department into her private hedge fund.'”Weekly Standard
June 7, 2016: “Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on June 7.” Reuters
June 7, 4:20 PM From Rob Goldstone To: Don Jr. “Don Hope all is well. Emin asked that I schedule a meeting with you and The Russian government attorney who is flying over from Moscow for this Thursday. I believe you are aware of the meeting – and so wondered if 3 pm or later on Thursday works for you? I assume it would be at your office.”
June 7, 5:16PM From Don Jr. “How about 3 at our offices” Thanks rob appreciate you helping set it up.”
June 7, 5:19 PM From: Rob Goldstone “Perfect…I won’t sit in on the meeting, but will bring them at 3pm and introduce you etc. I will send the names of the two people meeting with you for security when I have them later today.”
June 7, 6:14 PM From Don Jr. “Great. It will likely be Paul Manafot (campaign boss) my brother in law and me. 725 Fifth Ave 25th floor.”
June 8, 2016 10:34 AM From: Rob Goldstone To: Don Jr. “Good Morning Would it be possible to move tomorrow meeting rto 4pm as the Russian attorney is in court until 3 I was just informed.”
June 8, 11:15 AM From: Don Jr. To: Rob Goldstone “Yes Rob I could do that unless they wanted to do 3 today instead…just let me know and Ill lock it in either way.”
June 8, 11:18 AM From: Rob Goldstone To: Don Jr. “They Cant do today as she hasn’t landed yet from Moscow 4pm is great tomorrow.”
June 8, 2016 12:03 PM From Don Jr. To: Kushner & Manafort “Meeting got moved to 4 tomorrow at my offices.”
Recreating June 9: A very consequential day in the 2016 campaign
By Dan Merica, CNN “Trump’s only semi-public event of the day was his first fundraiser with the Trump Victory Fund, his campaign’s joint fundraising effort with the Republican National Committee.” 4 PM: Donald Trump, Jr., Jared Kushner, Manafort meet with Natalia Veselnitskaya, billed in an email as a “Russian government attorney” at Trump Tower.”
Money laundering expert Ike Kaveladze was also present. Arranged and introduced by Rob Goldstone on behalf of Emin Agalarov, a Russian-Azerbaijani pop singer & familial co-developer of Trump Tower Moscow.
The Daily Caller broke news of another attendee: “Anatoli Samochornov, a Russia-born professional translator who worked as a part-time contractor for the State Department, worked with Veselnitskaya last year on an effort to roll back the Magnitsky Act, a law passed in 2012 which allows for sanctions against Russians accused of human rights abuses. [Update: Samochornov confirmed to other news outlets after this article was published that attended the Trump Tower meeting as Veselnitskaya’s translator.] The Associated Press confirmed after NBC’s report that the Russian-American lobbyist is Rinat Akhmetshin.”
June 12, 2016:
(h/t DM) 72 hours after Don Jr met with a Russian agent at Trump Tower, the top Trump fan-site had its largest-ever membership spike by FAR. pic.twitter.com/3ntfZ6USfi
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) July 10, 2017
June 12, 2016:PULSE Nightclub SHOOTING in Orlando.
“The British press reports that Julian Assange said that WikiLeaks had obtained and planned to publish a batch of emails “in relation to Hillary Clinton” Just Security
June 14, 2016: The Democratic National Committee publicly reveals that Russian hackers had broken into the party’s servers and accessed emails and opposition research. The Atlantic “The Washington Post reports that Russian hackers penetrated the DNC’s computer network.” Mother Jones
June 15, 2016: FANCY BEAR/COZY BEAR “Guccifer 2.0, an online persona that US intelligence officials link to Russia’s military intelligence service, takes credit for the DNC hack and posts hacked DNC documents. Guccifer will go on to post additional hacked documents—from the DNC, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), and purportedly from the Clinton Foundation—at least nine more times in the months leading up to the election. (Some reports contestthat the documents came from the Clinton Foundation itself.)” Mother Jones “CrowdStrike reiterates its conclusion that the hack had been a Russian intelligence operation. “[Added March 13, 2017] Bill Moyers.
June 16, 2016 Deposition Transcript of Donald Trump Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump, Jr.,in Trump Old Post Office case
June 2016:“The Moscow-based Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (RISS), a government think tank run by retired foreign intelligence officials appointed by Vladimir Putin, drafts and circulates a strategy paper among top Russian government officials. According to Reuters, it recommends that the Kremlin help spur a propaganda campaign—via social media and state-controlled news outlets—that would help elect a more pro-Russia US president. This is based on information provided to Reuters by seven current or former US officials in April 2017.” Mother Jones
June 19, 2016: “Papadopoulos emailed Manafort again on June 19 telling him he would be willing to travel to Moscow to meet with Russian government officials “if it’s in the interest of Mr. Trump and the campaign to meet specific people.” Business Insider
“After several email and Skype exchanges with the Russian MFA Connection, Papadopoulos emailed the High-Ranking Campaign Official [Manafort], with the subject line “New message from Russia.” “The Russian ministry of foreign affairs messaged and said that if Mr. Trump is unable to make it to Russia, if a campaign rep (me or someone else) can make it for meetings? I am willing to make the trip off the record if it’s in the interest of Mr. Trump and the campaign to meet specific people,” he said.” USA Today
June 20/21, 2016:Corey Lewandowski is replaced by Paul Manafort as the Trump Campaign Manager. Politico
June 21, 2016:The Robert Mercer-led Super-Pac “Make America Number One” aka “Defeat Crooked Hillary PAC”with Kellyanne Conway, president of Keep the Promise PAC, led by long-time Clinton hater David Bossie, president of Citizens United and producer of Steve Bannon’s propaganda films, made headlines appealing to Republican donors who don’t like Trump after their candidate Cruz dropped out. Bloomberg
Inside Donald Trump’s Private Meeting With Evangelicals Time June 21, 2016, Elizabeth Dias New York: “We are trying to seek mutual understanding,” says event organizer Bill Dallas, president of United in Purpose, a 501(c)(4) committed to change American culture based on Judeo-Christian principles. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee will moderate a 90-minute main session, where Trump will answer questions in front of the entire gathering. He’ll be introduced at the session by Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr., who endorsed Trump in January. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson…Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, a member of the event’s steering committee member,…Ralph Reed, leader of the Faith & Freedom Coalition…Eric Metaxas, who has endorsed Trump—even last week calling him “our only hope” for the future of “virtue and faith”—will provide “a vision for America,” Kelly Shackelford, president of the First Liberty Institute law firm, plans to ask about religious liberty and judicial nominations. Shackleford endorsed Senator Ted Cruz in the primary…Gary Bauer, president of American Values and chairman of a PAC dedicated to electing conservative candidates to Congress…Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List…Penny Nance, president of the Concerned Women for America…Earlier Tuesday morning before the event, his team plans to gather a working faith advisory committee at Trump Tower, which will include Falwell, Reed, and others. Campaign surrogates have been working since mid-May to organize this group, and as TIME reported last month, Huckabee was being discussed as the group’s possible national chairman….Televangelist Paula White, senior pastor of New Destiny Christian Center in Florida and a Trump supporter, has been organizing the group behind-the-scenes with Tim Clinton, president of the 50,000-member American Association of Christian Counselors…Reed will also be part of the board, and will join Falwell and the rest of the group at Trump Tower before they all drive over to the bigger evangelical meeting.”
June 22, 2016: Make America Number 1 aka Defeat Crooked Hillary SuperPac formed with Jacquelyn James as the Treasurer, Chase Bank for deposit in San Antonio, TX, location of the Project Alamo social media campaign led by Brad Parscale and Cambridge Analytica. FactCheck
(5) FWIW. June 22: 10 days after Trump’s Reddit gets a big spike in members, less than 2 weeks post-Jr.’s meeting, Trump Tower-Spectrum Health–Alfa Bank pings begin.
Timing is everything right?
I found an interesting correlation (or perhaps coincidence) today.
[THREAD] pic.twitter.com/YXDApSZMkd— em (@emlas) December 28, 2018
June 29, 2016: “I’m following up on an email [from] a while back of something I had mentioned to Don and Paul Manafort during a meeting recently,” Goldstone wrote to Scavino on June 29. Goldstone wrote that his client, Emin Agalarov, and a “contact” at VK wanted to create a “Vote Trump 2016” promotion. Washington Post
July – August 2016 Continued
