The Meetings: Campaign Conspiracy

• The Timeline
• The Russians 
• The Investigated & Connected
• Steele Dossier

The Meetings

• April 7, 2015: Dimitri Simes, through Center for National Interest, also organized the meetings between Maria Butina, and Stanley Fischer, then-US Federal Reserve Vice Chairman, and Nathan Sheets, then-Treasury Department Undersecretary for International Affairs
• October 13, 2015 Trump Tower Moscow Letter Of Intent by Andrey Rozov sent from Sater to Trump Atty Michael Cohen
• March 14, 2016– Papadopoulos met Professor Mifsud in Italy

CLINTON CAMPAIGN CHAIR JOHN PODESTA EMAIL HACK

• March 24, 2016-Professor Mifsud & Olga Polonskaya meet Papadopoulos in London;  Carter PAGE emails Campaign including Sam CLOVIS, who recruited Page as Foreign Policy Advisor, Corey LEWANDOWSKI

MANAFORT HIRED BY CAMPAIGN FOR FREE; Manafort told Gates to tell Kilimnik to pass polling data to Ukraine oligarchs Serhiy Lyovochkin and Rinat Akhmetov NY Times

• April 26, 2016-Papadopulos met Mifsud regarding “Dirt on Hillary Clinton-Thousands of Emails”; Washington Post reports Manafort‘s Ukraine ties
• April 27, 2016-Mayflower Hotel CNI speech, Papadopoulos forward email invitation from Ivan Timofeev for Trump in Russia to Lewandowski, Stephen Miller and Manafort.
• May 4, 2016, Ivan Timofeev, Russian International Affairs Council,  associated with RISS, invited Trump to meet with Russians Papadopoulos Email
• June 9, 2016-Trump Tower
• June 16, 2016 Trump went to Aras Agalarov‘s birthday party in Moscow maybe met Putin
• August 2016 Manafort and Kilimnik met to discuss Ukraine peace plan/sanctions drop
• August 3, 2016 Joel Zamel of PSY Group, Prince, Donald Trump, Jr, meet for Zamel/PSY Group to pitch the campaign on using fake social media profiles to sway voters in NY.
• July 7, 2016 Carter PAGE spoke in Moscow, approved by Lewandowski, PAGE met with Igor SECHIN, the CEO of ROSNEFT & Igor Diveykin, Manafort (with Kilimnik) offered OVD Oleg Deripaska private briefingsWashington Post
• July 18, 2016: 2016 RNC Delegate: Trump Directed Change To Party Platform On Ukraine Support NPR Walid Phares met Kislyak in Cleveland
• September 8, 2016-Sessions & Kislyak
• December 1, 2016–Kushner, Flynn & Kislyak “Back Channel”
• December 7, 2016 Trump Tower Bud McFarlane met with Flynn as Rosneft deal closed in Russia

• December 12, 2016–
• December 13, 2016-Kushner & Gorkov, head of Vnesheconombank (VEB)
• Late December 2016, NYC-Kushner, Flynn, Bannon, Abu Dhabi’s Zayed planning January 11.
• January 2017 Manafort met Kilimnik in Madrid re. Ukraine Peace Plan, Kilimnik later suggested it involved Yanukovych’s return
• January 11, 2017-Erik Prince Seychelles
• Ukraine Peace Plan delivered to Flynn Late January-Cohen, Sater, Andrii V. Artememnko (Ukraine lawmaker)
• May 10, 2017 Oval Office Lavrov & Kislyak

Every Secret Trump / Russia Contact: Chronologically 12/08/2017  Jon Hotchkiss, Be Less Stupid

March 21st, 2016 TRUMP met with the EDITORIAL BOARD of THE WASHINGTON POST. See the transcript: Foreign Policy committee Walid Phares, Carter PAGE. George PAPADOPOULOS 

March 24, 2016 Papadopoulos & “Professor” Mifsud offers “Dirt” in London

George Papadopoulos pled guilty and attested to having met, Joseph Mifsud (Maltese Professor) and Olga Polonskaya, former manager of a Moscow wine distribution company and maiden name Vinogradova in London. NY Times Politico  Court documents implicate Sam Clovis, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Corey Lewandowski, Stephen Miller  and Walid Phares, as they received and/or exchanged emails with Papadopoulos.  Joseph Mifsud, “The Professor”, Olga Polonskaya (multiple languages, 24, incredibly connected intern), and Ivan Timofeev are the Russian agents/citizens involved. Olga approached Mifsud and his career changed dramatically. She invited him into a think tank which Putin attends bi-annually, and made him a pro-Putin TV pundit during the 2014 Ukraine/Crimea crisis which Manafort was involved in.

APRIL 22, 2016  Venue change from National Press Club to the Mayflower Hotel.What to look for in Trump’s foreign policy speech. Brookings. 

Trump changes location of foreign policy speech The Hill BY JONATHAN EASLEY 

“April 22 – Today Donald J. Trump announced he has accepted an invitation from The National Interest Magazine, and its parent institution, The Center for the National Interest, to address the organization at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, April 27 at 12:00 p.m. The event will be presided over by The Honorable Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Afghanistan and Iraq, and an Advisory Council Member of the Center for the National Interest. Mr. Dimitri Simes, the President of the Center for the National Interest and Publisher of the magazine” Blog4President.us

The Center for National Interest is formerly the Nixon Center. President Dmitri Simes met Kremlin adviser Gleb Pavlovsky (Russian Political Scientist/Soviet Dissident/Kommersant) and Oleg Deripaska December 5, 2005, “Plans are in the works to set up a Washington-based think tank that would be funded with Russian money and combat the U.S. perception of Russia ‘as a bad pupil,’ Georgy Oganov, a spokesman for Deripaska’s Basic Element holding company, said “this issue was discussed … on many occasions among Mr. Deripaska and people living in the States, including people at the Nixon Center.” Simes said the Nixon Center, a conservative think tank, had paid for Pavlovsky and several other Russian political analysts to visit Washington in November for a research project on American influence in former Soviet republics. But he said he had not discussed plans for a Russian-funded think tank with them or with Deripaska. “There’s clearly a background for this” think tank idea, Simes said, citing plans for Russia Today.”Moscow Times Stephen Boykewich

“Oleg Deripaska, RUSAL and Bazovy Element owner, arrived in the United States yesterday. Russian officials were once outraged at some foreign NGOs, at the Carnegie Fund, for example, which were giving floor to Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The new institute is largely believed to be a brainchild of Gleb Pavlovsky and Dimitri Simes, political scientists close to Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush. Simes is the long-standing director of Washington-based Nixon Center.  A new surge of interest appeared, among other things, due to recent problems at the Nixon Center. Moris Grinberg, the chair of the center’s board and former CEO of U.S. largest AIG insurance company, is now charged with fraud and other financial offences. Thus, the organization may soon lose may the man responsible for a lion’s part of sponsor money. What is more, a number of well-known scholars have already left the editorial staff of National Interest, a journal issued by the Nixon Center.” Kommersant December 5, 2005

 

On April 26, 2016, a follow-up breakfast between Mifsud when he was offered “dirt” on Hillary Clinton and thousands of hacked emails.  

April 27, 2016  The Mayflower Hotel Foreign Policy Speech Kislyak & Campaign

1. Donald TRUMP
2. Paul MANAFORT  
3. Jared KUSHNER  
4. ORGANIZER Dmitri SIMES
5. Stephen MILLER
6. Donald TRUMP JR.
7. Jeff SESSIONS
8. Sam CLOVIS  
9. J.D. GORDON
10. Corey LEWANDOWSKI
11. Bud MCFARLANE (Russian pipeline advocate, Iran Contra invited by CNI “Without Campaign Knowledge”) 
12. George PAPADOPOULOS
13. Walid PHARES/Sergey KISLYAK RNC CLEVELAND
14. Russian Ambassador Sergey KISLYAK
15.  Igor SECHIN, the CEO of ROSNEFT 
16. “Armando Varricchio is the Ambassador of Italy to the United States. He presented his credentials to U.S. President Barack Obama on March 2, 2016.” “Head of the Economic, Trade and Scientific Affairs Section, from 2002-2006 [in Washington DC]. Prior to this, he held many high-ranking positions both within the Italian government and abroad. In particular, he specialized in European and transatlantic affairs during his years at the Italian Representation to the European Union and at the Commission. Formerly Ambassador to Belgrade, before that he served, as a young diplomat, in Budapest during the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union. While Chief Diplomatic Advisor to the Presidents of the Council of Ministers Enrico Letta and Matteo Renzi, and Deputy Diplomatic Advisor to the President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, he handled some of the most delicate international dossiers, with a particular focus on security issues” Official Biography
17. Ashok Kumar Ambassador of Singapore
18. Jose Cuisia Jr. Ambassador of the Philippines
19. JACOB HEILBRUNN
20. Richard BURT (Senior Advisory Board of ALFA BANK, Gazprom lobbyist New European Pipeline AG & Nord Stream II ) Politico
21. Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Afghanistan and Iraq
22. Charles Boyd, CNI Chairman General
23. Drew Guff, DNI board member
24. Grover Norquist
25. Several Member of the House of Representatives

“The main person who became a friend and a leader of this jolly group from then on – Dimitri Konstantinovich Simis, a former Deputy Secretary of the Komsomol Organization [All-Union Leninist Young Communist League] at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations and an international lecturer at the Moscow City Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, who, while still in that role, suddenly applied for US asylum in 1972. During his many wandering years away from the Motherland, Dimitri Konstantinovich had morphed into Dimitri Simes, a President and CEO of The Center for the National Interest.” Gordon UA

What he was supposed to say: Transcript of Donald Trump’s Foreign Policy Speech, April 27, 2016 The Fiscal Times

Russian policy starts at 26 minutes.  Trump’s ad-libs are in RED, illustrating the impact of Ambassador Kislyak in the front row

“We must only be generous to those that prove, indeed, they are our friends.

And we must only be generous to those that prove, indeed, they are our friends. We desire to live peacefully and in friendship with Russia and China. We have serious differences with these two nations, and must regard them with open eyes. But we are not bound to be adversaries. We should seek common ground based on shared interests. Russia, for instance, has also seen the horror of Islamic terrorism.

I believe an easing of tensions and improved relations with Russia – from a position of strength ONLY – is possible. Absolutely possible. Common sense says this cycle, this horrible cycle of hostility must end and ideally will end soon, good for both countries. Some say the Russians won’t be reasonable. I intend to find out. If WE can’t make a deal under My Administration, a deal that’s Great, not “good,” GREAT, for America, but ALSO Good For Russia, [If we can’t make a good deal for America], then we will quickly walk from the table, it’s as simple as that. We’re going to find out. Fixing our relations with China is another important step, really towards creating an more prosperous period of time [century]. China respects strength, and by letting them take advantage of us economically, which they are doing like never before, we have lost all of their respect. We have a massive trade deficit with China, a deficit that we have [must] to find a way, quickly, and I mean quickly to balance.

A strong and smart America is an America that will find a better friend in China. Better than we have right now, look at what China’s doing in the South China Sea. They’re not supposed to be doing it. They have no respect for this country or this president. We can both benefit or we can both go our separate ways. If need be, that’s what’s going to have to happen.”

Why I Hosted Trump’s Foreign-Policy Speech Politico By JACOB HEILBRUNN April 27, 2016

“The Center for the National Interest was originally contacted by Trump’s savvy son-in-law, Jared Kushner, about hosting the event, long before Manafort was even associated with the campaign. Nothing like this has been heard from a Republican foreign policy candidate in decades. Trump doesn’t want to modify the party’s foreign policy stands. He’s out to destroy them. What Trump is talking about is dispensing with an entire wing of the GOP that has controlled the commanding heights of foreign policy over recent decades.”

Trump campaign emails show aide’s repeated efforts to set up Russia meetings  Washington Post  August 14, 2017

Who is Dimitri Simes And Why Is He Trying To Sink Mayflower? Gordon UA Investigation by Yuri Felshtinsky August 22, 2018
“Center for the National Interest and it’s journal created in the USA by Soviet-born Dmitri Simes instead of serving American interests serve only those of the Kremlin and Simes himself, declares Yuri Felshtinsky, Russian-American historian. In an exclusive material for GORDON Felshtinsky wrote about Simes’ specific activities, his influence on American politics and his connections with top-level officials in Russia and in the USA.

In 1620, the famous ship Mayflower carrying its hundred or so passengers arrived from Britain to the United States, the dangerous journey having taken several months. In 1925, a hotel in Washington, D.C. was named “Mayflower” in its honor. This is the hotel where, on April 27, 2016, The Center for the National Interest (CNI), a Washington, D.C.-based organization headed by Dimitri Simes, organized a meeting between Donald Trump, then a Presidential Candidate from the Republican Party, and his supporters, which included a Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak. It was at that meeting that Trump introduced his foreign policy program. Two months prior, Simes met in Moscow with President Putin and a number of other Russian Government officials. In addition, it turned out that Dimitri Simes, through CNI, also organized the meetings between Maria Butina, who was arrested on Russian espionage charges in Washington, D.C. on July 15, 2018, and Stanley Fischer, then-US Federal Reserve Vice Chairman, and Nathan Sheets, then-Treasury Department Undersecretary for International Affairs, on April 7, 2015. At that time, Butina was accompanying Alexander Torshin, who was then the Deputy Governor of Russia’s Central Bank and “who investigators believe was Butina’s Russian handler as an agent.”
A high-level government official Torshin with an illustrious biography was Butina’s handler from Russia. But who was her handler in the United States? An answer to this question was supplied by Butina herself when she began cooperating with the investigation and named two people. The first one was Anton Fedyashin, Professor of History at the American University, who could not resist the temptation to be photographed with his mentee and to mention her in his publication of April 6, 2017.

Notably, Fedyashin erased the portion of his publication referencing Butina after her arrest and removed his picture with her which was previously available at this site American University. Now any traces of the history being rewritten by the “historian” Fedyashin exit in someone’s Twitter feed. Here is the photo that disappeared: Butina is marked with an arrow, and Fedyashin is depicted on the left. And here is the site, on which one can see, for the moment at least, some of the pictures of Fedyashin and Butina together.

Felshtinsky: Here is the photo with  Fedyashin and Butina that disappeared. Screenshot by Yuri Felshtinsky

The second handler named by Butina was Dimitri Simes.
No one may have paid attention to Simes’s involvement in organizing Trump’s public appearance at the Mayflower Hotel on April 27, 2016, if not for Trump winning the Presidential Election later that year and for the ensuing scandal in the United States regarding the alleged Russian meddling in the Election. This is what Andrey Piontkovsky, a political observer, had to say about the matter:
“A routine investigation revealed that Jeff Sessions, US Attorney General, forgot to mention in his application for security clearance one of the meetings with the Russian Embssador Sergei Kislyak. But it was not an ordinary meeting. […] It so happens that in the same four-dimensional point of place and time, the world trajectories of several other noteworthy individuals had crossed – namely, of Paul Manafort, Carter Paige, Michael Flynn, Jared Kushner, Donald Trump, and – finally – the main person who became a friend and a leader of this jolly group from then on – Dimitri Konstantinovich Simis, a former Deputy Secretary of the Komsomol Organization [All-Union Leninist Young Communist League] at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations and an international lecturer at the Moscow City Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, who, while still in that role, suddenly applied for US asylum in 1972. During his many wandering years away from the Motherland, Dimitri Konstantinovich had morphed into Dimitri Simes, a President and CEO of The Center for the National Interest.”:
https://english.gordonua.com/news/exclusiveenglish/who-is-dimitri-simes-and-why-is-he-trying-to-sink-mayflower-investigation-by-yuri-felshtinsky-316154.html”

Lobbyist advised Trump campaign while promoting Russian pipeline Politico October 7, 2016 By BEN SCHRECKINGER and JULIA IOFFE  Richard Burt helped shape the candidate’s first foreign-policy speech while lobbying on behalf of a Moscow-controlled gas company.

Seth Abramson on the Mayflower Hotel

@SethAbramson on Twitter Stephen MILLER, Donald TRUMP JR., and J.D. GORDON.

Carter PAGE—who would make a campaign-sanctioned trip to Moscow shortly before the RNC.

 

THE WASHINGTON POST, we can now say that within 72 hours it became clear why PAPADOPOULOS was on the team.

 Sam CLOVIS—who’s also key here.

Seth AbramsonVerified account @SethAbramson

( Corey LEWANDOWSKI, Trump’s then-Campaign Chair.

(51) One of the military—non-oilman or Russia-tied—team members, ADMIRAL KUBIC, unambiguously observes that such meetings could be illegal.

on April 27, the same day Trump offered a “quid” to KISLYAK, PAPADOPOULOS got word PUTIN wanted TRUMP AIDES in Moscow.

(59) Now-AG SESSIONS would have received this notice that the Mayflower Speech had had its intended effect of gaining the notice of PUTIN.

(60) This confirms a) Trump’s purpose in getting KISLYAK to the Mayflower, and b) that SESSIONS in no way “forgot” meeting KISLYAK April 27.

(61)LEWANDOWSKI also got the April 27 PAPADOPOULOS email.When he green-lit PAGE’s Moscow trip he knew PUTIN had invited Trump aides there.

(62) PAGE has since conceded it’s “possible he was in a meeting” with ROSNEFT CEO Igor Sechin in Moscow,” opining he “never shook his hand.”

(63) Everything here is *consistent* with the STEELE dossier—which Trump is obsessed with and right-wing media desperately try to discredit.

(64) Just a week—one week—after a foreign policy speech intended to offer Russia a “good deal,” Russia’s government invited Trump to Moscow.

(65) THE WASHINGTON POST says the May 4th invitation came from Ivan Timofeev, a top official with the Russian International Affairs Council.

(66) One of the major government partners of the RIAC is the “Russian Institute for Strategic Studies,” then headed by Leonid Reshetnikov.

(67) As REUTERS notes, the spy-linked RISS is key, as it developed the Russian election-meddling campaign for PUTIN.  Putin-linked think tank drew up plan to sway 2016 US election – documents  April 19, 2017  Reuters

(68) RISS’s Chief hailed PAGE’s pre-RNC trip to Moscow, noting no meetings with top officials were *scheduled*, but they *might well occur*.

(69) So PAGE’s July 2016 Moscow trip—while he was on Trump’s Foreign Policy team and “may have been in a room with SECHIN”—was not innocent.

(70) Per THE WASHINGTON POST, we now know PAGE knew BEFORE going to Moscow that PUTIN and other Russian leaders wanted to meet a Trump aide.

(71) And when Trump’s campaign allowed PAGE to go to Moscow, they too knew that PUTIN and other Russian leaders wanted to meet a Trump aide.

(72)When SESSIONS, GORDON, and PHARES met with KISLYAK at the RNC, they knew PUTIN wanted ongoing negotiation and communication with TRUMP.

(73) When MANAFORT and GORDON lied on national TV about those meetings, they knew PUTIN was using KISLYAK to create a backchannel to TRUMP.

(74) And when KUSHNER was discussing a TRUMP-PUTIN backchannel with KISLYAK in December 2016, he’d known for 9 MONTHS that PUTIN wanted it.

(75) But let’s go back to May 4. On that date, CLOVIS said that for a Russia meetup to happen the campaign needed to “mitigate” some issues.

(76) CLOVIS (per THE WASHINGTON POST): “There are legal issues we need to mitigate, meeting with foreign officials as a private citizen.”

(77) So in a week—one week—all CLOVIS’ “NATO” objections were *gone*. Who had he spoken to in that week? Was it then-candidate Donald TRUMP?(78) We don’t know. But we know that CLOVIS, by May 4, was *willing for a Russian meeting to happen* if some “mitigation” could be arranged.

(78) We don’t know. But we know that CLOVIS, by May 4, was *willing for a Russian meeting to happen* if some “mitigation” could be arranged.

(79) So what did CLOVIS mean? Did he mean *only* a “private citizen” could conduct such a meeting, or *only* a private citizen could *not*?

(80) Certainly, we know that the Trump campaign emphasized, repeatedly, that PAGE was going to Moscow as a “private citizen.” (Their words.)

(81) This creates a catch-22 for TRUMP—if only private citizens can meet with Russian leadership, his aides concede PAGE was clear to do so.

(82) But if CLOVIS meant only private citizens *couldn’t* meet with the Russians, he’s saying ANYONE *in the campaign* was *clear* to do so.

(83) Understand PAPADOPOULOS wasn’t just himself insistent—he said “Russia” was, too. “Russia has been eager for some time,” he wrote May 4.

(84) So what was MANAFORT‘s response on May 4? MANAFORT, who was Campaign Manager, lived in Trump’s building, and who spoke with him hourly?

(85) MANAFORT only had ONE issue with the campaign’s furiously discussed plan to meet with “Russian leaders”: that Trump not do it himself.

(86) This is what we’d call “consciousness of guilt.” MANAFORT *knew* that the meetings were wrong and TRUMP needed “plausible deniability.”

(87) Guess which meeting with “Russian leadership” offered “plausible deniability” for everyone? PAGE going to Moscow to deliver a lecture.

(88) MANAFORT’s instructions met with an odd response from Rick GATES, who said he’d make the issue one of “non-importance” in the campaign.

(89) In campaign parlance, that didn’t mean a meet with the Russians wouldn’t happen, but that *all top brass would be left off the emails*.(90) So now MANAFORT is ensuring he and other top brass won’t get more emails on this topic. But then he *went to a meeting himself June 9*.

(90) So now MANAFORT is ensuring he and other top brass won’t get more emails on this topic. But then he *went to a meeting himself June 9*.

(91) MANAFORT’s attorneys already say—insanely—MANAFORT’s instructions show he didn’t want to be involved. Then why WAS he—just weeks later?

(92) So MANAFORT used email to carefully set up plausible deniability for Trump and the brass while *actually* becoming far *more* involved.

(92) Indeed, MANAFORT’s attorneys are claiming that MANAFORT’s emails constituted an attempt to “reject outright” Russian overtures. Uh, NO.

(93) Now let’s return to the PUTIN invitation itself, which was delivered by the RIAC, headed by *Igor IVANOV*, Sergey LAVROV’s predecessor.

(94) RIAC has a board that oversees key RIAC initiatives—like inviting a U.S. presidential candidate to come to Moscow to meet with PUTIN.

(95) (In case you were wondering, no such invitation—indeed, to be clear, no invitation of ANY kind—was delivered to the Clinton campaign.)

(96) Who else is on the RIAC board besides IVANOV? How about the Chairman of ALFA BANK—an associate of Mayflower speechwriter Richard BURT?

(97) So the man who helped write the Mayflower speech is teammates with the man who invited TRUMP to meet PUTIN on the BASIS of that speech.

(98) So: BURT’s speech is delivered on April 27 by TRUMP—and *hours later* an invitation to meet PUTIN comes from a BURT business colleague.

(99) This report from THE WASHINGTON POST changes *everything*, as it contextualizes all Trump-Russia timeline events in Spring/Summer 2016.(98) So: BURT’s speech is delivered on April 27 by TRUMP—and *hours later* an invitation to meet PUTIN comes from a BURT business colleague.

(100) Hopefully this thread helps establish just how *many* Trump campaign lies were exposed today. I hope you’ll RETWEET this thread. {end}

(PS) Goes without saying but I’ll say it anyway: within a month of Putin indicating he wanted a meeting, his agents got one–at TRUMP TOWER.

(PS2) Note the major Trump-Putin intermediaries–per the emailed plan–in fact ended up being “private citizens”: Don; Goldstone; Agalarov.

(PS3) Per the email plan, KUSHNER and MANAFORT managed to show up at a secret Russia meeting at TRUMP HQ without sending inculpatory emails.

(PS4) So at the June 9 meeting, MANAFORT *knew* he was at a follow-up to PUTIN’s interest in TRUMP’s Mayflower speech and “good deal” offer.

(PS5) MANAFORT *ran* the June 9 meeting, and if he was on his phone, it was only so TRUMP could hear what was being said–WITHOUT attending.

(PS6) (Don couldn’t/wouldn’t run a large international meeting when he wasn’t formally on campaign staff and Manafort was Campaign Manager.)

(3) Key items from the prior thread: a) Putin invited Trump aides to Moscow mere hours after hearing Trump’s “Mayflower Speech”; b) Trump…

(4) …and his campaign lied about the circumstances of the speech, *including* whether the campaign played a role in getting KISLYAK there.

(5) And c) The event was supposed to be at the NPC, but it was (for false reasons) canceled (for that venue) less than 48 hours beforehand.

(6) The cancellation was *so* late—and *so* odd—some coverage of the event online wrongly indicated its venue *was* the National Press Club.

(7) Here’s the “Russia section” of Trump’s first major foreign policy speech (with venue wrongly listed as the NPC):

(8) Note Trump’s *prelude* to the “Russia section”: he promises to be “generous” to those nations that “prove” they are “our”—his—”friends.”

(9) Because of the chaos surrounding the NPC cancellation, even some major institutions were fooled about where the event was being held.

(10) Here’s an example that’s going to be critical to this thread: the University of California at Santa Barbara. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=117813 

(11) The American Presidency Project at UCSB published Trump’s *anticipated* remarks for April 27th, 2016, though it noted the wrong venue.

(12) Here are the remarks that were prepared for and by Trump on the topic of Russia, likely *before* the sudden, inexplicable venue switch:

(13) Keep in mind the venue switch—over false security/crowd-size concerns—allowed TRUMP to meet KISLYAK at a VIP event before the speech.

(14) The switch allowed SESSIONS and MANAFORT to speak to KISLYAK, too. And let the TRUMP TEAM underscore to KISLYAK that *he* was the VIP.

(15) So here is what TRUMP *added* to his remarks, right after he’d met KISLYAK at a VIP event and KISLYAK had been seated in the front row:

(16) (a) TRUMP was *supposed* to say that an easing of tensions was “possible.” TRUMP ad-libbed here, saying it was “ABSOLUTELY possible.”

(17) (b) TRUMP was *supposed* to refer to a “cycle of hostility” with Russia. TRUMP ad-libbed—saying it was a “HORRIBLE cycle of hostility.”

(18) (c) TRUMP was supposed to just say, “the cycle of hostility must end.” He *added* “and IDEALLY would end SOON—good for BOTH countries.”

(19) (d) And the big one: TRUMP was *supposed* to say, “If we can’t make a good deal for America, then we will quickly walk from the table.”

(20) Here TRUMP changed the Teleprompter content *substantially*. This is what TRUMP actually said to KISLYAK—sitting as a VIP 10 feet away:

21) [Text below]:

(22) Again, compare this to what he was *supposed* to say:

(23) Later Trump discussed sanctions, and was supposed to say, “Our power will be used if others do not play by the rules.”

 

(24) He added, “In other words, if they do not treat us fairly”—echoing “we must only be GENEROUS to those that PROVE they are OUR FRIENDS.”

 

(25) Remember: as this was happening—the same day—a high-ranking Trump foreign policy team member was communicating with Russian leadership.

(26) George PAPADOPOULOS would tell the top brass later that day that, post-speech, PUTIN issued an invite for TEAM TRUMP to come to Moscow.

(27) There’s no doubt Trump’s edits reflect his mind—note that this is *exactly* the argument the media is now making about Charlottesville.

(28) Trump’s “on many sides” edit to his planned speech on Charlottesville has been *national news* for four days now—and *rightly so*, too.

(29) Media *must* report that Trump’s “GOOD DEAL FOR RUSSIA” promise at the Mayflower Hotel was added to his speech *after* meeting KISLYAK.

(30) Trump promising PUTIN “a good deal” led to an *immediate* invite to Moscow by PUTIN *and*—in 45 days—a *Trump-Russia Trump Tower meet*.

(31) Media can go back and see MANAFORT saying the NPC had security issues that made a speech there impossible and confirm that it’s false.

(32) Media can go back and see MANAFORT saying “crowd size” made holding an event at the NPC impossible and confirm that that too was false.

(33) The ballroom at the Mayflower the event was held in (*not* the biggest one, as some thought) was *far smaller* than the NPC auditorium.

(34) And the crowd that showed up to the event was in *no way whatsoever* even *close* to the crowd size that could’ve fit in the NPC room.

(35) The crowd estimates MANAFORT gave the press in explaining the switch were off by *hundreds*. So: why the Mayflower? For the VIP suites.

(36) The suites allowed KISLYAK—who KUSHNER had just spoken to by phone—to be a VIP and attend a VIP hour with TRUMP, SESSIONS and MANAFORT.

(37) This is the *context* within which Trump’s selective/100% *pro-Russia* “edits” made their way into his now infamous “Mayflower Speech.”

(38) So, a message to U.S. media: if Trump’s “edits” reveal what he *really* thinks and wants *now*, the *same was true* on April 27, 2016.

(39) I want to know—and media should want to know; surely, Americans want to know—why TRUMP offered a “good deal with Russia” *on the spot*.

(40) I’ve said the Trump-Russia collusion in 2016—legally, a *conspiracy*—will in history be called The Mayflower Affair. THIS is why. {end}

(PS2) Trump says U.S.-Russia hostilities can “absolutely” end “soon” and “we’re going to find out” (presumably soon) who “our” friends are.

(PS3) These were things said by a *candidate* for the presidency, many months before the RNC, while knowing the Russians wanted to meet him.

(PS4) I want to *underscore* this was an *offer to negotiate* by a man who a) knew PUTIN wanted to, b) subsequently sent SESSIONS to do so.

(PS5) The info we have strongly suggests PAGE, GORDON, KUSHNER and FLYNN were *four other negotiators* used by TRUMP from Spring ’16 onward.

(PS6) It was *at the Mayflower event* that entreaties by the Russians to PAPADOPOULOS were *finally acknowledged* by TRUMP *and* TEAM TRUMP.

(PS7) The coming together of TEAM TRUMP, TRUMP, and oil-gas advocates MCFARLANE and BURT made *clear* this was an oil/sanctions negotiation.

(PS8) Perhaps this is why MCFARLANE reappeared *at Trump Tower* on December 7 to meet with FLYNN as the ROSNEFT deal was closing in Russia.

(PS9) Perhaps this is why the same ITALIAN AMBASSADOR who was at the Mayflower with TRUMP also met with PUTIN, SECHIN and the ROSNEFT brass.

(PS10) And perhaps this is why TRUMP, TEAM TRUMP and right-wing media continue to react with fear and horror at any mention of Chris STEELE.

 

June 9, 2016 Trump Tower

At 4 PM, Donald Trump Jr.  met with Russians to receive dirt on Clinton from a Russian Government source. Also present: Manafort, Kushner, Russian Attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya, also lawyer to Prevezon/Denis Katsyv, a money launderer whose Preet Bharara (fired US Attorney)case was dropped in May 2017 by Jeff Sessions  Business Insider.  This case developed into the Magnitsky Act,and Velenitskaya has been lobbying to remove the sanctions imposed for human rights violations with the American-Russian lobbyist and suspected spy Rinat Akhmetshin, “18-year-old draftee for two years in a unit of the Soviet military that had responsibility for law enforcement issues as well as some counterintelligence matters.” Washington Post  Also present, the translator Anatoli Samochornov. The meeting arranged over many months by Rob Goldstone, British music promoter for Russian Real EstateTycoon Aras Agalarov‘s son, Emin, a Russian-Azerbaijani pop singer. 

Yury Chaika, fighting Bill Browder’s Magnitsky Act with Agalarov, may have been a source for Clinton kompromat: “These schemes were masterminded by US special services and organized by the US citizen who is now a subject of the United Kingdom, William Browder,” Chaika wrote in Kommersant. “This person knows about our probes and he fears them.” Even in this effort, [Yury] Chaika had a friend stand by his side. Aras Agalarov, the very Trump associate whose meeting with the “crown prosecutor” set Trump Jr. on the chase for anti-Hillary kompromat, went to bat for Chaika in the pages of Kommersant. He purchased an article attacking Navalny and downplaying the corruption alleged in the documentary.” The Daily Beast

Natalia Veselnitskaya tried to turn a Swiss top investigator in Moscow in December 2016.

Russian American lobbyist was present at Trump Jr.’s meeting with Kremlin-connected lawyer

Here’s what we know so far about Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a Russian lawyer during his father’s presidential campaign in June 2016.(Video: Elyse Samuels, Jenny Starrs/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

By Rosalind S. Helderman and Tom Hamburger July 14, 2017 “A Russian American lobbyist and veteran of the Soviet military said Friday that he attended a June 2016 meeting between President Trump’s oldest son and a Kremlin-connected lawyer.

The presence of Rinat Akhmetshin adds to the potential seriousness of the Trump Tower gathering that is emerging this week as the clearest evidence so far of interactions between Trump campaign officials and Russian interests.”Washington PostEx-Soviet Spy Confirms He Also Met with Trump Jr.  The Donnygate saga just took another remarkable turn.  Vanity Fair  ABIGAIL TRACY JULY 14, 2017, which turned out to be Rinat Akhmetshin after all.

Seemingly rebuffed attempted contact in January 2016: Konstantin Sidorkov, director of partnership marketing for Vkontakte, or VK, Russia’s equivalent to Facebookwith a White Nationalist Europeanfollowing, a Trump Campaign VK page through through Rob Goldstone. Sidorkov emailed Trump Jr. and Dan Scavino in January, and Goldstone replied on January19th, with a second attempt on November 5, 2016. Russian social media executive sought to help Trump campaign in 2016, emails show Washington Post By Rosalind S. Helderman, Anton Troianovski, Tom Hamburger December 7, 2017

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.”

The Daily Callerbroke news of another attendee: “Anatoli Samochornov, a Russia-born professional translatorwho 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 confirmedafter NBC’s report that the Russian-American lobbyist is Rinat Akhmetshin”

The Email Chain was released by Don Jr. on Twittera few hours after Julian Assange said he encouraged it. Links to these Tweets containing email correspondence are on the Don Jr. page.

June 3, 2016 at 10:36 AM From Rob Goldstone  “Good morning Emin just called asked me to contact you with something very interesting. The Crown prosecutor of Russiamet with his father Aras this morning and in their meeting offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russian and would be very useful to your father. This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump– helped along by Aras and Emin. What do you think is the best way to handle this information and would you be able to speak to Emin about it directly? I can also send this info to your father via Rhona, but it is ultra sensitive so wanted to send to you first.”

June 3, 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, 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”

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 25^thfloor.”

June 8, 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.”

@SethAbramsonExplains Trump’s response to the June 9 meeting.

(THREAD) Trump’s legal spokesman’s resignation raises, in hindsight, concerns Trump attended or knew of the infamous June 9, 2016 meeting.

8:18 AM – 1 Aug 2017

(1) JULY 11: Trump’s legal spokesman, Mark Corallo, tells America that “The President was not aware of and did not attend the meeting.”

(2) Here’s a POLITICO report quoting Corallo saying that Trump neither knew of or attended the June 9, 2016 meeting:  Trump breaks silence as son walloped in Russia scandal PoliticoThe president calls Donald Trump Jr. a ‘high-quality person’ as his son faces intensifying scrutiny for meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer during the campaign.  07/11/2017

(3) JULY 20: Just nine days after telling America that Trump neither attended nor knew about the June 9, 2016 meeting, Mark Corallo resigns.

(4) One of the three reasons Corallo gives for suddenly quitting as Trump’s legal spokesman is that he’s discovered HE IS BEING LIED TO.

 

(5) Here’s the POLITICO piece revealing Corallo resigned in substantial part because he found he was being lied to.

Spokesman for Trump’s legal team resigns just two months after starting  Mark Corallo had grown frustrated with operation and warring factions, sources say. Politico07/20/2017

(6) JULY 31: 11 days after Corallo resigns, WP drops a bombshell: Trump himself wrote Don’s statement about June 9.

Trump dictated son’s misleading statement on meeting with Russian lawyer  Washington Post Play Video2:00

President Trump personally intervened to write Donald Trump Jr. statement

President Trump personally dictated a statement that was issued after revelations that Donald Trump Jr. met with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 election. The Washington Post’s Philip Rucker and Carol D. Leonnig explain.(Video: Bastien Inzaurralde/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) July 31

(7) AUGUST 1: CNN notes that Trump’s claim he didn’t know of the meeting now don’t fit the timeline as we know it. The 5 key questions on Trump’s role in his son’s statement on the Russia meetingCNN

(8) If Trump knew *nothing* of the meeting, he shouldn’t have had the details of the meeting he had on Air Force One when the story broke.

(9) We know from contemporaneous reporting Trump was at Trump Tower on June 9 working through anti-Hillary intel with Manafort and Kushner.

(10) Trump was, specifically, working on June 9 on his upcoming big speech about Clinton, which he promised would have a lot of dirt on her.

(11) He says the men he was working on a topic with went to a meet ON THAT TOPIC, IN HIS BUILDING, WHILE HE WAS THERE, and never told him.

(12) One of the men is his son-in-law, the other his then-Campaign Manager. It would be *astounding* if they kept *this* meeting from him.

(13) Given what Trump was working on then (HRC dirt) and what Don was told the meet was about (HRC dirt), Trump had to know it was going on.

(14) He could’ve attended in person, via speakphone, via intermediaries coming to and from the meeting. Or simply been told of it that day.

(15) Corallo’s resignation and the WP story, put together, suggest Corallo may have been lied to about what Trump knew of the meet and when.

(16) Certainly, Corallo’s July 11 claim Trump knew nothing of the June 9 meeting was his biggest and most public statement as Trump’s spox.

(17) On July 11, Corallo was okay making his biggest-ever statement for Trump. By July 20, he’d found he was being lied to on something key.

(18) What the media now suspects Trump lied about is the very statement Corallo made on Trump’s behalf on July 11. So a connection emerges.

(19) Putin’s top policy issue was discussed on June 9. If Trump knew of the meet at the time, he knew his team was negotiating with Putin.

(20) Corallo’s resignation—and the reason for it—thus becomes one of the great questions of interest in the United States (and world) today.

(PS) And Trump in a June 7 speech promised America exactly the sort of HRC dirt his son had just confirmed he was expecting to get June 9th.

(PS2) We already know Trump lied about *both* the June 9 meeting and what he knew of it. It’s now only a question of the *size* of his lie.

(PS3) & new claims Trump helped orchestrate the Rich story underscore there may be no limit to the size of his lies when it comes to Russia.

(PS4) And don’t forget that Trump sent out a tweet *immediately* after the infamous June 9th meeting that appeared connected to its content.

 September 8, 2016

“Justice officials said Sessionsmet with Kislyakon Sept. 8 in his capacity as a member of the armed services panel rather than in his role as a Trump campaign surrogate.” Washington Post

DECEMBER 1, 2016, TRUMP TOWER, NEW YORK CITY

“Kushner said this meeting involved Kislyakand Michael Flynn, who would later become Trump’s national security adviser, and lasted between 20 minutes and a half-hour.

In his statement, Kushner denied media reports that said he discussed with Kislyak a secret back-channel for communications.

Instead, Kushner said, Kislyak asked him if there was a secure line for him to convey to Trump administration officials information about Syria that he said was coming from his “generals.”

Kushner said that given the importance of Syria and the “ongoing humanitarian crisis,” he asked if there was an existing communications channel at the Russian Embassy that Kislyak felt comfortable using to relay information to Flynn.

“The Ambassador said that would not be possible and so we all agreed that we would receive this information after the Inauguration,” Kushner said. “Nothing else occurred. I did not suggest a ‘secret back channel.’”

Flynn was forced to resign in February after White House officials said he had misled them about whether he had discussed sanctions with Kislyak in a phone call.” PBS News Hour

Natalia Veselnitskaya, who appeared in the June 9 Trump Tower meeting, tried to recruit one of Switzerland’s top investigatorsin December 2016, “set up by Russian Deputy Attorney General Saak Albertovich Karapetyan—from the same rogue department that was apparently responsible for offering intel on Hillary Clinton to be shared at the Trump Tower meeting and the Kremlin’s further plots to influence U.S. politics.” The Daily Beast

December 13, 2016, NYC, KUSHNER & Sergey GORKOV of VEB Bank

“Kushnersaid he attended a meeting in New York with a Russian banker, Sergey Gorkov, after being asked to do so by Kislyak.

He said Gorkov introduced himself and provided him with two gifts: a bag of dirt from a village in Belarus where Kushner’s grandparents were from and a piece of art from the same location. He said Gorkov discussed his bank and the Russian economy and described himself as friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But Kushner insisted that the meeting had nothing to do with his work as a businessman. He said the men did not discuss sanctions against Russia or anything about “my companies, business transactions, real estate projects, loans, banking arrangements or any private business of any kind.”

“I did not know or have any contact with Mr. Gorkov before that meeting, and I have had no reason to connect with him since,” Kushner said.”PBS News Hour

Late December 2016, NYC-Kushner, Flynn, Bannon, Abu Dhabi’s Zayed planning January 11.

Blackwater founder held secret Seychelles meeting to establish Trump-Putin back channel  Washington Post  April 3, 2017

“The Seychelles meeting came after separate private discussions in New York involving high-ranking representatives of Trump with both Moscow and the Emirates.

The White House has acknowledged that Michael T. Flynn, Trump’s original national security adviser, and Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner met with the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, in late November or early December in New York.

Flynn and Kushner were joined by Bannon for a separate meeting with the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who made an undisclosed visit to New York later in December, according to the U.S., European and Arab officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

In an unusual breach of protocol, the UAE did not notify the Obama administration in advance of the visit, though officials found out because Zayed’s name appeared on a flight manifest.

Officials said Zayed and his brother, the UAE’s national security adviser, coordinated the Seychelles meeting with Russian government officials with the goal of establishing an unofficial back channel between Trump and Putin.”

January 11, 2017, Erik Prince’s Seychelles Backchannel

“Erik Prince, founder of private military company Blackwater, and sister to unsharpened pencil Betsy DeVos, met several times with top Donald Trump aides before and after the election, Bloomberg reports. Prince advised the transition team on anti-terrorism policy, intelligence agency restructuring, and staff appointments. In his own words, Prince’s advisory role was unofficial but “significant.”

Earlier in April, Prince made headlines for arranging a secret January meeting (January 11, 2017 with Sergey Kislyak)with a senior Kremlin official in the Seychelles islands, an alleged attempt to establish a private backchannel for U.S.-Russian diplomacy. Prince, who donated $250,000post-national convention to Trump’s presidential campaign, the national party, and a pro-Trump super PAC, told Washington Post that the meeting, which is being investigated by the FBI as part of a probe into Russian election interference, “had nothing to do with President Trump.”

Sources said Prince’s main point of contact with the Trump camp was former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who was dismissed for illegally discussing sanctionswith Russia before inauguration. Prince also reportedly spent a train ride in November critiquing the intelligence community with Kellyanne Conway and current National Security Council member Kevin Harrington. Sure sounds like someone who played somerole in the transition, if not directly served it as a shadow diplomat.” DeathandTaxesMag.com

“The United Arab Emirates arranged a secret meeting in January between Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a Russian close to President Vladi­mir Putin as part of an apparent effort to establish a back-channel line of communication between Moscow and President-elect Donald Trump, according to U.S., European and Arab officials.” Washington Post

January 18, 2017: Devin Nunes attended a breakfast with Michael Flynn and Turkey’s foreign minister just before the inauguration 

Devin Nunes, “Michael Flynn, then the incoming national security adviser, and Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Turkish foreign minister”

Business Insider   Natasha BertrandNovember 10, 2017

The Peace Plan, Loews Hotel, NYC Late January 2017

A Back-Channel Plan for Ukraine and Russia, Courtesy of Trump Associates, NY TimesFebruary 19, 2017

“It was late January when the three men associated with the proposed plan converged on the Loews Regency, a luxury hotel on Park Avenue in Manhattan where business deals are made in a lobby furnished with leather couches, over martinis at the restaurant bar and in private conference rooms on upper floors…. Mr. Flynn is gone, having been caught lying about his own discussion of sanctions with the Russian ambassador. But the proposal, a peace plan for Ukraine and Russia, remains, along with those pushing it: Michael D. Cohen, the president’s personal lawyer, who delivered the document; Felix H. Sater, a business associate who helped Mr. Trump scout deals in Russia; and a Ukrainian lawmaker trying to rise in a political opposition movement shaped in part by Mr. Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort….But the proposal contains more than just a peace plan. Andrii V. Artemenko, the Ukrainian lawmaker, who sees himself as a Trump-style leader of a future Ukraine, claims to have evidence — “names of companies, wire transfers” — showing corruption by the Ukrainian president, Petro O. Poroshenko, that could help oust him. And Mr. Artemenko said he had received encouragement for his plans from top aides to Mr. Putin.” NY Times

Alex Oronov,a Ukrainian billionaire businessman who was connected by marriage to Michael Cohen, Trump’s longtime lawyer and associate, died unexpectedly on March 2, 2017. Oronov’s daughter was married to Cohen’s brother. Oronov reportedly set up a January 2017 meeting between Cohen and Russian officials to discuss a possible “peace plan” between Russia and Ukraine that would have formalized Putin’s control over Crimea. The New York Times reported that Michael Cohen hand delivered this peace proposal  to Michael Flynnone week prior to his forced resignation.

British Virgin Islands, March 10, 2017

Robert Mercer‘s “Sea Owl” yacht is seen next to Dmitry Rybolovlev‘s “Anna” Palm Beach Post

Oval Office, May 10, 2017 

The strange Oval Office meeting between Trump, Lavrov and Kislyak By Julie Vitkovskayaand Amanda Erickson May 10, 2017 Washington Post “Although the encounter betweenTrump, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak took place in the center of American power, it was Tass, the official Russian news agency, that had the pictures.”