Investigators Are Scrutinizing Newly Uncovered Payments By The Russian Embassy

[pnwmom]

Source: BuzzFeed News

Officials investigating the Kremlin’s interference in the 2016 US presidential election are scrutinizing newly uncovered financial transactions between the Russian government and people or businesses inside the United States.

Records exclusively reviewed by BuzzFeed News also show years of Russian financial activity within the US that bankers and federal law enforcement officials deemed suspicious, raising concerns about how the Kremlin’s diplomats operated here long before the 2016 election.

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, charged with investigating Russian election interference and possible collusion by the Trump campaign, is examining these transactions and others by Russian diplomatic personnel, according to a US official with knowledge of the inquiry. The special counsel has broad authority to investigate “any matters” that “may arise” from his investigation, and the official said Mueller’s probe is following leads on suspicious Russian financial activity that may range far beyond the election.

The transactions reveal:

One of the people at the center of the investigation, the former Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak, received $120,000 ten days after the election of Donald Trump. Bankers flagged it to the US government as suspicious in part because the transaction, marked payroll, didn’t fit prior pay patterns.

Read more: https://www.buzzfeed.com/jasonleopold/newly-uncovered-russian-payments-are-a-focus-of-election?utm_term=.dskxzLAm0#.ydXvBpJZl

[Javaman]

1. I have been saying this for a very long time, this investigation will find

that the russian influence is systemic through out our political system. with the vast majority of it by the repukes.

[Irish_Dem]

3. I have been saying the same thing. I think the corruption is wide and deep.

Russia cultivated more than one Russian asset.
If I was Putin, I would have targeted all three branches of government and the media.

[PSPS]

24. McClatchy did a piece last year on kremlin money going to Ryan. McConnell, Scott Walker and others.

[Hortensis]

30. To political PACs benefiting them. Of course, Repubs

were the ones who wrote federal laws making all this legal and possible... They also, of course, brought cases like Citizens United to conservatives on SCOTUS to make it all legal and possible.

[Iliyah]

51. And many other GOPers as well

That's why GOPers are trying to stop Mueller's investigation. Also, EC's were rigged.

[Eliot Rosewater]

29. And the idea that they did all this and then sat back on election day and let YOU (me, etc)

decide who would be elected is ABSURD!

Russians have hundreds of undercover spies here, some have been here for decades, some BORN here.

They work in computer labs, they work at voting precincts, are politicians and work in the media.

How naive are we? Hillary didnt go from a sizable lead, even after comey did what he did, to losing , did not happen

[Botany]

2. Paying off the Bots' Facebook and Twitter accounts

Russia rigged our elections with the help of Team Trump, the GOP, parts of the FBI,
and much of the media.

[iluvtennis]

4. +++ Agree

[Irish_Dem]

5. Yes, parts of the FBI are corrupt. It would be a stroke of genius for Putin to have used

and cultivated them to further his agenda.

[Botany]

6. I don't know if corrupt is the right word about parts of the FBI* ...

.... more like they are right wing agents and if working with and or ignoring Russia's
actions during the elections gets their goals done then they are/were fine w/that.

* NYC's FBI office, Rudy G., and Eric Prince.

[lark]

9. Semantics.

I think any FBI members who worked with Russia and who lied to hurt Clinton's chances are by definition corrupt. They are working against our country's best interests to further the rw and Russian goals, and subvert our used to be liberal democracy.

[PatSeg]

12. And then throughout it all

is the money. Clearly the Russians have been using money to buy what and who they want. Then they can add a dash of blackmail for good measure. They are pros at this sort of thing and they have the money and resources to implement it. We have the gullible and greedy stooges who fall for it. Putin must be so thrilled with himself.

[Irish_Dem]

14. Putin should be thrilled, he did a brilliant job of subverting American democracy

without firing a shot.

He is an evil genius.

[PatSeg]

17. He truly is

The world is an elaborate game board to him and he is a master player. Plus he has great patience. He planted seeds years ago and waited for them to sprout. The KGB taught him well.

[Irish_Dem]

20. Yes exactly, he played the long game. He mastered KGB lessons

and applied them to a global strategy. He has targeted Europe as well.

He truly is a genius, a maniacal one, but a genius.

Edited to add: No wonder Obama hates Putin, Obama is a good genius.

[brush]

28. Agreed. Look for a Putin-ese cyber villian in a future Bond movie.

[Irish_Dem]

44. One where Russia and China take over the world. nt

[bluestarone]

36. Obama had putin by the balls BUT

DIPSHIT tRUMP released him! I give FULL RESPECT to OBAMA (HE KNEW FOR SURE)

[Irish_Dem]

45. I think Obama had Putin's number big time.

He tried to warn the GOP and they didn't care.
I often wonder what Obama thought when he left those meetings with the GOP
who didn't care what Putin was doing to the US.

He was probably disappointed, but not surprised.

[PatSeg]

41. Americans

both in politics and in business rarely play the long game. Quick fixes, instant gratification, and short-sightedness plague us as a nation.

Obama really did have Putin's number and no wonder Putin hated Obama in return!

[Irish_Dem]

46. China is the absolute best at the long game.

And they have a dictatorship so they can also get a lot done in a short period of time.
They can set very high goals and attain them on time or before.

America is the opposite, cannot do anything in a timely manner.
Cannot set goals and reach them.
And has no long term planning ability or patience.

[PatSeg]

49. I agree

It is very frustrating.

[Irish_Dem]

50. Yes, but we have to accept that the US is losing its status as sole superpower.

And there is nothing that we can do about it.
China, Russia, India, Africa will rise in status and we will fall.

Our leadership is corrupt and unwilling to govern.
They serve only themselves.

Obama was moral, ethical, and smart and did what he could.
But he could not overcome the essential problem that congress
refuses to govern. Even his own party gave him a hard time
when he tried to pass health care legislation.

[PatSeg]

52. I have been thinking the same thing

Just saying how "great" we are, will not make it so. The only thing that would appear to make us a superpower would probably be our military, but I think we are in rapid decline. Our middle class is evaporating, our infrastructure is crumbling, our government can't govern, our schools can't educate, and our leaders are corrupt and incompetent.

Either this is the beginning of the end or the start of a revolution.

[Irish_Dem]

53. China and India have larger armies than we do, we are #3 and NK is #4.

So just being a strong military force does not determine super power status.

The other points you raise are right on, these are the reasons we are not going
to be a superpower much longer.

I do not think the Americans have the will or stomach for a revolution. They
are kept docile by an intense propaganda program, and trying to survive
economically.

[PatSeg]

54. People in this country

became more absorbed with consumerism and mass media quite some time ago. The dystopia of futuristic science fiction is becoming a reality. Our best prophets often are science fiction writers. So many warnings, yet so few heeded.

[Irish_Dem]

55. I agree, sci fi writers nailed it. American dystopia here we are.

America lost its way some time ago.
And we are going to be left behind.
Because we are a backward, racist, violent country with corrupt leaders.

[Eliot Rosewater]

31. And he has 45 million Americans actively supporting him , rooting for him (PUtin) to

steal more elections.

[Irish_Dem]

47. You gotta hand it to Putin, he even gets millions of Americans actively supporting him

and Russian interference.

[Irish_Dem]

22. If they didn't work with Putin, they laid the groundwork for him.

Putin could not have made so much progress without the right wing zealots
doing the heavy lifting.

[Irish_Dem]

10. Putin is well known for using people in such a way they don't know they are being used.

The FBI broke the law (Hatch Act) and acted in an unethical way that directly benefits Putin.

But yes, I agree, we don't know if it was direct or indirect collaboration with Putin.

[Botany]

11. The whole GOP/Putin/Trump infection is wide and deep and God only knows how big it is

But one thing we can be sure of is that the GOP/Trump/and parts of the media
are trying to cover "it" up or change the subject.

[Irish_Dem]

13. If I were Putin I would have bought some media assets.

And some key talking heads.

[Botany]

15. I might be wrong but I think Fox News is now working for Trump/Putin

R.T. and Jill Stein are both bought and paid for by Russia/Putin.

[Irish_Dem]

16. I do not think you are wrong. Putin is using a global network of propaganda.

There was an article in the NYT about it last year.

[BadgerMom]

23. Example

Last week on Fox Tucker Carlson told the lie that California is the nation’s most poverty stricken state. Cue Russia Today stating this week that there is a movement afoot to divide California because people here are so dissatisfied. It’s Fox working with RT, I think. Wendi Deng has some great kompromat on Rupert.

[Irish_Dem]

48. Of course, they have to divide a successful blue state which is a threat to the GOP.

And to the unity of the country.
Benefits Putin and the GOP.

I think Putin has assets in the media.

[bucolic_frolic]

7. This is Super Power espionage being played out on a global scale

We've been at this since post WWI, or even the early 1900s

The big world events - armistaces that ended wars, the Berlin Wall, the fall of the U.S.S.R. - they didn't end espionage or the advantages that espionage tries to capture. The interests behind the espionage just morphed into another group or went underground, and kept on ticking.

Infiltration aside, somewhere along the line we let our guard down.

[BigmanPigman]

18. Is this a new Cold War or is it the same

one that Putin was/is still fighting or just updated with newer technology to use as a weapon?

[Hortensis]

33. I'd say it was a new one, wouldn't you? Russia was defeated/failed

devastatingly but has been hurting from loss of its empire and superpower status ever since. New realities, new leaders, new weapons. Like Germany in the 1930s.

[BigmanPigman]

42. I have to agree with you.

This is a new situation with some of the same attitudes, tactics and even players. They are still our enemy and those in the US government are traitors for working with them and their interests. When they are caught there is no just punishment in their future though. Many will never face charges and if they do they will get off with little more than a slap on the wrist. When half the country isn't even pressuring the GOP and the admin to implement the signed sanctions or concerned about ongoing collusion and future election fraud in 6 months it will continue unfettered. Americans aren't taking this "new" Cold War seriously enough.

[Hortensis]

43. Well, we'll see. A lot of people go to prison we never

hear about, not secret, just arrested years after for crimes hard to explain to readers in articles in back pages, tried and sentenced later still.

And that was before 2016 and investigation into Russia's aggression in the news every day. I really do think this will be different, though of course it will turn out that many laws are inadequate, and even more of course some will be able to use power to avoid prosecution.

[brush]

32. They went online...bots, facebook, Assange, etc. They were ahead of us in that area.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. Thank you pnwmom for staying on Trump-Russia, bringing us important developments all the time. . nt

[pnwmom]

19. You're very welcome, Bernardo! nt

[lagomorph777]

21. Uh-oh. Some likely benficiaries, in my opinion:

The Turd Organization
Dustbin Nunes
Mitch McTurtle
Dana Russiabacker

[FakeNoose]

26. Sure but this is "only " $120K in cash

That's not going very far with this crowd. These guys are taking big money from the likes of Robert Mercer and the Koches. If this cash transfer to Kislyak turns out to be one of many, then OK maybe it's GOP payoff money of some kind.

But if this is the only one Kislyak got, then maybe it's his annual bonus or something. Maybe Putin gave all his honchos bonuses when Trump won the election. Further investigation is needed to know for sure.

[brush]

34. That 120k was meant for specific targets. Just a few thousand can buy some people.

I doubt it's the only money Kislyak and others distributed.

[FakeNoose]

35. We already know that Lindsay Graham got $800,000 last year

He didn't even run for office, so that's small potatoes. They guys who got re-elected, I'm sure they took more than that from the Russians. Every penny was illegal, so why did they take it? What did they do for it?

[brush]

37. I believe you. They're probably being cultivated for future use just as trump was.

[lagomorph777]

39. The $120k probably was for Kislyak as a performance bonus

when Turd won.

I'll bet there are truckloads of Roubles that Mueller is tracking.

[FakeNoose]

40. Yep it was his Christmas bonus

[not fooled]

27. Great names!

Dana Russiabacker.




The pukes are pathetic. Vicious, but pathetic.

[NCjack]

38. Nunes is sweating bullets that there is a receipt with his name on it. nt

[L. Coyote]

25. k & r