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Why is the infamous Trump Tower meeting between top Trump Campaign officials and Russian operatives in the summer of 2016 so important? First we must understand The Magnitsky Act & Bill Browder.
Bill Browder is the reason the Magnitsky Act was enacted.[1] Sanctions against Russian Oligarchs allied with President Vladimir Putin were enacted specifically to put pressure on Putin’s authoritative style of governance.[2] Putin cares about these sanctions because they hurt the relationships he’s cultivated with corrupt, powerful officials in the country.[3] The Magnitsky Act was discussed at the now infamous Trump Tower Meeting.[4] Russia banned Americans from adopting Russian children in retaliation against the sanctions.
I recommend watching Bill Browder’s Senate Congressional testimony. He paints an incredible picture of how the Russian government operates and provides a motive for the Russians to work with the Trump campaign.[5]
If you would like the read the Magnitsky Act legislation;
H.R.6156 – Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012[6]
S.284 – Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act of 2015/2016[7]
June 9, 2016 – A month before candidate Trump publicly asked for help from a foreign adversary, his surrogates met with Russian operatives at the now infamous Trump Tower meeting. They discussed the Magnistky Act. One operative was working under the direction of the Russian Deputy Attorney General who died in the helicopter accident. The other operative has ties to Russian intelligence and has been accused of orchestrating hacking campaigns.
One of the Russian operatives, Natalia Veselnitskaya, is an outspoken opponent of the Magnitsky Act.[8] Trump Jr. admitted to discussing adoptions, which means they discussed Russian sanctions. While the Kremlin has vehemently denied Veselnitskaya working for the Russian government, Swiss authorities allege that she was involved in an attempt to enlist a foreign country’s law enforcement agent as a double-agent to work for the Russians.[9] She did this on behalf of Russian Deputy Attorney General Saak Albertovich Karapetyan. Moreover, in 2017 at the G20 summit Putin and Trump discussed adoptions and the Magnitsky Act.[10] The other Russian operative present at the infamous Trump Tower meeting, Rinat Akhmetshin, has ties to Russian intelligence and has a history of being embroiled in court cases related to hacking campaigns.[11]
July 27, 2016 Candidate Trump looked directly at the camera and publicly asked Russia for their help to find Hillary Clinton’s missing emails, the Russian military intelligence (GRU) hacked the Clinton campaign thereafter.
During a campaign rally in Florida on July 27, 2016, President Trump called on Russia to help him find Hillary Clinton’s missing 30,000 emails.[12] Special Counsel Mueller’s indictment against 12 Russian Intelligence Officers found that on July 27, 2016 Russian hackers known as Guccifer 2.0 hacked the Clinton campaign.[13]
DoJ Indictment of 12 Russian Intelligence Officers Pg. 7 – 8
The Conspirators spearphished individuals affiliated with the Clinton Campaign throughout the summer of 2016. For example, on or about July 27, 2016, the Conspirators attempted after hours to spearphish for the first time email accounts at a domain hosted by a thirdparty provider and used by Clinton’s personal office. At or around the same time, they also targeted seventy-six email addresses at the domain for the Clinton Campaign.
August 22, 2017 Glenn Simpson testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee that the Trump campaign accepted regular intelligence from the Kremlin during the 2016 campaign.
The Senate Judiciary committee testimony of Fusion GPS CEO Glenn Simpson claims that that the Trump campaign received foreign intelligence aid during the 2016 campaign.[14]
Pg. 154 – 155 Senate Judiciary Committee Testimony
A. I mean, one of the key lines here in the second paragraph says “However, he and his inner circle have accepted a regular flow of intelligence from the Kremlin, including on his democratic and other political rivals.” So the issue with the Trump Tower meeting, as 1 I understand it, is that the Trump people were eager to accept intelligence from a foreign government about their political rivals and that is, you know, I would say, a form of interference. If you’re getting help from a foreign government and your help is intelligence, then the foreign government’s interfering. I mean, you know, I think that also — of course, in retrospect we now know this was pretty right on target in terms on what it says. So anyway —
Q. In reference to you think that particular sentence?
A. I mean, it clearly refers to, you know, them being interested in and willing to — it depicts them as accepting information. What we have seen to date with the disclosures this year is they were at a minimum super interested in getting information.
Q. And when you’re referencing the “disclosures this year,” could you just be specific about that.
A. The Trump Tower meeting.
Q. So with reference to the June 9th Trump Tower meeting?
A. Yes. Yes.
In the summer of 2017 President Trump discussed adoptions with Vladimir Putin during a second, undisclosed meeting between the two leaders at the Group of 20 Summit. Adoptions is a euphemism for Russian sanctions.^[15]
Trump told the Times it was “interesting” that the topic of adoptions came up in the Putin conversation.
“I actually talked about Russian adoption with him [Putin],” he said, “Which is interesting because it was a part of the conversation that Don had in that meeting.”
Multiple news outlets reported Tuesday that Trump and Putin spoke in July at the end of a couples dinner in the main room of the G-20 summit, where dinner was held following their two-hour bilateral meeting earlier that day.
- Washington Post – The Magnitsky Act, explained
- The Atlantic – Why Does the Kremlin Care So Much About the Magnitsky Act?
- Politico – The Putin Obsession That Led to Trump Jr.’s Meeting
- New York Times – Talking Points Brought to Trump Tower Meeting Were Shared With Kremlin
- CSPAN – Browder Senate Judiciary Testimony
- H.R.6156 – Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012
- S.284 – Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act
- New York Times – Trump Team Met With Lawyer Linked to Kremlin During Campaign
- Committee to Investigate Russia – Veselnitskaya Linked to Russian Government in Swiss Case
- BBC – Why did Putin talk to Trump about ‘adoption’?
- New York Times – Lobbyist at Trump Campaign Meeting Has a Web of Russian Connections
- New York Times – Donald Trump Calls on Russia to Find Hillary Clinton’s Missing Emails, July 28, 2016
- U.S. Department of Justice indictment of 12 Russian Intelligence Officers
- Senate Judiciary Committee – Glenn Simpson Fusion GPS CEO Testimony
- Washington Examiner – Trump says he spoke with Putin about ‘adoptions’ during second, undisclosed meeting at G-20 Summit
