A post was merged into an existing topic: 2020 General Election
Interesting. Federal prosecutors were NOT intending to arrest Rudy Giuliani’s two cronies yet, but for unknown reasons (Barr?) they attempted to flee the country.
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Indictment of Soviet-born businessmen raises questions about Pete Sessions’ role in Ukraine saga
The two suspects donated to “Congressman 1,” who then pushed for ouster of the U.S. ambassador in Kyiv
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I… ah… wow.
Graham also mentions Trump’s personal interest in a “Turkish bank case” in the call that appears to refer to a U.S. case involving Reza Zarrab, an Iranian-Turkish gold trader and client of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Trump had asked then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in 2017 to help persuade the Justice Department to drop the Zarrab case.
Also discussed?
Graham also expressed sympathy for Turkey’s “Kurdish problem” and described the Kurds as a “threat.” Those private comments appear to contradict his public statements this week, in which he criticized Trump’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of northern Syria because it’s “wrong to abandon the Kurds, who have been strong allies against” the Islamic State.
“Your YPG Kurdish problem is a big problem,” Graham told the pranksters. He was referring to the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, a group that began fighting ISIS as part of the Syrian Democratic Forces in 2015—with support from the U.S.—but is considered a terrorist group by Turkey because of its push to establish an autonomous state for the Kurds on the Turkish-Syrian border.
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Energy Sec Rick Perry was subpoenaed for documents relating to the July 25th call with Zelinsky
Politico reporter - story TK
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Take a deep breath. You seem very erratic the last few days.
This warrants a congressional investigation to gather evidence. However, this thread is for news on existing public Congressional investigations, this story belongs on the daily thread about Trump. Only when Congress reacts does this news belong here. Do you see the distinction?
I’m not arguing that it’s not important I’m just trying to keep things organized.
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Okay, I can see that difference, but where do I put this. The daily thread comes out late in the day. The posts I have on this topic are getting stuffed full of articles and info it feels like aren’t getting read or noticed because so much is coming out so swiftly right now. At this point the issue in Syria may need its own thread, with all that is happening.
Though you’re probably right, reading over all of this first hand is definitely stressing me out deeply, and I’m sorry if I’m a bit out of sorts from that. It’s a little bit of overload right now. The fact that I am a bit unwell physically right now is probably also a factor. And it’s also a bit that people are dying and one feels helpless to do much. I will try to slow myself down. I don’t want to add to the chaos.
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It’s ok. Breath deeply, take a moment to check in with yourself. This is all very stressful. It’s a lot of things out of your control but remember you are not responsible and you can only control what is in your realm. I hope you engage in some sort of self care today. I appreciate you’re enthusiasm, so don’t let these bad people live rent-free in your brain.
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I will, thank you. We also had some recent setbacks; my computer got fried two weeks ago in a power surge and I had a very difficult time getting a new one set up, and then car troubles this weekend, so that’s two weekends in a row we had bad situations ongoing. I think I’m just in a very down place at a bad time. I’ll take your advice and take some time to re-center and re-focus.
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Yeah, sometimes the news gets to me too when life gets me down. You’re only human. Get some buddies together and play Cards Against Humanity or have a sing-a-long night. That’s what we do. You gotta laugh your way through it. 
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Fresh cookies 
Democrats subpoena Rick Perry for documents in impeachment inquiry
The subpoena demands documents related to Perry’s knowledge of Trump’s July 25 phone call with the Ukrainian president.
POLITICO previously reported that Perry asked the company to expand its board to include Americans, though he said he offered suggestions only at the request of the Ukrainian government. Zelensky denied Perry asked him to dismiss the head of the state-run gas company in comments to the Kyiv Post on Thursday. POLITICO has reported Perry intends to depart the administration within months, though he denied the reportearlier this week.
The subpoena demands records and communications related to the May inauguration of Zelensky, for which Perry led the U.S. delegation. It seeks records connected to a host of meetings abroad and at the White House that Perry attended along with senior Ukrainian officials. And it requests all records related to “proposed or actual transactions, investments, or projects relating to liquified natural gas (LNG) in Ukraine.”
Earlier this week, Perry acknowledged askingTrump to make the July 25 call to Zelensky that’s at the heart of the impeachment inquiry. He also said he’d discussed corruption broadly with Zelensky as part of an effort to make energy investment in the country more attractive, but has vehemently denied ever bringing up Biden or his son Hunter.
“Not once as God as my witness, not once was a Biden name — not the former vice president, not his son — ever mentioned,” he told the Christian Broadcasting Network.
News reports suggest associates of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani had sought the changes to the Naftogaz board to gain a foothold in the country’s energy sector. Those associates, Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas, were arrested Thursday on campaign finance and conspiracy charges. The indictment alleged that Fruman and Parnas orchestrated a straw donation scheme to help fund Republican campaigns and organizations from foreign donors — and that they pushed for the ouster of former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. Yovanovitch is set to be deposed Friday as part of the impeachment inquiry.
Perry was the lone sitting Republican governor to endorse Giuliani during his 2008 presidential run. The subpoena asks for records related to all “meetings and discussions” between the two men.
Also sought under the subpoena are records concerning the decision to withhold military assistance to Ukraine, including governmental meetings and any notes that resulted from them.
The Energy Department did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The subpoena has a deadline of Oct. 18.
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I’ve gotten to where I have trouble finishing articles. It’s just too depressing…I signed up for a line dance class and a pilates class to try to offset it. Now I physically hurt because I’m out of shape, lol.
Please take care of yourself. And if some things slip by you, someone else might catch it. I’m thankful for everyone her who reads & posts.
Now if we could really have Pet_Proletariat’s cookies…
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At least four U.S. security officials raised alarms about Ukraine policy
More witnesses to this Ukraine scandal.
At least four national security officials were so alarmed by the Trump administration’s attempts to pressure Ukraine for political purposes that they raised concerns with a White House lawyer both before and immediately after President Trump’s July 25 call with that country’s president, according to U.S. officials and other people familiar with the matter.
The nature and timing of the previously undisclosed discussions with National Security Council legal adviser John Eisenberg indicate that officials were delivering warnings through official White House channels earlier than previously understood — including before the call that precipitated a whistleblower complaint and the impeachment inquiry of the president.
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Who is a current WSJ subscriber? I can’t login for some reason. Anyone want to tell us the gist of this one?
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It’s all about the connection of the two to Giuliani, how he’s met them, where, places like Trump Hotel, and how Trump is denying knowing or ever meeting them.
To which I think I should post this:
Oh, and this one.
They are such bad liars.
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I am for a few more days…the 2 months for $1 deal almost up!
Campaign violations - illegal PAC monies to T campaign. Rep Sessions received a lot of help, Ambassador in Ukraine was pushed out with the help of these two.
Indictment - “The two men were charged with four counts, including conspiracy, falsification of records and lying to the Federal Election Commission about their political donations, which included a $325,000 donation through a limited liability company to a super PAC formed to support Mr. Trump, according to the indictment”
Article in full.
Two Giuliani Associates Who Helped Him on Ukraine Charged With Campaign-Finance Violations
Prosecutors say Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman were part of a conspiracy to funnel foreign money into U.S. elections
Updated Oct. 10, 2019 6:35 pm ET
WASHINGTON—Two donors to a pro- Trump fundraising committee who helped Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to investigate Democrat Joe Biden were arrested late Wednesday on criminal charges stemming from their alleged efforts to funnel foreign money into U.S. elections and influence U.S. politics on behalf of at least one unnamed Ukrainian politician.
In an indictment unsealed Thursday, federal prosecutors in Manhattan alleged Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman were engaged in political activities in the U.S. on behalf of one or more Ukrainian government officials—including a lobbying campaign, targeted at a Republican congressman, to remove the U.S. ambassador in Kyiv. President Trump ordered the ambassador, Marie Yovanovitch, removed from her post in May.
The two men were charged with four counts, including conspiracy, falsification of records and lying to the Federal Election Commission about their political donations, which included a $325,000 donation through a limited liability company to a super PAC formed to support Mr. Trump, according to the indictment. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said Thursday the investigation was continuing.
Messrs. Parnas and Fruman, both Florida businessmen who are U.S. citizens born in former Soviet republics, made a brief appearance in federal court in Virginia Thursday, dressed in T-shirts. They were arrested at Dulles Airport on Wednesday while awaiting an international flight with one-way tickets, according to people familiar with the matter.
Messrs. Parnas and Fruman have assisted Mr. Giuliani’s effort to investigate Mr. Biden’s son that is now at the center of an impeachment inquiry being conducted by House Democrats.
“I don’t know those gentlemen,” Mr. Trump said Thursday when asked about the new charges, adding he hadn’t discussed them with Mr. Giuliani.
However, Messrs. Parnas and Fruman had dinner with Mr. Trump at the White House in early May 2018, shortly before they donated to the pro-Trump super PAC, according to since-deleted Facebook posts captured in a report published by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, a nonprofit U.S.-based media organization.
Mr. Trump also said he hoped Mr. Giuliani wouldn’t be indicted.
Mr. Giuliani said Thursday that Messrs. Parnas and Fruman were headed to Vienna, Austria, on Wednesday evening for reasons related to their business. He said the two men had also left the country about two weeks ago and had traveled to Vienna between three and six times in the last two months. He said he had been scheduled to meet with the two when they were to return to Washington within days.
A federal prosecutor told a judge the government remains concerned that the men will flee. Attorneys on both sides said they would reach an agreement about the conditions of their bail and would return to the judge soon.
Their political giving—aimed at Republicans—was funded in part by an unnamed Russian donor, the indictment alleges. Federal law bans foreigners from contributing to U.S. elections. A limited liability company created by the men was used to disguise the source of some of the money, the indictment says.
Since late 2018, Messrs. Fruman and Parnas have introduced Mr. Giuliani to several current and former senior Ukrainian prosecutors to discuss the Biden case, acting as key conduits of information. Mr. Parnas in July accompanied Mr. Giuliani to a breakfast meeting with Kurt Volker, then the U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations. During that breakfast, Mr. Giuliani mentioned the investigations he was pursuing into Mr. Biden and 2016 election interference, according to Mr. Volker’s testimony to House committees.
The two had lunch with Mr. Giuliani at the Trump International Hotel in Washington on Wednesday, according to a person who was in the hotel and saw the three together.
Separately, hours after the indictment was announced, three Democratic-controlled House committees leading the impeachment probe of Mr. Trump issued subpoenas to Messrs. Parnas and Fruman for documents. An attorney for the two men had said in an Oct. 8 letter to the committee that it would take time to gather documents and that the two wouldn’t be available for depositions originally scheduled for this week.
While the two men assisted Mr. Giuliani in investigating Mr. Biden and his son Hunter, they also solicited money from Ukrainians while touting their connections to Washington, according to people familiar with their activities in Ukraine.
Mr. Giuliani, Mr. Trump’s private lawyer, identified the two men in May as his clients. On Thursday, he said he wasn’t representing them in this case. Mr. Giuliani said Thursday morning he hadn’t been contacted by Manhattan federal prosecutors.
John Dowd, a former lawyer for Mr. Trump who now represents Messrs. Parnas and Fruman, didn’t respond to a request for comment. Mr. Dowd has previously told Congress that the two men were assisting Mr. Giuliani “in connection with his representation of President Trump.”
Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, said: “Neither the president nor the campaign nor political-action committees were aware of these transactions.”
Messrs. Parnas and Fruman had almost no history of political giving before March 2018, when they both began to spend lavishly on politics, according to the indictment, although Mr. Parnas had contributed about $100,000 to Mr. Trump’s initial campaign in late October 2016, FEC records show.
Prosecutors outlined a scheme by which the two men Messrs. Parnas and Fruman made donations aimed at concealing the source of the funds.
The indictment alleges that Messrs. Parnas and Fruman conspired with two other men also named as defendants—David Correia, Mr. Parnas’s longtime business partner and No. 2, and Andrey Kukushkin—to make political donations funded by a foreign national to federal and state candidates “to gain influence with candidates as to policies that would benefit a future business venture”—a recreational marijuana business. Mr. Kukushkin was arrested on Wednesday in San Francisco but Mr. Correia hasn’t been apprehended, officials said.
The charging documents say that in May 2018 the men separately gave $325,000 to the primary pro-Trump super PAC, America First Action, through the LLC Global Energy Producers, according to FEC records. The way they structured that donation was meant “to evade the reporting requirements” in federal law, prosecutors said. The indictment also alleges that Mr. Fruman intentionally misspelled his name to further evade FEC scrutiny.
Attorney General William Barr discussed the case on Thursday with federal prosecutors in Manhattan, where he was making a previously scheduled visit. A Justice Department official said Mr. Barr was supportive of their work on the case, on which he was first briefed shortly after being confirmed as attorney general in February. He was aware on Wednesday night that the pair would be charged and taken into custody last night, the official said.
Besides dining at the White House in May 2018, the men also met later that month with the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr. , at a fundraising breakfast in Beverly Hills, Calif., along with Tommy Hicks Jr. , a close friend of the younger Mr. Trump who at the time was heading America First Action. Mr. Parnas posted a photo of their breakfast four days after his LLC donated to the super PAC.
A spokeswoman for America First Action said the super PAC had placed the contribution in a segregated bank account after a complaint was filed in July 2018 with the FEC. The donation “has not been used for any purpose and the funds will remain in this segregated account until these matters are resolved,” the spokeswoman said. “We take our legal obligations seriously and scrupulously comply with the law and any suggestion otherwise is false.”
The indictment refers to a congressman, identifiable as former Texas Rep. Pete Sessions, whose assistance Mr. Parnas sought in “causing the U.S. government to remove or recall the then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine.” The indictment says those efforts were conducted “at least in part, at the request of one or more Ukrainian government officials.” In a statement, Mr. Sessions denied wrongdoing and said he had been approached by Messrs. Parnas and Fruman for a meeting about “the strategic need for Ukraine to become energy independent.”
In May 2018, Mr. Sessions, a Republican, sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking the removal of Ms. Yovanovitch, saying he had been told the ambassador was displaying a bias against the president in private conversations.
Mr. Trump moved to oust Ms. Yovanovitch this spring after Mr. Giuliani told him that she was undermining him abroad and hindering efforts to investigate Mr. Biden. She hasn’t responded to requests for comment, and House committees are seeking her testimony.
The indictment also says Messrs. Parnas and Fruman met in July 2018 in Las Vegas to hatch plans to start a recreational marijuana business in Nevada that would be funded by the unnamed Russian national. Their plan was to contribute as much as $2 million to politicians in Nevada, New York and other states with the goal of acquiring marijuana licenses, the indictment says. When they missed the deadline to apply for a license in Nevada, they made additional contributions to candidates there to try to get their business greenlighted.
Messrs. Parnas and Fruman and their business partner, Mr. Kukushkin, attended an Oct. 20, 2018, rally in Nevada, according to the indictment. That day, Mr. Trump held a rally in Elko, Nevada, to urge support for Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Laxalt.
Nevada state fundraising records show Mr. Fruman gave $10,000 to Mr. Laxalt and Republican attorney-general candidate Wesley Duncan on Nov. 1, 2018. Both men lost to Democrats. Representatives for Messrs. Laxalt and Duncan said Thursday that they didn’t know Mr. Fruman and had no idea the donations were made unlawfully.
—Julie Bykowicz and Natalie Andrews contributed to this article.
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Brace yourself.
The Mystery of Rudy Giuliani’s Vienna Trip
President Trump’s personal lawyer told me he was planning to fly to Vienna roughly 24 hours after his business associates were arrested as they prepared to do the same.
Fruman and Pernas had one-way tickets.
I was also just shown this old article from July about Fruman and Pernas:
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Someone on twitter mentioned that Dimitry Firtash lives there…
U.S. extradition request
On 13 March 2014, Austrian authorities arrested Firtash. U.S. law enforcement authorities sought to have Firtash extradited after a judge in Virginia issued a warrant for his arrest on bribery and other charges.[75] A week later, Firtash was released on bail of €125 million (£105m, $172m), the largest in Austrian history. He said: “thankfully, I have the utmost confidence in the Austrian judicial system and will use all legal means to prove my innocence”.[76] He said U.S. authorities were making allegations that were “completely absurd and unfounded”.[76] In April, a U.S. grand jury in Chicago indicted Firash and five others under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act on charges that included bribery, racketeering, and money laundering. The charges centered on a $18.5 million bribe offered to government officials in India related to titanium mining licenses, with the minerals destined for sale to Chicago-based Boeing.[77][a]
Extradition of Firtash was cleared by the Austrian Supreme Court in June 2019[79] and by Austrian Minister of Justice Clemens Jabloner in July 2019.[80] In July 2019, it was reported that Robert Mueller’s chief deputy, Andrew Weissmann, reached out to Firtash’s US lawyers in June 2017 offering to “resolve the Firtash case” in exchange for information about Donald Trump and the case of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Firtash’s legal team rejected the offer on the grounds that Firtash had “no credible information or evidence on the topics” outlined.[81][82] Extradition of Firtash has been suspended as a result of appeal by his defense team.[83]
Denial of U.S. extradition
The Vienna Regional Criminal Court rejected the U.S. request for the extradition of Firtash on 30 April 2015. Judge Christoph Bauer said that the request for extradition was “politically motivated”.[84][85]
Bauer said that in the year since Firtash’s arrest in Vienna, the U.S. authorities had not provided sufficient evidence that Firtash paid bribes in India, and in particular had not provided witness statements in support of its assertions.[84] During the proceedings, Bauer had said that he did not doubt the veracity of the Americans’ witnesses so much as whether they existed at all. A New York Times reporter described the decision as a “scathing rebuke of the Justice and State Departments”, reflecting the diminished credibility of the United States authorities in the eyes of a European ally.[86]
Attempted return to Ukraine
On 25 November 2015, German media reported that Firtash could return to Ukraine and participate in the FEU on 2 December.[ citation needed ] On 26 November, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry of Ukraine, Artem Shevchenko, said that the Interior Ministry had no criminal proceedings against Firtash, but there was a proceeding for the Ostchem group in which he was summoned as a witness.
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Cross-posting
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Maddow’s show (The Rachel Maddow Show) is doing a segment on Dimitry Firtash as being the only one that all three of them - Giuliani, as well as Fruman and Parnas who were arrested were visiting in Vienna.
She points to the fact that Giuliani went on Fox network with a document in the last 10 days waving it…and saying it was how corrupt Biden was…and it was from Firtash.
Also, Firtash is being represented by same dufous “Fox” legal team (the ones who always go on as legal experts)
The lawyers retained by Firtash are Victoria Toensing and Joseph diGenova, according to representatives for Firtash and for the attorneys.
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