UPDATE: A couple of posters have falsely accused this of being fake news. They are mistaken, as the entirety of the information here is simply proven factual information. However, they may be correct in their assertion that my title is misleading, which is unintentional and only a result of limited characters in NeoGAF titles, and perhaps an assumption of my intention to publish lots of little bits of information relating to the subject. Perhaps a better title would thus be: "MotherJones publishes new interview with Sergei Millian, who now dubiously denies having a substantive business relationship with Trump, with detailed timeline for context (to give readers a chance to draw their own conclusions about an important national affair)".
On Thursday, MotherJones reported fresh research into links between Trump and Russiaparticularly his mysterious dealings with the evasive Sergei Millian, who in 2011 serviced in some capacity an FBI-investigated Russian Foreign Ministry intelligence-gathering program.
Sergei Millian is an underreported but key link between Trump (and Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen) and Putin's credibly suspected machinations to seek compromising intelligence from Americans.
Expectedly, Millian has in the past half-year attempted to purge his ties to Trump from the Internet but now, this past week, has finally
spoken out in a highly evasive, falsifying manner, to categorically deny a rich, decade-long connection that, to the contrary, is categorically borne out by known facts.
I couldn't see this posted yet on GAF. I also did some research and translated some facts and dates from this and a couple of other articles into an exhaustive, cohesive timeline, especially for those who don't have a good grasp of the whole picture. (This took me 7 hours to compile.) I believe that this information is of critical importance in understanding the current known links to potential Russian intelligence-gathering.
If you're already well-informed on this topic, please skip to the 2017 section (second post) for the "new news".
Sergei Millian and U.S. President Trump, 2007
BACKGROUND
Sergei Millian is a player in a larger web of controversial business ties between Trump, the
Trump Organization, and Russia. He is president of the
Russian-American Chamber of Commerce in the USA (
RACC) and the owner of a translation service. Millian's online bio notes he graduated from the Minsk State Linguistic University with the equivalent of a master's degree in 2000. His bio says he is a real estate broker who works in residential and commercial properties in the United States and abroad.[2]
He used to go by the name Siarhei Kukuts (tr: Sergei Kukut)that's how he's listed on tax returns for the RACCand it is unclear why he changed his name. Social media accounts on Facebook and Russian social network Vkontakte link him to family by the name "Kukut" in Belarus, and his page on the website for the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce (RACC) gives the name "Sergei Millian" as an alias. I am US citizen and do not have and never had Russian citizenship. When immigrants arrive to USA, it is a common practice to change their name, he told The Daily Beast in an email. He is in his late 30s and won't say when he came to the United States or how he obtained US citizenship.[1][2]
Internet posts from Millians early years in the U.S. use his former name, and hint as his early role as a Russian-speaking fixer who brokered deals for Russian businesses. I can recommend a savvy canadian lawyer (speaks Russian), who only for $2500 consulate fees can arrange your immigration to Canada, Millian boasted in one.[1]
Since first meeting Trump, Millian has built a reputation on a series of exaggerations, to become a cross between a translator, a property merchant, and a pro-Trump spin doctor for the Russian press. In recent years he has evolved into a regular pundit on behalf of Trump, in Russian media, and even to The Daily Beast as recently as July, 2016.[1]
1980s
Trump has been seeking opportunities to develop buildings in Russia since the 1980s, during the Soviet eranone of which have been fruitful. However, they have led to a number of business connections.[1]
Trump has been
promising to build a Trump Tower or hotel in Moscow for 30 years. He wrote in the Art of the Deal in 1987 that he visited Moscow for the first time that year, with then-wife Ivana, to scope out sites for luxury hotels he hoped to build in a joint venture with the then-Soviet government's hotel and tourism agency. He visited again with U.S. tobacco executives in 1996; that deal got far enough that an architect drew conceptual drawings but did not come to fruition.[3][4]
Part of the allure was what Trump and his associates saw as a huge opportunity the chance to market American-style luxury apartments to the wealthy elite in a place that still mostly offered utilitarian Soviet-style construction.[4]
2005
Trump signed a one-year deal in 2005 with a New York real estate company called the
Bayrock Group to try, again, to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. In a 2007 deposition, Bayrock executive
Felix Sater (a Russian immigrant with an interesting
mafia-related back story) testified that he had
located Russian investors for the project, as well as a site, a shuttered pencil factory named for U.S. communists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti.
Sater testified that after trips to Russia, he would pop my head into Mr. Trumps office and tell him, you know, Moving forward on the Moscow deal. And he would say, All right. 
That effort fizzled too.[3]
Trump claimed (in a later court proceeding) that
Russian investors were spooked when a 2005 book questioned his net worth.[4]
2006
Partners of one of Trumps projects then under construction in Panama visited Moscow to sell condos at the building in 2006.[3]
The aforementioned
Russian-American Chamber of Commerce (RACC), a nonprofit that Millian started in
Atlanta in 2006[2], has survived on shoestring budgets, advocates closer commercial ties between Russia and the United States, and assists US firms looking to do business in Russia. Its website notes that it "facilitates cooperation for U.S. members with the Russian Government, Russian Regional Administrations, U.S. Consulates in Russia, Chambers of Commerce in Russia, and corporate leaders from CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States] countries."[2]
2007
Trump promised, in a 2007 court deposition, that he had not given up on Moscow. Russia is one of the
hottest places in the world for investment. . . .
We will be in Moscow at some point, he said.[3]
Millian's friends had organised a Trump trip to the
Moscow Millionaires Fair in 2007, where he was
promoting Trump Vodka.
According to one Moscow-based American businessman who negotiated with him, Trumps admiration for Putin was
rooted in "pure self-interest".
"He was looking to make friends and business partners among Russias politically connected elite.
Oligarchs aren't going to do business with anyone who bad-mouths the boss, explains the real estate developer, who requested anonymity because of his ongoing Russian investments.[7]
Trump then allegedly invited Millian to horse races at Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino, in Miami, Florida (pictured above).
That encounter led to a meeting with Trump attorney
Michael Cohen (since
implicated in the Steele Dossier) and, allegedly, an exclusive contract for dealing Trump properties in Russia and nearby nations. "Later," Millian said, "we met at his office in New York, where he introduced me to his right-hand manMichael Cohen. He is Trump's main lawyer, all contracts go through him. Subsequently,
Trump Organization and
The Related Group signed a contract with me[/B] to promote one of their real estate projects in Russia and the CIS. You can say I was their exclusive broker."[1][2] Millian said he had helped Trump "study the Moscow market" for potential real estate investments.[2]
In October, Trump told Larry King on CNN, "Look at Putin -- what he's doing with Russia -- I mean, you know, what's going on over there. I mean this guy has done -- whether you like him or don't like him --
he's doing a great job in rebuilding the image of Russia and also
rebuilding Russia period,"[5]
2008
Then, in the 2007-2008 years,
Russians were buying tens of apartments in Trump buildings in the U.S.A., Millian bragged to RIA. But I wouldnt want to disclose concrete sums or names.[1][2]
Trump made significant money from one Russian oligarch in 2008, when he sold a mansion in Palm Beach for $95 million to Russian billionaire
Dmitry Rybolovlev. Trump had bought the home at a bankruptcy auction less than four years earlier for $41.4 million.[3]
Donald Trump Jr. said, at a 2008 real estate conference in New York,
"Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets." He added, "We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia."[1][2]
The Russian market had natural strength, especially in the high-end sector." Moscow held special appeal because wealthy people throughout the region wanted to own real estate in the capital city, he said.[4]
In his 2008 speech,
Donald Jr. announced that he had traveled to Russia six times in the previous 18 months. But, he said, Russia presented enormous challenges.
As much as
we want to take our business over there, Russia is just a different world, the younger Trump said. It is a question of
who knows who, whose brother is paying off who. . . . It really is a scary place.[4]
Concurrently, Sergei Millians online biography prominently bragged that he had worked as a broker for projects with Donald Trump.[1]
2009
In the April 2009 issue of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce newsletter, Millian, as president, reported that he was working with Russian investors looking to buy property in the United States, and he said, "We have signed formal agreements with the
Richard Bowers and Co., the
Trump Organization and
The Related Group to jointly service the Russian clients' commercial, residential and industrial real estate needs."[1][2]
In 2009,
RACC called for the US Congress "to foster necessary political changes to produce a healthier economic environment" and
grant permanent normal trade relations status to Russia.[2]
2011
RACC's
2011 tax return reported the group was based in an apartment in
Astoria, Queens, where Millian lived[2]though the group's letterhead that year listed a
Wall Street address[2]and that year it brought in only $23,300 in contributions and grants and $14,748 in program revenue. The tax return noted that the chamber "successfully hosted four universities from Russia in New York City" and hosted a trade mission from Belarus.[2]
In December,
Trump praised Putin's "intelligence" and "no-nonsense way" in his book "Time to Get Tough."
"
Putin has big plans for Russia. He wants to edge out its neighbors so that Russia can
dominate oil supplies to all of Europe," Trump said. "I respect Putin and Russians but cannot believe our leader (Obama) allows them to get away with so much...
Hats off to the Russians."[5]
2013
Trump made millions when he agreed to bring the Miss Universe pageant to Moscow in 2013, a deal financed in part by the development company of a Russian billionaire
Aras Agalarov, a
Putin ally who is sometimes called the Trump of Russia because of his tendency to put his own name on his buildings.
("Will he become my new best friend?" Trump asked of Putin in a tweet wondering whether Putin would attendhe didn't but offered him a traditional gift.[6]
At the time, Trump mingled with the Russian business elite at a swanky after-party. Almost all of the oligarchs were in the room, Trump bragged to Real Estate Weekly on returning home.[4]
Agalarov told The Washington Post that
the project is on hold while Trump runs for president.[3]
Agalarov's son, Russian pop musician Emin Agalarov, said, He kept saying, Every time there is friction between United States and Russia, its bad for both countries. For the people to benefit, this should be fixed. We should be friends, Emin Agalarov recalled.[4]
The Agalarovs are wealthy developers who have received several contracts for (although not yet made money from) state-funded construction projects, a sign of their closeness to the Putin government. Shortly
after the pageant, Putin awarded the elder Agalarov the
Order of Honor of the Russian Federation, a prestigious designation[4] (an award coincidentally also received by Exxon CEO
Rex Tillerson, that same year).[6]
2014
Millian apparently was proud of his association with Trump. In 2014, he
posted on Facebook a photograph of him with
Trump and Jorge Perez, the billionaire real estate developer in Miami who owns
The Related Group. (Pictured above, photographed in 2007)
2015
In 2015,
Millian received a Russian award for fostering cooperation between US and Russian businesses.[2]
Putin said in December that Trump was a colorful and talented person, a compliment that Trump said at the time was an honour.[4]
2016 (April)
On Millian's LinkedIn page, he notes he is also the
vice president of an outfit called the World Chinese Merchants Union Association, a group that has only a slight presence on the internet and that seems to have an
address in Beijing. According to a LinkedIn post published by Millian in April 2016, he met that month in Beijing with a Chinese official and the Russian ambassador to the Republic of San Marino to discuss industrial and commercial cooperation between China and Russia.[2]
Millian
bragged about being an exclusive broker with the Trump Organization to promote their properties in Russia. In a lengthy interview with RIA News, a Russian language outlet, in April, Millian boasted about
instantly winning Trumps affection at the Moscow Millionaires Fair in 2007. Millian said hed
been in contact with Trump or an adviser a few days prior.
When RIA News asked him this year about fears that America might go up in flames in the case of a Trump presidency, Millian remained a true believer.
But the April interview was unusual in that it focused on Millians supposed personal relationship with Trump. Typically, hes billed as a political scientist or economics expert when he spins for Trump.
In one article billing him as an expert, Millian waxed about how Trumps economic reform will be based on Americanism, not globalism, and parrotted the Republican nominees talk about keeping jobs in the U.S.[1]
In the interview,
Millian asserted that Trump would be good for Russia if elected president. Trump, he noted, would improve US relations with Russia and
lift economic sanctions imposed by Washington on Russia. He said
Trump was interested in doing business in Russia: "
I don't want to reveal [Trump's] position, but he is keeping Moscow in his sights and is waiting for an appropriate time." Millian added, "In general Trump has a very positive attitude to Russians, because
he sees them as clients for his business. Incidentally, he has done many projects with people from the Russian-language diaspora. For example,
Trump SoHo in New York with billionaire Tamir Sapir." (Sapir, who died in 2014, was an American billionaire real estate developer
from the former Soviet republic of Georgia.)[2]
The
Russian Ambassador to the United States,
Sergey I. Kislyak, attended Trumps April foreign policy speech in which Trump called for ending this horrible cycle of hostility between the two nations (breaking from a tradition in which diplomats steer clear of domestic politics).
A spokesman for the Russian Embassy said that the Ambassador's attendance at the Trump speech should not be considered an indication that Russia is partial to Trump.
There is no preference, the spokesman said.[4]
Emin Agalarov said, "[Trump] keeps underlining that
he thinks President Putin is a strong leader. This could be an amazing breakthrough.
If he becomes president and actually becomes friends with Putin, we would avoid 10 wars every year at least."
2016 (June)
In another article in June,
Millian speaks authoritatively about how Trumps friendships will dictate his choice of a vice presidential candidate.
Trump mostly interacts with business or military people, he said. Thats why his vice-president will be a representative of one of these two camps: either someone who came from the corporate world, or the military.[1]
2016 (July)
Donald Trump is presidential, powerful, charismatic, and highly intelligent leader with
realistic approach towards Russia. Im am glad to see Donald
taking control of GOP, Millian said last month during the Republican National Convention, after The Daily Beast reached out to the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce.
I, personally, wholeheartedly support his presidential aspirations.
Its been a great pleasure representing Mr Trumps projects in Russia.
I think he will be able to improve some processes in the government, because its currently very bureaucratic, he said. For instance, this concerns medicine. In the USA people smile at you well, but the level of accessibility and wait time here is behind many countries.
In July,
when many in Russia worried Trumps vice presidential choice in Mike Pence might threaten Trumps warm embrace of the country, Millian praised the Indiana governor an excellent candidate.
He works well in his post and gets by without scandals, Millian said then. Opponents will find it hard to find fault in his reputation and work.[1]
2016 (August)
With escalating media interest in Trumps ties with Russia,
Millian dismisses his dealings as almost a side gig. Millian told The Daily Beast last week he had
not spoken to Trump since 2008.[1]
After inquiries from The Daily Beast,
the reference to Trump in his biography was scrubbed.[1]
It also appears that
references to the Trump Organization working with the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce in the USA were at some point
scraped from its website.[1][2]
He has recently played down his relationship with Trump. There had been quite negative press related to Russia so I dont want to be involved, he told The Daily Beast when first reached by phone.
I didnt represent him personally ever, he continued, saying that he
had merely worked with him on some projects.
There are several brokers who work on such real estate projects
I do remember there was a written agreement that authorized me to market one of the projects bearing his name signed somewhere around 2008.
He praised Trumps knowledge of other cultures by noting he offered him a glass of champagne upon closing a business deala nod to the notion that Russians like to drink.[1]
It was a Trump-like move: brag about ties to a project when it could be advantageous; but then brand it as tangential any link to the project if it starts to show sign of controversy.[1]
2016 (October)
In October, the
Financial Times mounted an investigation of him and the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce. It reported:
Most of the board members are obscure entities and nearly half of their telephone numbers went unanswered when called by the Financial Times. An FT reporter found no trace of the Chamber of Commerce at the Wall Street address listed on its website. At the same time, the chamber appears to have close official ties, arranging trips for visiting Russian regional governors to the US. [2]
SOME BACKSTORY: YURY ZAYTSEV & ROSSOTRUDNICHESTVO
As part of its inquiry into Millian, the Financial Times pointed to
Millian's connection to Rossotrudnichestvo, a Russian government organization that
promotes Russian culture abroad. Millian has collaborated with Rossotrudnichestvo.
Through cultural exchanges, Rossotrudnichestvo, which operates under the
jurisdiction of the Russian Foreign Ministry, was bringing
young Americansincluding political aides, nonprofit advocates, and business executiveson trips to Russia. The program was run by
Yury Zaytsev, a Russian diplomat who headed the
Russian Cultural Center in Washington, DC.
2011
In 2011, Millian (and the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce) worked with Zaytsev and the Russian group to mount a
10-day exchange that
brought 50 entrepreneurs to the first "Russian-American Business Forum" in Moscow and the Vladimir region, according to
a letter Millian sent to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev after the initiative. In that letter,
Millian praised Rossotrudnichestvo, and he added, "My entire staff, fellow participants, and I, here at the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce in the USA, very much look forward to
assisting Rossotrudnichestvo with the preparations for next year's trip." (Millian now says, "We are not affiliated with [Rossotrudnichestvo] in any way.")
2013
In 2013, Mother Jones reported that
Rossotrudnichestvo was under investigation by the FBI for using junkets to recruit American assets for Russian intelligence.
Americans who participated in the exchange trips and were
later questioned by FBI agents told Mother Jones that the agents' questions indicated
the FBI suspected Zaytsev and Rossotrudnichestvo had been using the all-expenses-paid trips to Russia to cultivate Americans as intelligence assets. (An asset could be a person who directly works with an intelligence service to gather information, or merely a contact who provides
information, opinions, or gossip, not realizing it is being collected by an intelligence officer.)
After Mother Jones published a story on the FBI investigation,
the Russian embassy in Washington issued a statement: "All such 'scaring information' very much resembles Cold War era. A blunt tentative is made to distort and to
blacken activities of the Russian Cultural Center in DC, which are aimed at developing mutual trust and cooperation between our peoples and countries."
2014
A year later, in November 2014,
Zaytsev spoke at a Moscow press conference and said, in reference to the upcoming US presidential elections, "It seems to me that
the Russian 'card' will certainly be played out." He added,
"I think that this presidential election first of all will very clearly show a trend of further development" in US-Russia relations.
