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[chadskin]

Two weeks after Donald J. Trump clinched the Republican presidential nomination last year, his eldest son arranged a meeting at Trump Tower in Manhattan with a Russian lawyer who has connections to the Kremlin, according to confidential government records described to The New York Times.

The previously undisclosed meeting was also attended by Mr. Trump's campaign chairman at the time, Paul J. Manafort, as well as the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, according to interviews and the documents, which were outlined by people familiar with them.

While President Trump has been dogged by revelations of undisclosed meetings between his associates and Russians, this episode at Trump Tower on June 9, 2016, is the first confirmed private meeting between a Russian national and members of Mr. Trump's inner circle during the campaign. It is also the first time that his son Donald J. Trump Jr. is known to have been involved in such a meeting.

Representatives of Donald J. Trump Jr. and Mr. Kushner confirmed the meeting after The Times approached them with information about it. In a statement, Donald Jr described the meeting as primarily about an adoption program. The statement did not address whether the presidential campaign was discussed.

The Russian lawyer invited to the Trump Tower meeting, Natalia Veselnitskaya, is best known for mounting a multipronged attack against the Magnitsky Act, an American law that blacklists suspected Russian human rights abusers. The law so enraged Mr. Putin that he retaliated by halting American adoptions of Russian children.

The adoption impasse is a frequently used talking point for opponents of the Magnitsky Act. Ms. Veselnitskaya's campaign against the law has also included attempts to discredit its namesake, Sergei L. Magnitsky, a lawyer and auditor who died in a Russian prison in 2009 after exposing one of the biggest corruption scandals during Mr. Putin's rule.

Ms. Veselnitskaya is married to a former deputy transportation minister, and her clients include state-owned businesses. Her activities and associations had previously drawn the attention of the F.B.I., according to a former senior law enforcement official.

Donald J. Trump Jr. had denied participating in any campaign-related meetings with Russian nationals when he was interviewed by The Times in March. ”Did I meet with people that were Russian? I'm sure, I'm sure I did," he said. ”But none that were set up. None that I can think of at the moment. And certainly none that I was representing the campaign in any way, shape or form."

Asked at that time whether he had ever discussed government policies related to Russia, the younger Mr. Trump replied, ”A hundred percent no."

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/08/us/politics/trump-russia-kushner-manafort.html

 

[Ac30]

I find it hard to believe Manafort and Jr. give a shit about ensuring that Americans can adopt Russian children, lol.

 

[giga]

The Russian lawyer invited to the Trump Tower meeting, Natalia Veselnitskaya, is best known for mounting a multipronged attack against the Magnitsky Act, an American law that blacklists suspected Russian human rights abusers. The law so enraged Mr. Putin that he retaliated by halting American adoptions of Russian children.

The adoption impasse is a frequently used talking point for opponents of the Magnitsky Act. Ms. Veselnitskaya’s campaign against the law has also included attempts to discredit its namesake, Sergei L. Magnitsky, a lawyer and auditor who died in a Russian prison in 2009 after exposing one of the biggest corruption scandals during Mr. Putin’s rule.

Gross.

 

[Apdiddy]

Don't be surprised if that's another concession Trump makes out of his meeting with Putin.

 

[kirblar]

Gross.

I love that they're juxtaposing "Here's what Don Jr. said" with "Here is the literal Russian talking point he's spewing"

 

[Shauni]

Representatives of Donald J. Trump Jr. and Mr. Kushner confirmed the meeting after The Times approached them with information about it. In a statement, Donald Jr described the meeting as primarily about an adoption program. The statement did not address whether the presidential campaign was discussed.

Spoiler: It was

 

[Engell]

Well guess we have yet another reason to hate his guts.

 

[Cabbagehead]

Jesus H christ, bring this orange stain down!

 

[chadskin]

More on Magnitsky and this Russian lawyer via this June 12, 2016 story by the Financial Times:

The story of Sergei Magnitsky’s 2009 death became, for many in the west, an allegory of Vladimir Putin’s Russia — brutal, oppressive and corrupt. The 37-year-old accountant was found dead, his body bearing bruises, in a Moscow prison cell having been detained for nearly a year over accusations of tax evasion. His real crime, say supporters, was exposing a $230m theft from the Russian treasury by officials linked to a criminal gang.

By 2012 the US Congress had passed the Magnitsky Act, imposing sanctions on dozens of Russians implicated in the crime, and sending relations between the US and Russia to a then post-cold war low. Now, amid efforts to extend that legislation worldwide, the late accountant is again at the centre of a battle that moves to Washington on Monday with the airing of a film that challenges the “established” Magnitsky story.

The documentary, called The Magnitsky Act — Behind the Scenes, is scheduled to premiere to an invited audience. Previous attempts to air it — at the European Parliament in Brussels in April and a festival in Norway last week — have been halted by legal steps pursued by Bill Browder, the fund manager who employed the accountant and has led a crusade to have his death reinvestigated. Mr Browder and the Magnitsky family say the film, by Russian-born director Andrei Nekrasov, is false and defamatory.

Outside Russia the most vigorous effort to discredit the Magnitsky story has taken place in a New York court, where a company owned by a 39-year-old Russian, Denis Katsyv, is facing civil forfeiture charges for purchasing real estate with $14m allegedly laundered from the Magnitsky fraud. Mr Katsyv, whose father is vice-president of the state-owned Russian Railways, denies the allegations, which do not include criminal charges. The prosecution’s case is largely based on documentation of wire transfers provided by Mr Browder.

In court filings, lawyers for Mr Katsyv’s company, Prevezon Holdings, identify what they say are holes in Hermitage’s account of the fraud. Aping Mr Browder’s campaign, the Katsyv camp has hired lobbyists and public relations consultants to urge media to report on its claims. One adviser, Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian defence lawyer and friend of the Katsyv family — as well as a vocal Putin supporter — claims Mr Browder’s story is a sham.

“I’m the real investigative lawyer that he is trying to build Magnitsky into,” she told the Financial Times. “It’s easy to check. You just have to see if the dates, events, and consequences match up, and always ask yourself: ‘Who benefits from these things happening?’”

In its filings, Prevezon suggests Mr Browder “contrived and skilfully sold” his story “to thwart his arrest” in connection with the tax fraud case for which he was convicted in absentia in 2013, in proceedings that also saw Magnitsky convicted posthumously. The company adds that it is “plausible Browder stole the money from the Russian treasury or, at least, knew about the fraud before it occurred”.

The US justice department responded in a counter filing that Prevezon’s accusations that Hermitage was the perpetrator, rather than the victim, of the fraud “are false and are based on an incredibly selective and inaccurate presentation of the evidence”.

Ms Veselnitskaya provides a common link to other parts of the anti-Browder campaign. She helped organise the Brussels screening of Mr Nekrasov’s film. Her claims also dovetail in part with those of the film-maker, whose documentary uses some material from Prevezon’s defence.

https://www.ft.com/content/1eb38914...egmentid=acee4131-99c2-09d3-a635-873e61754ec6

 

[ClosingADoor]

I can't see anything anymore, there is so much smoke. But people still doubting there is a fire.

 

[XMonkey]

Weekend oppo droppo? NYT flipping the script.

Another meeting for Mueller's board.

 

[ascii42]

More on Magnitsky and this Russian lawyer via this June 12, 2016 story by the Financial Times:


https://www.ft.com/content/1eb38914...egmentid=acee4131-99c2-09d3-a635-873e61754ec6

Huh, interesting.

 

[Stinkles]

Literally one of the grimiest most disgusting Putin stories of the last decade and Trump family directly on the wrong side of it.

 

[Squire]

Gross.

Putin is unspeakably cruel.

 

[Cabbagehead]

Literally one of the grimiest most disgusting Putin stories of the last decade and Trump family directly on the wrong side of it.

We should feel glad in someways that this idot put himself on the biggest stage and his bloated rat entourage. Followed right into the hands of the IC and other groups. Folks that have had their eyes on them for decades and now all the connections are being woven.


Follow the dead russians...

 

[Lowmelody]

I find it hard to believe Manafort and Jr. give a shit about ensuring that Americans can adopt Russian children, lol.

That's because you have a functioning brain.

 

[Gutek]

Literally one of the grimiest most disgusting Putin stories of the last decade and Trump family directly on the wrong side of it.

And GOP won't even acknowledge this. Maverick might think it's "concerning", but then carry on.

 

[Cabbagehead]

And GOP willing even acknowledge this. Maverick might think it's "concerning", but then carry on.

A whole lot of people are going down.

 

[Mulberry]

If the campaign wasn't discussed, why the hell was the campaign chairman there?

 

[Cabbagehead]

If the campaign wasn't discussed, why the hell was the campaign chairman there?

For shits and giggles.

 

[Tovarisc]

Weekend oppo droppo? NYT flipping the script.

Another meeting for Mueller's board.

They are just celebrating that Trump is returning to US.

 

[RoKKeR]

Convenient they forgot to mention this meeting until pressed.

 

[Autodidact]

Weekend oppo droppo? NYT flipping the script.

Another meeting for Mueller's board.

Some of the IC probably got royally pissed after Trump figuratively fellated Putin yesterday. Anger results in loose lips.

 

[Stinkles]

Convenient they forgot to mention this meeting until pressed.

If only they'd been asked to fill out multiple detailed forms that legally required them to list precisely this kind of contact.

 

[theclosetfan]

Yeah, this is significant.

 

[_woLf]

nobody truly knows though

 

[norm9]

What's the big deal, Natalia Veselnitskaya is American as apple pie.

 

[chadskin]

How pissed Putin is about the Magnitsky case, you ask?

A Russian lawyer who survived after falling from a fourth-floor balcony says his plunge was ”no accident" and fears he was targeted because he found key evidence in a $230 million corruption scandal involving high-ranking state officials.

"I am still afraid for my life," Nikolai Gorokhov told NBC News in his first interview since surviving the 50-foot drop on March 21. "But of course I am more afraid about the safety of my family."

The lawyer says he remembers nothing about the incident, which left him with a fractured skull and sent him to intensive care, but now fears he may have been the latest target in a chain of killings surrounding the fraud probe.

Eight people who have been involved in the same case have died in mysterious or violent circumstances, while Gorokhov and another man have survived a combined three suspected assassination attempts.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/l...rruption-says-his-balcony-fall-was-no-n780416

 

[Netherscourge]

Without transcripts of these meetings, nothing will come of them.

 

[Tovarisc]

Via @PeterAlexander, statements from Donald Trump Jr & from Jared Kushner's lawyer on NYT Russian lawyer mtg story

https://twitter.com/BraddJaffy/status/883809101033197568

 

[UberTag]

If the campaign wasn't discussed, why the hell was the campaign chairman there?

He's also concerned about the inability of American parents to adopt Russian children.
He tagged along on his free time. What a patriot! <wipes away a tear>

 

[Stinkles]

Via @PeterAlexander, statements from Donald Trump Jr & from Jared Kushner's lawyer on NYT Russian lawyer mtg story

https://twitter.com/BraddJaffy/status/883809101033197568

THAT'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME WRAP IT UP HE WOULDN'T LIE ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT

Without transcripts of these meetings, nothing will come of them.

The only reason you are hearing about these things is because something will come of them. It isn't even going slowly relative to Watergate, which was in all likelihood dwarfed by the scope, scale and seriousness of this case.

 

[UberTag]

First step is to deny the meeting ever took place.
Once caught in the lie, you say you forgot.
Once proven that you could not have forgotten, you admit it and lie about what you talked about.
Once it's disclosed that you talked about something you said you did not, you dismiss it as inconsequential.

Once it's confirmed that said banter was not inconsequential, you latch onto "both sides" rhetoric, say you were acting in America's interests and state that the real threats are the people who leaked this intel in the first place. You then get your talking heads to parrot this angle and launch a smear campaign to sully the reputations of everyone else involved to bring them down to your level.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

 

[Bleepey]

First step is to deny the meeting ever took place.
Once caught in the lie, you say you forgot.
Once proven that you could not have forgotten, you admit it and lie about what you talked about.
Once it's disclosed that you talked about something you said you did not, you dismiss it as inconsequential.

Once it's confirmed that said banter was not inconsequential, you latch onto "both sides" rhetoric, say you were acting in America's interests and state that the real threats are the people who leaked this intel in the first place. You then get your talking heads to parrot this angle and launch a smear campaign to sully the reputations of everyone else involved to bring them down to your level.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

What shall we call this depressingly accurate cycle?

 

[TheCochese]

What shall we call this depressingly accurate cycle?

GOP Spin Cycle

 

[GrapeApes]

Without transcripts of these meetings, nothing will come of them.

You don't think Meuller and the squad already know about this meeting? You don't think if they get someone to flip something will come out of it?

 

[Shadow Puppetry]

I lost count how many times I've seen different connections of Kushner with Mother Russia.

 

[XMonkey]

Without transcripts of these meetings, nothing will come of them.

Not really sure if you're serious, but I'd agree with you if all the impropriety was tied up in this one specific meeting. But as part of a larger whole, this meeting is certainly significant especially because it's yet another meeting that went undisclosed. Remember we are only getting tiny glimpses of what the investigators are finding. They aren't gonna let go of the big bombs until it's complete.

 

[Dan]

In the most generous view of this, it's more evidence that the Trump circle was researching all American policies that Russia hated which is a suspicious pattern.

"I was asked to attend the meeting by an acquaintance, but was not told the name of the person I would be meeting with beforehand."

Who gets asked to attend a meeting at one's own office without knowing who is being met with? Give me a break.

“Did I meet with people that were Russian? I’m sure, I’m sure I did,” he said. “But none that were set up. None that I can think of at the moment. And certainly none that I was representing the campaign in any way, shape or form.”

It had nothing to do with the campaign... so... why invite Manafort and Kushner? The only connection shared with the two of them is the Trump presidential campaign.

 

[antonz]

Russia suspended the adoption program over US Sanctions. So to be talking about the Program it would inevitably come back to the Sanctions which sparked the showdown in the first place.

 

[jellies_two]

Magnitsky Act is something putin loathes and has been working on repealing from the moment it was signed. This Russian lawyer wasn't the only one working the problem.

What is interesting is who exactly arranged it, who is the acquaintance they blame the setup of the meeting on? Whomever that person is knows exactly the kremlins agenda and has power over the trump campaign to setup meetings. Of course it could have been daddy.

 

[F0rneus]

That man should have never taken office, and I really hate how the GOP/some Republicans try to hardest to minimize all of this. Every day it seems there's a new tie between Trump's campaign and Russia but it's never important apparently.

 

[BrassDragon]

This is definitely not the ground zero of the Trump-Russia connection since he was already making pro-Putin noises in March 2016, a month before this meeting (and we have ties going back to the 2013 Miss Universe pageant and earlier business ventures.)

What's interesting about the timing is that it happened shortly after the DNC got hit with spear-fishing attacks (March 2016, with DNI Clapper warning about the attacks in May 2016) but before the Guccifer 2.0 leaks (June 15 and June 21.)

Assuming they weren't really talking about adoptions, did they actually discuss how Russia would use the stolen DNC data?

 

[Turbo Killer]

Can we hang these people already? Fucking scum.

 

[Metalingus5150]

Can we hang these people already? Fucking scum.

Something something both sides.

 

[Tovarisc]

This is definitely not the ground zero of the Trump-Russia connection since he was already making pro-Putin noises in March 2016, a month before this meeting (and we have ties going back to the 2013 Miss Universe pageant and earlier business ventures.)

What's interesting about the timing is that it happened shortly after the DNC got hit with spear-fishing attacks (March 2016, with DNI Clapper warning about the attacks in May 2016) but before the Guccifer 2.0 leaks (June 15 and June 21.)

Assuming they weren't really talking about adoptions, did they actually discuss how Russia would use the stolen DNC data?

You definitively would coordinate that shit if possible.

 

[jelly]

I just hope Mueller can make something of all these connections and take them down. If anyone gets away with it I will be really disappointed.

 

[BoogieWoogie]

Anyone thinking that they were talking about adoptions after Eric used the children's cancer charity to give money to himself needs their head examined.

 

[BlastProcessing]

Without transcripts of these meetings, nothing will come of them.

 

[Bam Bam Baklava]

Can we hang these people already? Fucking scum.

Are you fucking serious?