July 15, 2017


News and Views


THE RUSSIA NEWS FROM TODAY AND YESTERDAY

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/anatoli-samochornov-translator-donald-trump-jr-meeting/
CBS NEWS July 14, 2017, 11:25 PM
Translator in Trump Jr. meeting identified as ex-State Dept. contractor

VIDEO -- Despite denials, Russian lawyer has ties to the Kremlin, Facebook, Twitter
Play pause 00:0000:15

July 12, 2017, 10:49 PM;
Natalia Veselnitskaya says she didn't have any dirt on Hillary Clinton. The Russian government says they don't even know who she is. Yet she represents a wealthy, Kremlin-connected family in Moscow and has advocated for a Putin priority in the U.S. Julianna Goldman has more.

The translator who attended the June 2016 meeting with Donald Trump Jr., Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya and lobbyist Rinat Akhmetshin is a former State Department contractor, CBS News' Kylie Atwood has learned.

The translator has been identified as Anatoli Samochornov, who a State Department spokesperson confirmed has done contract work for them. Samochornov is not a State Department employee, the spokesperson said, but has worked with the State Department's Office of Language Services as an interpreter. Samochornov also helped the State Department implement exchange programs when he was working for Meridian International, a nonprofit that has a cooperative agreement with the State Department.

The Meridian contract under which Samochornov worked to support State Department-sponsored exchanges expired at the end of the fiscal year 2016.

anatoli-samochornov-russia-meeting-2017-7-14.jpg
Anatoli Samochornov, the translator who attended the June 2016 meeting with Donald Trump Jr., a Russian lawyer and a Russian lobbyist. LINKEDIN

At the June 2016 meeting, Samochornov was working as a translator for Veselnitskaya, who reportedly Veselnitskaya does not speak any English.

A friend of Trump Jr.'s, Rob Goldstone, sent an email to Trump Jr. about Veselnitskaya, promising information from the Russian government on then-candidate Donald Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton. Trump Jr.'s brother-in-law and now-presidential adviser Jared Kushner attended as well as campaign adviser Paul Manafort.

On Friday, Goldstone said there were more people at the meeting than initially reported. Among the participants, he told the Associated Press, was lobbyist Rinat Akhmetshin. Akhmetshin confirmed his participation to The Associated Press on Friday.

Akhmetshin served in the Soviet military and is suspected of having ties to Russian intelligence.

Akhmetshin has worked with Veselnitskaya, who secured the meeting with Trump Jr. on the pretense of providing damaging information about Clinton.

The White House has continued to deal with the fallout from the meeting since its existence was first reported six days ago. CBS News has learned President Trump was briefed about Trump Jr. meeting three days before it was disclosed in the New York Times, though it seems he was not aware there were more people in the room than was first reported.

Despite denials, Russian lawyer has ties to the Kremlin
Play VIDEO
Despite denials, Russian lawyer has ties to the Kremlin

Initially, Trump Jr. and Kushner confirmed they attended, but said they discussed a disbanded U.S.-Russian adoption program. On Sunday, Trump Jr. confirmed he had been promised information "helpful to the campaign" and he had asked Manafort and Kushner to "stop by." Then on Tuesday, Trump Jr. posted to Twitter the emails where he wrote "I love it" after Goldstone wrote a Russian lawyer wanted to pass on negative information about Clinton and stated that the discussion was part of a Russian government effort to help the GOP candidate.

CBS News has confirmed Kushner has revised his paperwork for a White House security clearance twice. The last revision mentioned Veselnitskaya, though Kushner's attorney contends that disclosure was not legally required, and that Kushner was not introduced to others at the June 2016 meeting.

Earlier this week, Trump Jr. hired a new lawyer, Alan Futerfas, to handle Russia-related matters.

VIDEO – DO WATCH THIS VIDEO. July 12, 2017, 10:49 PM, Natalia Veselnitskaya says she didn't have any dirt on Hillary Clinton. The Russian government says they don't even know who she is. Yet she represents a wealthy, Kremlin-connected family in Moscow and has advocated for a Putin priority in the U.S. Julianna Goldman has more



BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT THE “MAGNITSKY ACT,” WHICH HAS MENTIONED AT LEAST FIVE TIMES SINCE THIS TRUMP TOWER MEETING BECAME PUBLIC. IS IT ABOUT MONEY LAUNDERING, OR ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES? A LITTLE OF BOTH.

SEE THESE NEXT THREE ARTICLES. THE FIRST, FROM WIKIPEDIA, SUMMARIZES THE ACT, AND THE SECOND FROM NPR GOES INTO THE QUESTION OF WHY PUTIN CARES SO MUCH ABOUT IT.

WHAT IT DOES IS TO PUNISH RUSSIA, BY RESTRICTING THE MOVEMENT OF ONLY A SPECIFIC GROUP OF 18 FAIRLY IMPORTANT RUSSIANS IN AND OUT OF THE USA, AND PROHIBITING THEIR USE OF AMERICAN BANKING SYSTEMS. THEY ARE BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN INVOLVED WITH THE DEATH OF THE LAWYER MAGNITSKY TO PAINFUL DISEASE WHILE IN PRISON, BY WITHHOLDING ANY EFFECTIVE MEDICAL TREATMENT. HIS CRIME AGAINST THE KREMLIN WAS TO EXPOSE HIGHLY PLACED RUSSIAN CITIZENS INVOLVED IN FINANCIAL CRIME THERE. SINCE THE TERM MONEY LAUNDERING HAS COME UP, PERHAPS THEIR PURPOSE IN COMING TO THE US AND USE OUR BANKS WAS TO ACCOMPLISH THAT, AND IF SO, I CAN UNDERSTAND PUTIN’S WRATH. I HAVE HEARD THAT RUSSIA AND ITS’ MAFIA ARE IN THE MONEY LAUNDERING BUSINESS TO A HIGH DEGREE, SO PERHAPS THIS DOES ROB RUSSIA OF A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF ITS’ INCOME.

IF THIS TRUMP JR STORY OF THE CONFAB IN TRUMP TOWER IS ACCURATE, THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN WAS TO ROLL BACK THE MAGNITSKY ACT IF PUTIN GAVE HIM THE “DIRT” ON CLINTON, OH YES, AND IF HE MANIPULATED THE COMPUTERS. QUID PRO QUO. THIS HASN’T SO FAR BEEN PROVEN, BUT IT DOES LOOK MORE AND MORE LIKELY.

I STILL SUSPECT, THOUGH, THAT TRUMP MAY ALSO HAVE AGREED TO MODIFY OUR LAWS IN MORE WAYS THAN JUST THAT ONE IN EXCHANGE FOR HIS ELECTION, IN OTHER WORDS, TO BECOME PUTIN’S PUPPET. HACKING EACH LOCAL PRECINCT AND CHANGING VOTER DATA, PROBABLY IN A SUCH A WAY AS TO DISENFRANCHISE INDIVIDUALS WHO MIGHT VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT TAKES A LOT OF WORK AND PLANNING, OR SO IT SEEMS TO ME. IT ISN’T THAT I THINK THIS IS NECESSARILY TRUE, BUT THAT IT SEEMS TO BE LOGICAL AS A PLAN. AND AS FOR TRUMP, WHAT I HAVE SEEN OF HIM SHOWS HIM TO BE POTENTIALLY GREEDY ENOUGH FOR THE PRESIDENCY – OR WORSE, THE DICTATORSHIP – TO AGREE TO IT. IF THAT IS REALLY WAY OFF BASE AND DEEPLY UNFAIR TO HIM, THEN I APOLOGIZE. IT’S JUST THAT I’VE NEVER SEEN A PRESIDENT USE THE BIZARRE RABBLE ROUSING TECHNIQUES WITHIN MY TIME OF PUBLIC AWARENESS, AND THERE MAY BE MORE THAN A FORM OF MANIA TO HIS LYING TIME AFTER TIME AFTER TIME, AS HE HAS ALREADY DONE IN A FEW SHORT MONTHS.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/russian-lawyer-natalia-veselnitskaya-us-kremlins-blessing-bill-browder/
By JULIANNA GOLDMAN CBS NEWS July 12, 2017, 8:28 PM
Putin critic: Russian lawyer wouldn't have been in U.S. without Kremlin's OK

WASHINGTON -- Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russia lawyer who met with Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner in June 2016, says she didn't have any dirt on Hillary Clinton. The Russian government says they don't even know who she is.

But, like most things Kremlin, there's more to that story.

Veselnitskaya, who speaks no English, represents a wealthy, Kremlin-connected family in Moscow: the Katsyvs.

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Natalia Veselnitskaya CBS NEWS

They've lobbied hard to overturn U.S. sanctions against Russian officials accused of money laundering in what's known as the Magnitsky Act. The 2012 law enraged Russian President Vladimir Putin so much that he banned Americans from adopting Russian children.

"She is like the consigliere* of a very prominent Russian family," said Bill Browder, a hedge fund manager who pushed for the sanctions.


(* con·si·glie·re
ˌkônsēˈlye-re, kənsiɡlēˈērē/ noun
an adviser, especially to a crime boss.)


"She has a wide range of tasks, not just a lawyer as she's been described. She is an operator," he said.

He called Veselnitskaya a "formidable adversary," and said she wouldn't have been in the U.S. lobbying to overturn the Magnitsky Act without the Kremlin's blessing.

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Bill Browder CBS NEWS

"They don't give out business cards from Kremlin, they don't say, 'you're a Kremlin lawyer, go to Washington and do this,'" Browder said.

After Veselnitskaya's meeting with Donald Trump Jr. in June 2016, she went to Washington, organized a screening of an anti-Magnitsky film at the Newseum, and was in the first row at a congressional hearing on U.S. policy toward Russia.

Last year, she also took on former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara who had accused Denis Katsyv, of that Kremlin-connected family, of money laundering. The case was settled after Bharara was fired by President Trump.

What are the legal implications of Trump Jr.'s emails and meeting?
Play VIDEO
What are the legal implications of Trump Jr.'s emails and meeting?

In court documents, Veselnitskaya says she's "argued and won more than 300 cases" and that her clients include "large state-owned and private corporations."

"She's a non-partisan advocate for a bunch of crooks back in the Russian government," Browder said.

The Justice Department settled that money laundering case against Veselnitskaya's client four months after Mr. Trump came into office. On Wednesday, House Democrats sent a letter asking the attorney general if that Kremlin-connected client got any special treatment.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/russian-lawyer-natalia-veselnitskaya-us-kremlins-blessing-bill-browder/
July 11, 2017, 11:13 PM
VIDEO ONLY
A key question for special counsel Robert Mueller, investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, is whether -- and how -- the Trump campaign was involved. Does the fact that Donald Trump Jr. and others met with someone they were told was a "Russian government lawyer" who wanted to help the campaign constitute a smoking gun? Julianna Goldman reports.



THIS ISSUE OF “COLLUSION,” AS DISCUSSED IN THE NYT ARTICLE HERE, REMINDS ME OF THE TIME WHEN JIMMY CARTER ADMITTED THAT, WHILE HE HAD NOT CHEATED ON HIS WIFE, HE HAD “LUSTED IN HIS HEART AFTER” SOME (UNNAMED WOMAN OR WOMEN). THIS NYT ARTICLE IS A SPECTACULARLY GOOD READ AND FULL OF INFORMATION.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/11/us/politics/collusion-trump-russia-campaign.html?mcubz=0&_r=0
POLITICS
Donald Trump Jr. and Russia: What the Law Says
By CHARLIE SAVAGE JULY 11, 2017

Natalia Veselnitskaya in Moscow on Tuesday. Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Paul J. Manafort met with her in 2016 at Trump Tower. Credit Alexander Zemlianichenko/Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The revelation that President Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., agreed to meet with a Kremlin-linked lawyer in June 2016 after being promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton has escalated discussion about whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia’s interference in the election.

An intermediary promised the younger Mr. Trump that a “Russian government attorney” would provide “very high level” dirt on Mrs. Clinton as “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”

“If it’s what you say I love it,” Mr. Trump’s son responded in an email exchange he made public on Tuesday after he learned The New York Times was about to publish an article about its contents. The younger Mr. Trump; his father’s campaign chairman at the time, Paul J. Manafort; and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and adviser, met with the lawyer on June 9, 2016. Donald Trump Jr. has said the lawyer had no meaningful information about Mrs. Clinton.

Here are questions and answers about legal issues raised by this disclosure amid the criminal investigation by a special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, into the Trump-Russia affair.

What is collusion?

In general parlance, “collusion” means working together, usually in secret, to do something illicit. But the term has no defined legal meaning. Lawyers instead talk about the offense of “conspiracy.”

What is conspiracy?

In criminal law, the offense of conspiracy is generally an agreement by two or more people to commit a crime — whether or not they do. A powerful tool for prosecutors, conspiracy charges permit holding each conspirator responsible for illegal acts committed by others in the circle as part of the arrangement.

Is the meeting enough to prove conspiracy?

The events made public in the past few days are not enough to charge conspiracy, said Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor. Still, he said, the revelations are important because if further evidence of coordination emerges, the contents of the emails and the fact of the meeting would help establish an intent to work with Russia on influencing the election.

“What this email string establishes is that Don Jr. was aware that the Russian government wanted to help the Trump campaign and he welcomed support from the Russian government,” Mr. Mariotti said.

What else is needed?

Evidence of an agreement to violate a specific criminal statute — in other words, a conspiracy to commit a certain crime.

“Anytime you are talking about coordinating or collusion, you are talking about the possibility of conspiracy charges,” said Samuel W. Buell, a former federal prosecutor who teaches criminal law at Duke University. “But conspiracy is not a crime that floats by itself in the air. There has to be an underlying federal offense that is being conspired to be committed.”

Was election law violated?

A federal law, Section 30121 of Title 52, makes it a crime for any foreigner to contribute or donate money or some “other thing of value” in connection with an American election, or for anyone to solicit a foreigner to do so. Legal experts struggled to identify any precedent for prosecutions under that statute, but that phrase is common in other federal criminal statutes covering such crimes as bribery and threats, said Richard L. Hasen, an election-law professor at the University of California, Irvine. Courts have held, in other contexts, that a “thing of value” can be something intangible, like information.

Robert Bauer, an election-law specialist who served as White House counsel in the Obama administration, argued that this statute covers the Russian government’s paying its spies and hackers to collect and disseminate negative information about Mrs. Clinton to help Mr. Trump win the 2016 election.

“There are firms in the United States that do negative research and sell it to campaigns,” Mr. Bauer argued. “There is no way to take information someone has compiled using resources and say it’s just information and dirt. It’s valuable information and counts as a contribution when given to or distributed for the benefit of a campaign.”

But Orin S. Kerr, a George Washington University professor and former federal prosecutor, said the notion struck him as a stretch.

“The phrase ‘contribution or donation’ sounds like a gift to help fund the campaign or give them something they otherwise would buy,” Mr. Kerr argued. “If that is the standard, that doesn’t seem to be met, based on what we know so far, because this wasn’t something that someone else could have gathered that was for sale in a market or would be otherwise purchasable.”

What about illegal hacking?

There is no public evidence, as things stand, of any clandestine discussions between Russian officials or surrogates and the Trump campaign about disseminating the emails of Democrats that American intelligence officials say Russia hacked. In July 2016, however, the elder Mr. Trump publicly urged Russia to hack Mrs. Clinton’s emails; his spokesman later insisted that was a joke.

But the Justice Department investigation is still unfolding. If it were to come to light that Russian officials did consult Trump campaign officials about the timing or tactics of the release of the stolen emails, that could raise the possibility of conspiracy charges under Section 1030 of Title 18, which bars unauthorized computer intrusions, specialists said.

Are there other possibilities?

The unprecedented issues raised by the Trump-Russia affair have led criminal law specialists to delve into other, more creative theories. For example, the federal conspiracy statute also prohibits conspiracies to “defraud” the United States by impeding the federal government’s lawful functions. Randall D. Eliason, a former federal prosecutor who teaches at George Washington University, has argued that this could include a conspiracy to undermine a federal administration of a presidential election, although administering elections is largely a state government task.

Several legal experts cautioned that the public does not know everything that Mr. Mueller’s investigation has uncovered and that it is not yet complete, so evidence of other potential crimes may emerge that have not yet been the subject of much discussion.