WTF? They knew they were giving financial information on Americans to the Russians? Through f’ing Hotmail and gmail accounts?
As part of international cooperation against terrorists and other money launderers, this kind of information exchange is perfectly reasonable, at least on the surface. Then you read the rest of the Buzzfeed article and realize that there’s little question FinCen was penetrated by russian agents at multiple levels. As well as being sabotaged by upper management to keep it from doing its job in general. (Which, btw, helps explain how people who shouldn’t have gotten copies of FinCen documents did so.)
Absolutely agree on the sharing information to track terrorists and money laundering. But from the article it appears they exercised zero discretion about sharing the information. And geez, I don’t even respond to emails from Hotmail accounts.
The use of “unofficial email addresses set up by Russia” is the tell that these Treasury staffers were up to no good. They need to be identified, investigated, and if necessary prosecuted. This is BS and cannot stand. Too many Americans are selling us out. To Russia, of all countries! We need to update Lenin’s quote - “The Capitalists will (sell) give us the rope with which we will hang them.”
White collars criminals in the U.S. are ALWAYS above the law. Unless they swindle other white collar criminals (Bernie Madoff was stupid enough to do that.)
The Buzzfeed article is definitely required reading. It’s horrifying that handfuls of FinCEN employees raised red flags via a number if appropriate channels up to and including Office of Special Counsel, only to be stymied at every turn – for years – even as Russian influence and election interference was becoming more clear on a near daily basis.
This x 1000. This rises to the level of treason when it involves Russia. And the perpetrators need to pay up to and including hanging.
Did some of this get out about a year ago? I sort of remember Rachel covering the tip of this.
This is to me is proof that getting Trump in started well before 2015. And to think that all this was going on under Mnuchin’s nose.
But wasn’t it “in the run-up to the 2016 election”? Mnuchin assumed office February 13, 2017.
Russia was at war with us. Only we didn’t know it. What a CF.
They still didn’t catch him: he confessed.
Practicing for the time when they would be taking orders from Russia?
This should be the TPM headline article. Mathis is important, but this is more important.
I get that it started before Steve got there, but I want to know does he even know what’s going on in his agency? Or…he already knew and making sure the Russians get what they want…us and U.S. in disarray.
Indeed. But this is also weird that it started during the late Obama administration, under Jack Lew, who I suppose appointed El-Hindi.
Agreed. I wonder if Trump going off the rails in the past 48 hours has anythingbto do with this extraordinary FinCEN news.
Me, right? It’s me.
So this was being done under the Obama administration in 2016? WTF indeed.
In my opinion, I think it has everything to do with the Trump Tower letter of intent with his signature on it leaked to the press … which he had always denied signing.
There were only two groups with that letter, Trump people and Russians. Only Russians would have motive to leak it. The very next day he lifts sanctions on Russian firms owned by oligarch Oleg Deripaska and orders immediate withdrawal from Syria. Russia celebrates victory.
We might very well be witnessing Trump being squeezed by Russian kompromat in realtime.