Pattenâs guilty plea and cooperation agreement highlight a wholly separate track of #trumprussia which I believe will turn out to be bigger than the âcollusionâ tracks. Patten was involved in a scheme to funnel foreign money into the Trump Inaugural Fund (slush fund). The Inaugural Committee was run by Tom Barrack and Rick Gates (who was Barrackâs lieutenant for this role). As the collusion track was being executed by Russia in coordination with the Trump campaign (and perhaps a separate track run by Saudi Arabian and Israeli interests) plans were being made to pitch Trump on policy change wish lists in exchange for financial contributions (read: bribes). Patten is tied to Konstantin Kilimnick and the same or similar circle of pro-Russian Ukrainians and Russians with a deep interest in Ukraine and ties to the Kremlin as was Manafort. In the Patten case, the policy change wish list wouldâve included sanctions removal, with possible links to the Flynn promoted nuclear energy plan for the Middle East, an acceptance of the âUkraine Peace Planâ which would in effect give US recognition or formal acquiescence to Russiaâs annexation of Crimea, positioning on NATO, and possibly Syria. All of these moves would change the global balance of power in favor of Russia and diminish the western coalition. All of this was purported to be executed through a simple pay to play scheme. Patten brought the pay and asked, on behalf of clients, to play.
Why the whole status report under seal? Unless doing it partially redacted would tell the opposition exactly what they want to know, simply by looking at the redactions.
Since itâs a status report on the level of Pattenâs cooperation, my guess would be that Muellerâs team wants to keep secret the extent to which Pattenâs cooperated rather than any specific details of that cooperation.
ââŚwill turn out to be bigger than the âcollusionâ tracksâŚâ
Holy Putin, Batman. Another one that was off my radar. Thanks. I hope Rachel, Chris or Lawrence bring their pedagogical talents to the parsing of this one as it unfolds. Thanks for your homework on this khyber man.
I wonder if the seal has anything to do with this âŚ
The admission included that he had taken money from Kilimnik and
transferred it from a Cypriot bank to his company, then used an
unnamed American to get it to the committee.
unnamed American ⌠he he â
I totally agree with you. Stealing the election was a messy, complicated affair. Though I do think Mueller will have proof of direct, hands on conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign, the question of what worked and did the Russian interference get Trump elected is going to be muddy and very hard to prove.
But simple pay to play bribery of the POTUS in return for foreign policy change that would diminish US power while enhancing Russiaâs? NOW we are talking turkey. I mean treason.
Thanks for the awesome (as usual) explanation and details!
How long have these worms operated without notice or concern until Trump came along?
This storm will pass, and when it is gone, it will be a somewhat cleaner world.
At least, the crooks will have to get smarter than this bunch of Stooges.
Didnât Gates admit to stealing money from the Trump Inauguration Fund? Did the inauguration committee admit that they had an audit performed, but never released the findings? So what we seem to have is a crook stealing from another crookâs grift. Isnât that bad form and all that?
Patten was involved in a scheme to funnel foreign money into the Trump Inaugural Fund (slush fund) which was run by Tom Barrack and Rick Gates.
And this is the second âslush fundâ Trump is trying to create. Didnât Trump want some of the âwallâ money to be placed into âslush fundâ? And what about the remainder of the initial border security money that Trump got that hasnât been spent?
###Make Accounting Great Again
âPatten is a lobbyist and political consultant who was a close partner of Russian spy Konstantin Kilimnik, as well as working for the parent of Cambridge Analytica and working with Paul Manafort.â
âThe admission included that he had taken money from Kilimnik and transferred it from a Cypriot bank to his company, then used an unnamed American to get it to the committee.â
Man, the noose really is tightening. That Cypriot Bank is our mystery âclear the decksâ sovereign financial institution. And this âno big dealâ guy is the money mule who knows everything. And that unnamed American? HmmmmmâŚ
And the Democrats take back the House today. Oops, tomorrowâŚHereâs hoping Nancy gives Trump another switch kick in the nuts today.
Is that a tiny light I see at the end of this tunnel?
You all might find this interesting from Empty Wheel:
SAM PATTEN REMINDS US COOPERATION DEALS ARE NOT COOKIE CUTTERS
What we know of the Mueller investigation is minuscule and the tip of the iceberg. Titanic Taco Bowl Traitor Donnie has just slammed into it bigly.
So many walls, so much closureâŚ
Any particular bank in Cyprus? One connected with another member of the administration?
Ah yesâŚa perp walk.
So how much of Trumpâs HUUUGE inauguration crowd was actually composed of his foreign bosses?
Makes one appreciate the size of his crowd.
You may also be talking Turkey, and Iâm sure the pun was intended. They all are.
⌠of people who had newly issued visas âŚ
My only downside to this detailed explication is that nothing that I read ties this stuff directly to Spankee. I see lots of slimy people skimming money from people who think theyâre buying influence, and probably those slimy people have or thought they had Spankeeâs ear, but tying a to b to c doesnât come through in this case.