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| credit: Steve Sack, Star Tribune |
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More: A dramatic turn in the Russian Connection investigation took place this morning as the FBI raided the apartment of Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen. The G-men seized documents, records and emails including those related to a payment to Stormy 'Abudanza' Daniels in return for her silence about an affair with the Donald. Mr. Yuge's reaction was typically vitirolic, calling the raid an “attack on our country in a true sense.” His impulsive remark set off another speculative storm in the Swamp that he would fire Mueller or even his boss Deputy General Counsel Rosenstein before the investigation is over. Mueller's office did not initiate the search pursuant to warrant, but Manhattan federal prosecutors did. They may legall share any relevant evidence they obtain with Mueller's office, however.
New York Times reports that Konstantin V. Kilimnik is the alleged Russian agent ("Person A") mentioned in the sentencing documents submitted by the Special Counsel last week at the hearing for US lawyer, Alex van der Zwaan. Kilimnik worked for a about a decade at Paul Manafort's Kiev consulting office as a go-between with Ukrainian officials. He is a former military intelligence translator who speaks near perfect English. A Ukrainian attorney who requested an investigation of Kilimnik by the Ukranian government for his alleged spying activities said of him, “He was a student of a military school in Russia. Everybody in the former Soviet Union knows what that means. They produce professional spies.” According to Robert Mueller, Kilimnik and Manafort cooperated on an ultimately unsuccessful business venture financed by Mr. Deripaska one of the oligarch sanctioned by the Treasury Department, known as the Pericles investment fund. Mr. Manafort’s business in Ukraine was registered in Mr. Kilimnik’s name.
The Special Counsel said in his court briefs that Kilimnik had communicated with Mr. Gates late during the 2016 campaign, and that Mr. Gates was aware of Mr. Kilimnik’s background in Russian intelligence. This information places Russian intelligence only a few degrees away from 'Mr. Yuge', now sitting in the White House. Manafort will go on trial later this year on charges of money laundering. He has refused to enter into a plea and cooperation agreement with the Special Counsel.
In another significant development, the Treasury Department imposed financial sanctions on seven Russian oligarchs loyal to President Putin and twelve of their companies. It also imposed sanctions on seventeen other senior Russian government officials for the Kremlin's "malign agenda" towards the US. The sanctions freeze any assets the sanctioned individuals hold in the U.S. and bar Americans from dealing with them. So the squeeze is in full force. Mueller may have told Trump's attorneys Trump is not a "criminal target" of his ten month investigation, but he has not been cleared of wrongdoing either. Subjects can easily become indicted, especially as a result of their own testimony. Still, the chances of an impeachment, essentially a political process, are at long odds. Stay tuned to find what oozes out next.
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