House of Trump, House of Putin2

by Craig Unger

  116. Ibid.

  117. Jane Mayer, “Christopher Steele, the Man Behind the Trump Dossier,” New Yorker, March 12, 2018, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/03/12/christopher-steele-the-man-behind-the-trump-dossier.

  118. Ibid.

  119. Ibid.

  120. Ken Bensinger, Miriam Elder and Mark Schoofs, “These Reports Allege Trump Has Deep Ties To Russia,” BuzzFeed News, January 10, 2017.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: THE BATTLE IS JOINED

  1. Alexander Burns and Maggie Haberman, “Mystery Man: Ukraine’s US Fixer,” Politico, March 5, 2014, https://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/paul-manafort-ukraine-104263.

  2. Glenn R. Simpson and Mary Jacoby, “How Lobbyists Help Ex-Soviets Woo Washington,” Wall Street Journal, April 17, 2007, https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB117674837248471543.

  3. Ruth May, “GOP Campaigns Took $7.35 Million from Oligarch Linked to Russia,” Dallas News, August 3, 2017, https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/08/03/tangled-web-connects-russian-oligarch-money-gop-campaigns.

  4. Staci Zaretsky, “The Largest Law Firm in The United States,” Above the Law, April 16, 2018.

  5. Peter Stone and Greg Gordon, “FBI Investigating Whether Russian Money Went to NRA to Help Trump,” McClatchy DC Bureau, January 18, 2018, http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article195231139.html.

  6. Robert S. Mueller III, speech commemorating the tenth anniversary of the International Law Enforcement Academy, Budapest, Hungary, May 12, 2005, FBI.gov, https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/speeches/moving-beyond-the-walls-global-partnerships-in-a-global-age.

  7. Natasha Bertrand, “Former FBI Director Represented Russian Firm at Center of Major Money-Laundering Probe,” Business Insider, November 16, 2017, http://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-director-louis-freeh-russia-prevezon-money-laundering-2017-11.

  8. Anna Aruntuntan, “The Magnitsky Affair and Russia’s Original Sin,” Foreign Policy, July 21, 2017. https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/07/21/the-magnitsky-affair-and-russias-original-sin-putin/.

  9. “Lies of Nekrasov-Phraya anti-Magnitsky Documentary,” June 2016, http://russian-untouchables.com/docs/Nekrasov%20Lies%20Presentaion%20June%20(ENG)%20NEW%20JUNE%202016%20v%202.pdf.

  10. Owen Matthews, “There’s Something Rotten in the State of Russia,” Spectator, January 6, 2010, https://www.spectator.co.uk/2010/01/theres-something-rotten-in-the-state-of-russia/.

  11. Luke Harding, “Hermitage lawyer’s death in Russian jail a crime, says colleagues” The Guardian, November 18, 2009. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/nov/18/moscow-death-lawyer-magnitsky.

  12. Jonathan Power, “Threat of the Russian Nuclear Mafia,” Baltimore Sun, October 14, 1997, http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1997-10-14/news/1997287146_1_russian-mafia-nuclear-weapons-nuclear-bomb.

  13. Darrell Hofheinz, “Deed: Ex-FBI Head Louis Freeh Linked to $9.38M Home Purchase,” Palm Beach Daily News, May 5, 2017, https://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/local/deed-fbi-head-louis-freeh-linked-38m-home-purchase/1nLZ9zH3y1hXrspMix3FjI/.

  14. Amber Phillips, “18 not-so-nice things U.S. politicians have said about Vladimir Putin,” The Washington Post, June 10, 2015.

  15. Ibid.

  16. Michael Crowley and Julia Ioffe, “Why Putin Hates Hillary,” Politico, July 25, 2016, https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/clinton-putin-226153Ibid.

  17. Luke Harding, “Former Trump Aide Approved ‘Black Ops’ to Help Ukraine President,” Guardian, April 5, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/05/ex-trump-aide-paul-manafort-approved-black-ops-to-help-ukraine-president.

  18. Human Rights Watch, “Russia: Failing to Do Fair Share to Help Syrian Refugees,” press release, September 14, 2016, https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/09/14/russia-failing-do-fair-share-help-syrian-refugees.

  19. Lizzie Dearden, “Russia and Syria ‘Weaponising’ Refugee Crisis to Destabilise Europe, Nato Commander Claims,” Independent, March 3, 2016, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/russia-and-syria-weaponising-refugee-crisis-to-destabilise-europe-nato-commander-claims-a6909241.html.

  20. Putin’s Asymmetric Assault on Democracy in Russia and Europe: Implications for U.S. National Security A Minority Staff Report Prepared for the Use of the Committee on Foreign Relations United States Senate, 115th Congress, 2nd Session, January 10, 2018, https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FinalRR.pdf.

  21. Alexi Mostrous, “Russia used Twitter bots and trolls ‘to disrupt’ Brexit vote,” The Sunday Times, November 15, 2017. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/russia-used-web-posts-to-disrupt-brexit-vote-h9nv5zg6c.

  22. Author’s correspondence with Tomasz Piatek.

  23. Ibid.

  24. Ibid.

  25. Rajeev Syal, “Polish Defence Minister Condemned over Jewish Conspiracy Theory,” Guardian, November 10, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/10/polish-defence-minister-condemned-over-jewish-conspiracy-theory.

  26. Author’s correspondence with Tomasz Piatek.

  27. Putin’s Asymmetric Assault on Democracy in Russia and Europe: Implications for U.S. National Security A Minority Staff Report Prepared for the Use of the Committee on Foreign Relations United States Senate.

  28. Lizzie Dearden, “Boris Nemtsov shot dead: What we know and what we may never find out about his murder,” The Independent, March 3, 2015. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/boris-nemtsov-shot-dead-what-we-know-and-what-we-may-never-find-out-about-his-murder-10081897.html.

  29. Putin’s Asymmetric Assault on Democracy in Russia and Europe: Implications for U.S. National Security A Minority Staff Report Prepared for the Use of the Committee on Foreign Relations United States Senate.

  30. Philip Bumb, “If Trump never got off that escalator, where would he be now?” The Washington Post, June 16, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/06/16/if-trump-never-got-off-that-escalator-where-would-he-be-now/?utm_term=.02cd1cb92f0c.

  31. David Corn and Michael Isikoff, “What Happened in Moscow: The Inside Story of How Trump’s Obsession with Putin Began,” Mother Jones, March 8, 2018, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/03/russian-connection-what-happened-moscow-inside-story-trump-obsession-putin-david-corn-michael-isikoff/.

  32. Alexander Burns, “Donald Trump, Pushing Someone Rich, Offers Himself,” New York Times, June 16, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/us/politics/donald-trump-runs-for-president-this-time-for-real-he-says.html.

  33. Washington Post Staff, “Full text: Donald Trump announces a presidential bid,” The Washington Post, June 16, 2015. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/06/16/full-text-donald-trump-announces-a-presidential-bid/?utm_term=.bdcf72fe2648.

  34. Ibid.

  35. Erin Durkin and Adam Edelman, “Donald Trump Enters 2016 Presidential Race with Bizarre Speech Insulting Mexican Immigrants, Lambasting Obama,” Daily News, June 17, 2017, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/donald-trump-entering-2016-presidential-race-article-1.2259706.

  36. Emily Ngo, “Donald Trump: As President, I’d Restore America’s ‘Brand,’” Newsday, June 16, 2016, https://www.newsday.com/news/nation/donald-trump-announces-he-s-running-for-president-1.10548619.

  37. Aaron Couch and Emmett McDermott, “Donald Trump Campaign Offered Actors $50 to Cheer for Him at Presidential Announcement,” Hollywood Reporter, June 17, 2015, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/donald-trump-campaign-offered-actors-803161.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN: BACK CHANNELS

  1. Sean Hannity, “Exclusive: Donald Trump on what made him run for president on ‘Hannity,’” June 17, 2015, http://www.foxnews.com/transcript/2015/06/18/exclusive-donald-trump-on-what-made-him-run-for-president-on-hannity.html.

  2. Denise Clifton and Mark Follman, “The Very Strange Case of Two Russian Gun Lovers, the NRA, and Donald Trump,” Mother Jones, May/June 2018, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/03/trump-russia-nra-connection-maria-butina-alexander-torshin-guns/.

  3. Tom Hamburger, Rosalind S. Helderman, a
nd Michael Birnbaum, “Inside Trump’s financial ties to Russia and his unusual flattery of Vladimir Putin,” Washington Post, June 17, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-trumps-financial-ties-to-russia-and-his-unusual-flattery-of-vladimir-putin/2016/06/17/dbdcaac8-31a6-11e6-8ff7-7b6c1998b7a0_story.html?utm_term=.5ca5b7092e19.

  4. US Office of the Director of National Intelligence, “Background to ‘Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections’: The Analytic Process and Cyber Incident Attribution,” January 6, 2017, https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ICA_2017_01.pdf.

  5. Jim Sciutto, “How One Typo Helped Let Russian Hackers In,” CNN, June 27, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/06/27/politics/russia-dnc-hacking-csr/index.html.

  6. Ibid.

  7. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, “Background to ‘Assessing Russian Activities.’”

  8. Colin Campbell, “Donald Trump Has Surged to the Top of 2 New 2016 Polls,” Business Insider, July 9, 2015, http://www.businessinsider.com/polls-donald-trump-in-first-place-2015-7.

  9. Mary Troyan, “Trump: I could shoot a person and not lose votes,” USA Today, January 23, 2016, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/01/23/trump-could-shoot-person-and-not-lose-votes/79232258/.

  10. Donald Trump Jr. emails, exhibit in Justice Department inquiry into the June 9, 2016, Trump Tower meeting, https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Trump%20Jr%20Exhibits_redacted.pdf.

  11. Sam Thielman, “Trump’s Conduits for Capital from the Former Soviet Bloc Are Actually Old Pals,” Talking Points Memo, July 25, 2017, http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/michael-cohen-felix-sater-teenage-acquaintances-trump-organization.

  12. Matt Apuzzo and Maggie Haberman, “Trump Associate Boasted That Moscow Business Deal ‘Will Get Donald Elected,’” New York Times, August 28, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/28/us/politics/trump-tower-putin-felix-sater.html.

  13. Ibid.

  14. Ibid.

  15. Leonnig, Hamburger, and Helderman, “Trump’s Business Sought Deal.”

  16. Michael Crowley, “The Kremlin’s Candidate,” Politico, May/June 2016, https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/04/donald-trump-2016-russia-today-rt-kremlin-media-vladimir-putin-213833.

  17. Ken Dilanian, “Russians Paid Mike Flynn $45K for Moscow Speech, Documents Show,” NBC News, March 16, 2017, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/russians-paid-mike-flynn-45k-moscow-speech-documents-show-n734506.

  18. Kyle Cheney and Randy Lemmerman, “Carter Page testimony highlights: Trump aide dismisses Russian interference,” Politico, November 6, 2017, https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/06/carter-page-russia-testimony-244628.

  19. Sharon LaFraniere, Mark Mazzetti, and Matt Apuzzo, “How the Russia Inquiry Began: A Campaign Aide, Drinks and Talk of Political Dirt,” New York Times, December 30, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/30/us/politics/how-fbi-russia-investigation-began-george-papadopoulos.html.

  20. Luke Harding, Stephanie Kirchgaessner, and Shaun Walker, “Trump Adviser George Papadopoulos and the Lies About Russian Links,” Guardian, October 31, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/30/george-papadopoulos-donald-trump-russia-charge-putin.

  21. Ibid.

  22. Paolo G. Brera, “Russiagate, mystery professor Joseph Mifsud speaks out: ‘Dirt on Hillary Clinton? Nonsense,’” La Repubblica, November 1, 2017, http://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2017/11/01/news/russiagate_mystery_professor_joseph_mifsud_speaks_out_dirt_on_hillary_clinton_nonsense_-179948962/.

  23. “Thomas A. (Tad) Devine.”

  24. Friedman, Red Mafiya.

  25. Tom Hamburger and Carol D. Leonnig, “Amid Swirl of Controversy, Democratic Power Lobbyist Tony Podesta Steps Down,” Washington Post, October 30, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/amid-swirl-of-controversy-democratic-power-lobbyist-podesta-steps-down/2017/10/30/14c4bb0a-bd97-11e7-97d9-bdab5a0ab381_story.html?utm_term=.6fc99e262c2b.

  26. Mike McIntyre, “Manafort Was in Debt to Pro-Russia Interests, Cyprus Records Show,” New York Times, July 19, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/us/politics/paul-manafort-russia-trump.html.

  27. Foer, “Plot Against America.”

  28. Ibid.

  29. Ibid.

  30. Glenn Thrush, “To Charm Trump, Paul Manafort Sold Himself as an Affordable Outsider,” New York Times, April 8, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/08/us/to-charm-trump-paul-manafort-sold-himself-as-an-affordable-outsider.html.

  31. Lachlan Markay, “Accused Russian Intel Asset Teamed Up with GOP Operative,” Daily Beast, April 4, 2018, https://www.thedailybeast.com/accused-russian-intel-asset-teamed-up-with-gop-operative-3.

  32. Foer, “Plot Against America.”

  33. Markay, “Accused Russian Intel Asset.”

  34. Ibid.

  35. Sue Halpern, “Cambridge Analytica and the Perils of Psychographics,” New Yorker, March 30, 2018, https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/cambridge-analytica-and-the-perils-of-psychographics.

  36. Ken Vogel (@kenvogel), Twitter, June 3, 2018, https://twitter.com/kenvogel/status/1003296131059765248?lang=en.

  37. Markay, “Accused Russian Intel Asset.”

  38. Nicholas Confessore and Danny Hakim, “Data Firm Says ‘Secret Sauce’ Aided Trump; Many Scoff,” New York Times, March 6, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/06/us/politics/cambridge-analytica.html.

  39. Ibid.

  40. Ann Marlowe, “Will Donald Trump’s Data-Analytics Company Allow Russia to Access Research on U.S. Citizens?” Tablet, August 22, 2016, http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/211152/trump-data-analytics-russian-access.

  41. Ibid.

  42. Alexander Burns and Maggie Haberman, “Donald Trump Hires Paul Manafort to Lead Delegate Effort,” New York Times, March 28, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/03/28/donald-trump-hires-paul-manafort-to-lead-delegate-effort/.

  43. Donald Trump Jr. emails, exhibit in Justice Department inquiry into the June 9, 2016, Trump Tower meeting, https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Trump%20Jr%20Exhibits_redacted.pdf.

  44. Ibid.

  45. Staci Zaretsky, “Bill Maher Goes Apesh*t on Donald Trump’s Lawyer,” Above the Law, February 11, 2013, https://abovethelaw.com/2013/02/quote-of-the-day-bill-maher-goes-apesht-on-trumps-lawyer/.

  46. Elias Groll, “Here’s the Memo the Kremlin-Linked Lawyer Took to the Meeting with Donald Trump Jr.,” Foreign Policy, October 16, 2017, http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/10/16/heres-memo-kremlin-lawyer-took-to-meeting-donald-trump-jr/.

  47. Damir Marusic and Karina Orlova, “All the Dots, Connected,” American Interest, July 25, 2017, https://www.the-american-interest.com/2017/07/25/all-the-dots-connected/.

  48. Linley Sanders, “Donald Trump Jr. Told Russian Lawyer ‘If We Come to Power’ an Anti-Russia Law Would Be Reconsidered,” Newsweek, November 6, 2017, http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-jr-told-russian-lawyer-if-we-come-power-anti-russia-law-702516.

  49. Irina Reznik and Henry Meyer, “Trump Jr. Hinted at Review of Anti-Russia Law, Moscow Lawyer Says,” Bloomberg, November 6, 2017, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-06/trump-jr-said-anti-russia-law-may-be-reviewed-moscow-lawyer-says.

  50. Ibid.

  51. Sanders, “Donald Trump Jr.”

  52. Peter Jacobs, “We Now Know How Jared Kushner Politely Excuses Himself from Meetings He Thinks Are a Waste of Time,” Business Insider, July 24, 2017, http://www.businessinsider.com/kushner-got-assistant-to-fake-call-to-get-out-of-trump-jr-meeting-with-russian-lawyer-2017-7.

  53. Mackenzie Weinger, “Clapper: Trump Jr. Emails ‘Only One Anecdote in a Much Larger Story,’” Cipher Brief, July 11, 2017, https://www.thecipherbrief.com/clapper-trump-jr-emails-only-one-anecdote-in-a-much-larger-story.

  54. Andrew E. Kramer and Sharon LaFraniere, “Lawyer Who Was Said to Have Dirt on Clinton Had Closer Ties to Kremlin Than She Let On,” New York Times, April 27, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/27/us/natalya-veselnitskaya-trump-tower-russian-p
rosecutor-general.html.

  55. Marusic and Orlova, “All the Dots”; Karmer and LaFraniere, “Lawyer Who Was Said to Have Dirt.”

  56. Ibid.

  57. Philip Bump, “What Paul Manafort’s Trump Tower Notes Mean,” Washington Post, May 16, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/05/16/what-paul-manaforts-trump-tower-notes-mean/?utm_term=.c7fa3476ae0f.

  58. Katrina Manson, “Russian lobbyist Rinat Akhemetshin on that notorious meeting at Trump Tower,” Financial Times, September 1, 2017. https://www.ft.com/content/540354a4-8e4c-11e7-a352-e46f43c5825d.

  59. Ibid.

  60. Isaac Arnsdorf and Benjamin Oreskes, “Vladimir Putin’s Favorite US Congressman,” Politico, November 23, 2016, https://www.politico.eu/article/vladimir-putin-favorite-us-congressman-dana-rohrabacher-magnitsky-act-russia/.

  61. Bill Powell, “How the KGB (and Friends) Took Over Russia’s Economy,” Fortune, September 10, 2008, http://archive.fortune.com/2008/09/04/news/international/powell_KGB.fortune/index.htm.

  62. Stephanie Kirchgaessner, “Who Is Rinat Akhmetshin? The Mystery Man at Trump Jr’s Russia Meeting,” Guardian, July 14, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/14/rinat-akhmetshin-russia-intelligence-donald-trump-jr.

  63. Daniella Diaz, “Eighth Person in Trump Team Meeting Linked to Money Laundering Investigation,” CNN, July 20, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/07/19/politics/ike-kaveladze-linked-to-money-laundering-investigation/index.html.

  64. Mackenzie Weinger, “Clapper: Trump Jr. Emails ‘Only One Anecdote in a Much Larger Story,’” Cipher Brief, July 11, 2017, https://www.thecipherbrief.com/clapper-trump-jr-emails-only-one-anecdote-in-a-much-larger-story.

  65. Ibid.

  66. Ryan Goodman, “What Could Michael Cohen Tell Mueller about Russian Collusion?” Just Security, June 13, 2018, https://www.justsecurity.org/57734/michael-cohen-mueller-russia-collusion/.

  CHAPTER TWENTY: ENDGAME

  1. Adam Entous, “House Majority Leader to Colleagues in 2016: ‘I Think Putin Pays’ Trump,” Washington Post, May 17, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/house-majority-leader-to-colleagues-in-2016-i-think-putin-pays-trump/2017/05/17/515f6f8a-3aff-11e7-8854-21f359183e8c_story.html?utm_term=.66af450a2f06.