Trump commerce secretary's business links with Putin family laid out in leaked files

[PunkinPi]

Source: The Guardian

Leaked documents and public filings show that Ross holds a stake in a shipping company, Navigator, through a chain of offshore investments. Navigator operates a lucrative partnership with Sibur, a Russian gas company part-owned by Kirill Shamalov, the husband of Putin’s daughter Katerina Tikhonova.

Ross, a billionaire and close friend of Trump, retained holdings in Navigator even after taking office this year. The relationship means that he stands to benefit from the operations of a Russian company run by Putin’s family and close allies, some of whom are under US sanctions.

The Ross interests appear in the Paradise Papers, a trove of millions of leaked offshore files reviewed by the Guardian, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and other partners. They join established links between Ross and Russian finance that have raised questions over his selection by Trump to head the US commerce department.

Analysts said the arrangement was troubling. Daniel Fried, an assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs under George W Bush, said Ross’s connection to “cronies of Putin” threatened to undermine US sanctions.


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/05/trump-commerce-secretary-wilbur-ross-business-links-putin-family-paradise-papers?CMP=share_btn_tw

---

More at link

[Sneederbunk]

1. Mr. Ed: Very disappointed in you Wilbur.

[Angry Dragon]

4. VERY GOOD

[grantcart]

17. lol, that is going to date you.

[Alice11111]

26. A horse is a horse, of course... I expected it.

[Wounded Bear]

2. We need to rip the scab off of this festering administration...

[mahatmakanejeeves]

14. "The" scab? As if there's only one? NT

[hatrack]

16. The whole thing's a scab . . .

With a boundless ocean of orange pus beneath.

[safeinOhio]

3. Having a hard time keeping up

Need a score card that updates every hour.

[Angry Dragon]

5. Just assume they all have their finger in the pie

[grantcart]

6. thanks for this. This is the clearest example of actual corruption

[PunkinPi]

11. You're welcome...just glad to get the focus back on the criminals in the WH.

[PearliePoo2]

7. Every filthy rock you pick up and turn over in this admin. has a fucking Russian under it!

I'm sick of it.
Is Bob Mueller looking at Ross too? Man, I hope so.
What happens to our country when there's no one left in the administration to govern? Seriously?
All these rat-fuckers are compromised. All of them.

[kstewart33]

8. NYT and NBC News also have this story as breaking news.

NBC Headline: "Leaked Documents Show Wilbur Ross Concealed Ties to Putin Cronies"

Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary in the Trump administration, shares business interests with Vladimir Putin’s immediate family, and he failed to clearly disclose those interests when he was being confirmed for his cabinet position.

Ross — a billionaire industrialist — retains an interest in a shipping company, Navigator Holdings, that was partially owned by his former investment company. One of Navigator’s most important business relationships is with a Russian energy firm controlled, in turn, by Putin’s son-in-law and other members of the Russian president’s inner circle.

Some of the details of Ross’s continuing financial holdings — much of which were not disclosed during his confirmation process — are revealed in a trove of more than 7 million internal documents of Appleby, a Bermuda-based law firm, that was leaked to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. The documents consist of emails, presentations and other electronic data. These were then shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists — a global network that won the Pulitzer Prize this year for its work on the Panama Papers — and its international media partners. NBC News was given access to some of the leaked documents, which the ICIJ calls the “Paradise Papers.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/leaked-documents-show-commerce-secretary-concealed-ties-putin-cronies-n817711

[grantcart]

18. Richard Engel is going to have an hour special on it tonight.

[wiggs]

9. Another croc in the swamp. nt

[Sam McGee]

10. Ross and Bank of Cyprus

Ross also was an Executive VP of the Bank of Cyprus, which is the bank through which Manafort laundered Russian money.

Trump is not a businessman or an entrepreneur . . . he's the head of a mob family.

[Botany]

15. And who else was doing business @ the Bank of Cyprus?

George Papadopoulos .... maybe he was just getting coffee there

[NCjack]

20. Paul Manafort is associated with at least 15 bank accounts at Bank of Cyprus. nt

[TeamPooka]

12. Resignation please!!!!

[Alice11111]

27. Yes! Any reputable Prez, would ask him to temporarily

step aside pending an investigation. Since this Prez thinks it's the normal way to get rich, it will take massive public or Congressional pressure.

[Leghorn21]

13. Oh my,

[kimbutgar]

19. Who knows how much of Putin now knows about the inside of our internal government workings

He probably knows all our countries secrets and intelligence.

[Alice11111]

28. No doubt.

[gademocrat7]

21. Another swamp monster exposed.

Chump and his cabal are beyond toxic.

[mainer]

22. Watching it right now on BBC Panorama

Truly breaking news

[Dr. Jack]

23. I'm shocked....

[Madam45for2923]

24. Plus he is the Cyprus Bank guy! This guy is implicated in all sorts of ways!

[FreeStateDemocrat]

25. Failure to disclose foreign interests, lock him up now!

[democratisphere]

29. Guess that explains where the few billion dollars he didn't account for comes from.

This should be an interesting week of indictments and resignations while the entire drumpf family is on their Asian tour.

[riversedge]

30. lots of details in the article. Thanks.

[psychopomp]

31. MSNBC laid out the 3-degrees of separation btwn him and Putin

Our Sec. of Commerce has a direct line to Putin by means of his investment in Navigator, a company that Putin is connected to and is likely one of his own, personal investments.