Exclusive: Accused Russian agent Butina met with U.S. Treasury, Fed officials
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Accused Russian agent Maria Butina had wider high-level contacts in Washington than previously known, taking part in 2015 meetings between a visiting Russian official and two senior officials at the U.S. Federal Reserve and Treasury Department.
The meetings, revealed by several people familiar with the sessions and a report from a Washington think tank that arranged them, involved Stanley Fischer, Fed vice chairman at the time, and Nathan Sheets, then Treasury undersecretary for international affairs.
Butina traveled to the United States in April 2015 with Alexander Torshin, then the Russian Central Bank deputy governor, and they took part in separate meetings with Fischer and Sheets to discuss U.S.-Russian economic relations during Democratic former President Barack Obamas administration.
The two meetings, which have not been previously reported, reveal a wider circle of high-powered connections that Butina sought to cultivate with American political leaders and special interest groups.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-butina-exclusive/exclusive-accused-russian-agent-butina-met-with-u-s-treasury-fed-officials-idUSKBN1KC0DC?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social
Link to tweet
Botany
(70,288 posts)The same think tank that arranged this Treasury & Fed meet with Butina & Torshin also hosted the Mayflower hotel event that Sessions & Kislyak attended.This think tank is run by a Russian with ties to Putin
* http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/insisting-there-was-no-collusion-trump-quotes-putin
tanyev
(42,356 posts)Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)lover groups is just normal for all students! Also said student having a billionaire benefactor who is buddy buddy with the head of state of the foreign country is what all foreign students are like! Not to mention being able to pay for many travel junkets to a Russian for anyone who asks!
What a country, America, only the best, brightest, well connected...and traitorous.
bucolic_frolic
(42,663 posts)Mnuchin, et al? Usually Wall Street emerges unscathed because they push back. I doubt they'll even look.
drray23
(7,587 posts)ancianita
(35,812 posts)hosted Trump at the Mayflower Hotel meeting.
Is it supposed to be a secret?
FakeNoose
(32,334 posts)The meetings with Fischer and Sheets were arranged by the Center for the National Interest, a Washington foreign policy think tank that often advocates pro-Russia views. The meetings were documented in a Center for the National Interest report seen by Reuters that outlined its Russia-related activities from 2013 to 2015. The report described the meetings as helping bring together leading figures from the financial institutions of the United States and Russia.
Does this help?
ancianita
(35,812 posts)Farmer-Rick
(10,072 posts)The Hill has an article identifying the think tank....it was founded by Nixon.
BumRushDaShow
(127,282 posts)Wil Wheaton (and other celebrities) saved the thread -
https://twitter.com/i/moments/845707955483766784
Abramson had a 50-tweet megathread. Tweet #4 was this -
Link to tweet
TEXT
Seth Abramson
✔
@SethAbramson
4) The speech, arranged by Jared Kushner in mid-March, was to be hosted by the Center for the National Interest, a conservative think tank. pic.twitter.com/yXj3J7DpQJ
9:49 PM - Mar 23, 2017
ancianita
(35,812 posts)BumRushDaShow
(127,282 posts)when trying to put the puzzle pieces together, is slowly being verified via the Mueller indictments and info from his (and other U.S. Attorney offices') court documents!
ancianita
(35,812 posts)MSNBC's "read" on likely culprits and their methods is echoing throughout all media except, of course, right wing-owned media.
Facts, and the breadth of fact-based analyses don't lie.
Lonestarblue
(9,875 posts)It appears to be the Center for the National Interest. Jared Kushner mentions it in his interview after the meeting, which had been assumed to be Manaforts idea.
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2017/07/24/was-the-mayflower-hotel-event-really-jared-kushners-idea/
I couldnt find a source for who provides the money for this think tank, but it was established in 1994 by Richard Nixon, so even though they claim to be nonpartisan they clearly support Republican priorities. They definitely support U.S.-Russia cooperation. This paragraph is from their website:
Executive Director of the Center for the National Interest, Paul J. Saunders, directs the U.S. Russia Relations Program, which focuses on American policy toward Moscow and on U.S. Russian dialogue. The program is built around a regular series of seminars on key issues in the bilateral relationship, including non-proliferation, the war on terror, energy, and Russias domestic evolution as it relates to democracy, the media, and corruption. The program has recently focused on U.S. and Russian interests and interaction in the former Soviet territory.
On the surface, this think tank doesnt seem to be overrun with Russian money (their revenue in 2015 was less than $4 million, but I did not find more recent data), but NBC also reported that this think tank sponsored the Mayflower Hotel event. The article describes the Center as a pro-Russian organization.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/did-trump-kushner-sessions-have-undisclosed-meeting-russian-n767096
ancianita
(35,812 posts)Yep, if it quacks like a Russian duck, it is one, no matter its more innocent, seemingly pro-democracy history, which many capitalist dark money players hide behind for as long as they can.
We need org charts, player names overlain on them, donors and timelines just like investigative agencies have.
I found the Muckety Maps website useful, if incomplete, for that.
Lonestarblue
(9,875 posts)Now that groups like this no longer need to disclose donors, their lobbying and donations will only get worse. I would like to see a mainstream media organization like CBS, NBC, or ABC run regular segments on their news programs highlighting the most active think tanks, what they lobby for, and who their donors are. The Koch brothers alone have hundreds of think tanks and PACs so no one can keep up with everything they do, though those could mostly be lumped together because theyre all anti-government. Not so long ago, I asked some highly educated friends (mostly educators, masters and doctorates) about ALEC. None had even heard of it, much less knew what it does. Many people simply dont know how our laws and our opinions are being manipulated by these groups with no basis for what they do other than supporting wealthy donors and big corporations.
ancianita
(35,812 posts)But we're gonna get these racketeers. Wait and see.
KY_EnviroGuy
(14,483 posts)Link: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-butina-exclusive/exclusive-accused-russian-agent-butina-met-with-u-s-treasury-fed-officials-idUSKBN1KC0DC
(snip)
The meetings were documented in a Center for the National Interest report seen by Reuters that outlined its Russia-related activities from 2013 to 2015. The report described the meetings as helping bring together leading figures from the financial institutions of the United States and Russia.
After that, hold your nose and go to: https://nationalinterest.org/
.............
ancianita
(35,812 posts)We will need to put out campaign flyers with lists (and reliable cited sources, say Reuters or Pew) of pro-Russian players in this country.
KY_EnviroGuy
(14,483 posts)but we know that ain't necessarily so. Heritage Foundation first comes to mind.
Just like many have been fooled to believe the NRA is still just around for gun safety....
ancianita
(35,812 posts)BumRushDaShow
(127,282 posts)Both of these results happened after that -