At Rockefeller Heir's Dinner, Accused Russian Butina Hobnobbed With D.C. Elites

[Julian Englis]

Source: Bloomberg

O’Neill, a 68-year-old sculptor and a rainmaker for conservatives since Pat Buchanan’s 1992 presidential run, hosted a private dinner in Washington, D.C., for a delegation of Russian dignitaries in town for a National Prayer Breakfast in early February 2017, he has said publicly and to Bloomberg last year. There, just days after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Russians met two Republican lawmakers and other conservative luminaries, he has said.

The dinner is also referenced in a trip itinerary given to Russian delegates traveling to Washington for the breakfast, which was reviewed by Bloomberg. Delegates also received a Russian-language rundown of the Americans they could expect to meet at the dinner. Among them were O’Neill and his wife, a Russian-speaking congressional aide and a conservative operative they were told was an adviser to the new Trump administration, according to a document reviewed by Bloomberg.

The timing and details of that early 2017 gathering matches one of several dinners that U.S. prosecutors refer to in charges they recently unveiled against Butina, accusing her of failing to declare her efforts to advance Russia’s interests in the U.S. Prosecutors identify the host only as U.S. Person 2. O’Neill didn’t respond to requests to verify that he was that person. The Justice Department declined to comment.

(snip)

But at least some of the Russians who came to the dinner had a more corrosive agenda, U.S. national security prosecutors now say, and wittingly or not, O’Neill may have helped Butina pursue her goal of establishing a “back channel” between the Kremlin and top Republicans. Though not referenced in the Butina filings, there have been other discussions about setting up such back channels -- involving, according to news reports, Michael Flynn and Jared Kushner in late 2016 and Trump supporter Erik Prince in early 2017. Kushner later disclosed the discussion, and Prince has denied wrongdoing.


Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2018-07-26/rockefeller-heir-seen-to-help-butina-link-russians-d-c-elites?__twitter_impression=true

[WhiteTara]

1. I don't believe these were to set up back channels

but were the back channels themselves.

[Sunlei]

2. someone should check with the colleges how many days absent from classes-student visa!

years in USA on a student visa! someone paid for very expensive! college costs- how many days was she absent?