How long will the meeting be? One is justified in asking this question. Last time, they were supposed to meet for no more than 40 minutes or so, and they met for well over two hours. Perhaps this “bump” will last into the wee hours and, once again, there’ll be no witnesses on the American side.
Ah, yes. The Trump-Putin “bump.” A chance run-in.
Last time, they were supposed to meet for no more then 40 minutes or so, and they met for well over two hours. So I imagine this “bump” will last into the wee hours and, once again, there’ll be no witnesses on the American side. https://t.co/71Q8CfmlbA
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 11, 2017
The Trump-Putin friendship goes back a looooong way… According to an individual with firsthand knowledge of the judging of the 2002 Miss Universe pageant, Trump tried to rig the outcome of the international contest to award the prestigious “Miss Universe” title to Vladimir Putin’s then-mistress, Oxana Fedorova.
(THREAD) BREAKING: According to an individual with firsthand knowledge of the judging of the 2002 Miss Universe pageant, Trump tried to rig the outcome of the international contest to award the prestigious “Miss Universe” title to Vladimir Putin’s then-mistress, Oxana Fedorova. pic.twitter.com/1mPjdL4Omj
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 10, 2017
(3) If the allegations made by the source are accurate, it means President Trump participated in an illegal scheme in 2002 to curry favor with Vladimir Putin and enter his social orbit. Trump's actions, as alleged, are a violation of a federal criminal statute (47 U.S.C. § 509).
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 10, 2017
(5) “There’s definitely, clearly one woman out there who’s head and shoulders above the rest. She’s the one I’d vote for,” said Mr. Trump. In the context of the conversation and Mr. Trump’s demeanor, the eyewitness reports that Trump “basically told the judges who to vote for.”
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 10, 2017
(7) Rigging televised contests is a crime under state and federal statutes. The applicable federal statute, 47 U.S.C. § 509, Prohibited Practices in Contests of Knowledge, Skill or Chance, carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison per count. Trump would've faced two counts.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 10, 2017
(9) Count two against Mr. Trump, under 47 U.S.C. § 509, would have been for “participating in the production for broadcasting of” a contest tampered with under this section of the federal code. These acts are relevant to the Russia probe whether or not Trump can still be charged.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 10, 2017
(11) Fedorova was widely reported at the time of her crowning to be romantically involved with Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. In May of 2002, Pravda—a top Russian newspaper—published a story entitled, “Vladimir Putin’s Girl Became Miss Universe 2002”: https://t.co/ejLtfs6L7k pic.twitter.com/LX9dflaGCf
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 10, 2017
(13) But prior allegations never rose to this level. In 2009, Miss Universe choreographer Michael Schwandt told The New York Daily Trump “hand-picks 6 of the 15 finalists in the pageant.” The new allegations involve an effort to pick the pageant's winner. https://t.co/hn4GqTfszs
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 10, 2017
(15) From 1996 to 2015, Trump was an owner of the Miss Universe pageant (between 2003 and September 2015 he and NBC co-owned the pageant). He's been accused in Rolling Stone of sexually assaulting and harassing contestants nearly every year of the pageant. https://t.co/hJFfwUqnmh
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 10, 2017
(17) Fedorova was the first Miss Universe to be dethroned—and it took just 60 days. According to the eyewitness, those involved in the pageant were told the reason for the dethroning had to do with criminal behavior by Fedorova’s “public” boyfriend, a man named Vladimir Golubev.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 10, 2017
(18) Fedorova's ties to Golubev may be another reason Trump violated federal law to try to get within her orbit. Golubev has long been connected with organized crime in St. Petersburg—and Fedorova allegedly became pregnant by him shortly after the pageant: https://t.co/svt7HnERHE pic.twitter.com/vFyzADDgDp
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 10, 2017
(20) While the archive's info can't be independently verified, it's noteworthy that Golubev is said to have run a scam in St. Petersburg in which businessmen paid Golubev $1 million to get a meeting with Putin—though all they ended up with was kompromat in the form of a sex tape. pic.twitter.com/EsQHsm4s7U
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 10, 2017
(22) Note that the "Rumafia" archive's allegations are sourced. It cites—on Golubev—a 10/15/09 article in Our Version on the Neva/Nasha Versiya na Neve (Наша версия на Неве; https://t.co/dp3m72IAzs), and a 9/10/01 article in Novaya Gazeta (Новая газета; https://t.co/572teeJFo0).
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 10, 2017
(23) The New York Post confirms anyone acting as "handler" for Fedorova would come into regular contact with Golubev—so clearly that would have been the case with Trump. He would have known, too, that Putin hand-picked Fedorova because of his ties to her: https://t.co/CPftuQCixf pic.twitter.com/OYtdsPQGBH
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 10, 2017
(25) Still, media reported that "the Russian President’s interest in her candidacy reportedly had nothing to do with her historic bid for Miss Universe, and everything to do with personal attachments." So Trump—and everyone—knew this *mattered* to Putin. https://t.co/YJeH04Z4iH
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 10, 2017
(27) The Daily Telegraph wrote of the Miss Russia pageant that, "when not busy silencing independent TV stations, taming troublesome oligarchs and waging a bloody war in Chechnya, Mr. Putin and his advisers were also influencing the outcome of the nation's top beauty pageant…"
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 10, 2017
(29) The Telegraph wrote Putin was so invested in Fedorova becoming Miss Universe via Trump's pageant some suspected he enlisted the FSB for the pageant: "[Pageant] guards were veterans of the FSB, the new name for Mr. Putin's old employers, and GRU, the military intelligence."
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 10, 2017
(PS) This thread makes *no* allegations of misconduct against Oxana Federova. And the sources spoken to for this story did *not* specifically allege any knowledge on the part of Miss Universe pageant officials of Mr. Trump's clandestine, illegal, pro-Putin contest-rigging scheme.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 10, 2017
(NOTE) Many followers of this feed don't know much about me—and there's been a concerted effort by a few journalists to encourage misunderstandings about my background—so for those new to the feed, I've included below (purely for the sake of transparency) several bio highlights: pic.twitter.com/yc8GZUBtwB
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 10, 2017
Former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Robert Mueller’s investigation is threating to consume some more big heads. Mueller has started probing a pre-election meeting between Michael Flynn (who was briefly the National Security Adviser for Trump) and Dana Rohrabacher, a California Congressman known for this pro-Russia views.
Flynn was fired just 24 days into his job. And it is widely believed that Mueller has gathered enough evidence to lead to an indictment in the investigation into Flynn and his son. Additionally, this could also lead to an investigation of US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher. If it does, then this would be the first instance of a US Congressman being investigated by Mueller for what is turning out to be RussiaGate.
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