Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Mueller may have a conflict — and it leads directly to a Russian oligarch

In 2009, when Mueller ran the FBI, the bureau asked Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

Deripaska's lawyer said the Russian ultimately spent $25 million assembling a private search and rescue team that worked with Iranian contacts under the FBI's watchful eye.

Deripaska said in a statement through Adam Waldman, his American lawyer, that FBI agents told him State's reasons for blocking his U.S. visa were "Merely a pretext."

Deripaska once hired Manafort as a political adviser and invested money with him in a business venture that went bad. Deripaska sued Manafort, alleging he stole money.

Mueller's indictment of Manafort makes no mention of Deripaska, even though prosecutors have evidence that Manafort contemplated inviting his old Russian client.

Two months before Trump was elected president, Deripaska was in New York as part of Russia's United Nations delegation when three FBI agents awakened him in his home; at least one agent had worked with Deripaska on the aborted effort to rescue Levinson.

Waldman declined to say if Deripaska has been in contact with the FBI since Sept, 2016.So why care about some banished Russian oligarch's account now?

http://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/387625-mueller-may-have-a-conflict-and-it-leads-directly-to-a-russian-oligarch

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