Russian charged with Trump's ex-campaign chief is key figure

[Miles Archer]

Konstantin Kilimnik, an elusive figure under indictment for alleged witness tampering by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, is seen seated on the far left in a March 2006 photo obtained by The Associated Press as part of a collection of internal corporate memos and business records from the international political consulting offices of Donald Trump’s ex-campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. Mueller has indicated that Kilimnik is in Russia and has ties to Russian intelligence, which Kilimnik disputes. The photograph represents one of the few images known to exist of Kilimnik. Also in the photo, seated from left: Kilimnik, Martha Young, Catherine Barnes, Tad Devine, Paul Manafort, Phillip Griffin; standing from left: Lee Avrashov, an unidentified individual and Christian Ferry. (via AP)

https://www.chron.com/news/politics/article/Russian-charged-with-Trump-s-ex-campaign-chief-is-13043972.php

WASHINGTON (AP) — During the special counsel's Russia investigation, Konstantin Kilimnik has been described as a fixer, translator or office manager to President Donald Trump's ex-campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

But Kilimnik, an elusive figure now indicted alongside Manafort on witness tampering charges, was far more involved in formulating pro-Russia political strategy with Manafort than previously known, according to internal memos and other business records obtained by the AP.

The records include a rare 2006 photograph of Kilimnik, a Ukrainian native, in an office setting with Manafort and other key players in Manafort's consulting firm at the time. Some of the documents were later independently obtained by U.S. government investigators.

Kilimnik — who special counsel Robert Mueller believes is currently in Russia and has ties to Russian intelligence — helped formulate Manafort's pitches to clients in Russia and Ukraine, according to the records. Among Manafort's clients were Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and other mega-wealthy Russians with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kilimnik began that work in secret, the records show, even while working for the International Republican Institute — a U.S. government-funded nonprofit supporting the Western-friendly democratic movements that Manafort and his patrons sought to counter.

[ehrnst]

1. That photo....

has some surprising faces.

Tad Devine among them.

[sunonmars]

10. No surprise,that guy has questions to answers.It explains a lot about the 2016 AntiHillary campaign.

[ehrnst]

11. An awful lot. (nt)

[The Polack MSgt]

2. Let me supply the approximate narrative (unless silence is the only response)

Tad really didn't have a big role in that company, I'm pretty sure he just got coffee and ran errands and the like... Just like his role on the campaign.

[ehrnst]

3. Totally.

[George II]

4. Interesting - although taken 10 years earlier, seated next to each other are.....

....Sanders' 2016 Campaign Chief Strategist and trump's 2016 Campaign Manager.

[ehrnst]

5. Certainly makes one's opposition to Russia sanctions interesting. (nt)

[George II]

6. I hadn't even made that connection. I wonder how Rand Paul fits into this?

[ehrnst]

7. John McCain said Rand Paul is a Russian tool

http://www.newsweek.com/cold-war-mccain-paul-russia-nato-568816

Sen. John McCain accused Sen. Rand Paul Wednesday of serving the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin after Sen. Paul opposed a Senate consent request for Montenegro to join NATO.

Paul, an avowed libertarian, has often pushed for non-interventionist foreign policy goals and has voiced his opposition to the U.S.' leading position in NATO, of which Washington has been by far the biggest financial supporter. But McCain told lawmakers that acceding to Paul's objection to Balkan nation Montenegro joining the international military alliance would be to serve Moscow's interests. NATO has undergone a massive military escalation in the past year to counter what its members describe as Russian aggression after the 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

"You are achieving the objectives of Vladimir Putin...trying to dismember this small country which has already been the subject of an attempted coup,” McCain said, without initially mentioning Paul by name, according to CBS News.

The charge apparently prompted Paul to leave the room, further provoking McCain, who went on to "note the senator from Kentucky leaving the floor without justification or any rationale." McCain blasted Paul for not getting on board with what he said were about 98 of his colleagues who reportedly supported Montenegro's NATO membership bid. He then accused Paul of directly working for Putin.

[Gothmog]

8. Russian Agent Ran Trump's Campaign

This story has legs

[brer cat]

9. There are some tangled strings in this Russian web.

K&R

[triron]

12. knr

[lapucelle]

13. Christian Ferry worked for Lindsey Graham's 2016 presidential campaign.

https://ballotpedia.org/Christian_Ferry