Следите за деньгами

[tijd.livejournal.com]

Новости про Пола Манафорта:

1. Расследование AP обнаружило след выплаты по тайным платежкам Януковича.

Ukrainian investigators called it evidence of off-the-books payments from a pro-Russian political party — and part of a larger pattern of corruption under the country's former president. Manafort, who worked for the party as an international political consultant, has publicly questioned the ledger's authenticity.
Now, financial records newly obtained by The Associated Press confirm that at least $1.2 million in payments listed in the ledger next to Manafort's name were actually received by his consulting firm in the United States. They include payments in 2007 and 2009, providing the first evidence that Manafort's firm received at least some money listed in the so-called Black Ledger.
https://www.apnews.com/20cfc75c82eb4a67b94e624e97207e23/AP-Exclusive:-Manafort-firm-received-Ukraine-ledger-payout

Тем самым подтвердилось подозрение Путина о том, что Янукович плохо умеет прятать концы в воду. Об этих подозрениях сообщалось в досье Стила:

1. Speaking in late August 2016, in the immediate aftermath of Paul MANAFORT's resignation as campaign manager for US Republican presidential candidate Donald TRUMP, a well-placed Russian figure reported on a recent meeting between President PUTIN and ex-President YANUKOVYCH of Ukraine. This had been held in secret on 15 August near Volgograd, Russia and the western media revelations about MANAFORT and Ukraine had featured prominently on the agenda. YANUKOVYCH had confided in PUTIN that he did authorise and order substantial kick-back payments to MANAFORT as alleged but sought to reassure him that there was no documentary trail left behind which could provide clear evidence of this.
2. Given YANUKOVYCH's (unimpressive) record in covering up his own corrupt tracks in the past, PUTIN and others in the Russian leadership were sceptical about the ex-Ukrainian president's reassurances on this as relating to MANAFORT. They therefore still feared the scandal had legs, especially as MANAFORT had been commercially active in Ukraine right up to the time (in March 2016) when he joined TRUMP's campaign team. For them it therefore remained a point of potential political vulnerability and embarrassment.

2. Расследование NYT выяснило, что в 2016 Манафорт остро нуждался в деньгах и сразу после своей отставки в августе набрал многомиллионных долгов.

Papers were recorded that same day creating a shell company controlled by Mr. Manafort that soon received $13 million in loans from two businesses with ties to Mr. Trump, including one that partners with a Ukrainian-born billionaire and another led by a Trump economic adviser. They were among $20 million in loans secured by properties belonging to Mr. Manafort and his wife.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/us/politics/paul-manafort-donald-trump.html

3. Манафорт регистрируется ретроспективно в качестве "иностранного агента".

Manafort is expected to register with the Justice Department as a foreign agent representing Ukraine's interests between 2012 and 2014, the sources said.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/12/politics/paul-manafort-ukraine/index.html

Но это, очевидно, самая меньшая из его проблем.

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Британцы знали

[tijd.livejournal.com]

Человек с чисто английским именем, Sir Richard Dearlove, служил главой MI-6 в 1999-2004. В недавнем интервью он поделился предположением о российском капкане для Трампа:

“What lingers for Trump may be what deals—on what terms—he did after the financial crisis of 2008 to borrow Russian money when others in the west apparently would not lend to him.”
https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/interview-richard-dearlove-europe-intelligence-mi6

Между тем Guardian сообщает, что другая знаменитая британская спецслужба, GCHQ, долгое время отслеживала контакты людей Трампа с российскими спецслужбами. Подобной прослушкой занималась также разведки многих других стран (Германии, Эстонии, Польши, Австралии, Голландии и Франции).

GCHQ first became aware in late 2015 of suspicious “interactions” between figures connected to Trump and known or suspected Russian agents, a source close to UK intelligence said. This intelligence was passed to the US as part of a routine exchange of information, they added.
Over the next six months, until summer 2016, a number of western agencies shared further information on contacts between Trump’s inner circle and Russians, sources said.
The European countries that passed on electronic intelligence – known as sigint – included Germany, Estonia and Poland. Australia, a member of the “Five Eyes” spying alliance that also includes the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand, also relayed material, one source said.
Another source suggested the Dutch and the French spy agency, the General Directorate for External Security or DGSE, were contributors.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/apr/13/british-spies-first-to-spot-trump-team-links-russia

Досье Стила основывалось на рассказах малонадежных источников (HUMINT: human intelligence). Некоторые рассказы более достоверны, поскольку подтверждены несколькими независимыми источниками, но их тем не менее нельзя принимать на веру. Как выясняется, у разных стран вдобавок имеются прослушки (SIGINT: signal intelligence). SIGNIT предоставляет более надежную информацию. Однако, не всегда годится для американского суда. ФБР, даже имея прослушку, предпочитает ловить шпионов "на живца", подсылая к ним сотрудника под прикрытием.

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