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US Army photo: “Mission: Provide a man-portable, highly lethal and survivable medium anti-tank weapon system to the infantry, scouts, and combat engineers.”

In the Lev Parnas recording, which is allegedly from a 2018 fund-raiser dinner, Trump asks how long Ukraine could last in a fight with Russia, to which they reply not long without US help: https://youtu.be/1oI3M-8-Vtw

The Trump Administration’s de facto extortion of Ukraine is apparently not new. It appears to be a yearly event. Not only was there the apparent 2019 shakedown of Ukraine’s President Zelensky in exchange for military aid, but an apparent 2018 shakedown of the previous President Poroshenko.

In 2018, under the previous President Poroshenko, Ukraine shut down/quashed investigations related to the Mueller investigation, along with any cooperation with Mueller, apparently out of fear of Trump. Whether they were threatened, or “simply” fearful of Trump’s wrath is unknown.

In 2018: “Volodymyr Ariev, a member of Parliament who is an ally of President Petro O. Poroshenko, readily acknowledged that the intention in Kiev was to put investigations into Mr. Manafort’s activities ‘in the long-term box.’ ‘In every possible way, we will avoid irritating the top American officials,’ Mr. Ariev said in an interview. ‘We shouldn’t spoil relations with the administration.” (The New York Times, May 2, 2018 https://archive.li/PFd8A )

Furthermore, Ukraine hired, or was required to hire, for a not-so-small fortune, the Republican BGR (Barbour, Griffith, Rogers) lobbying group, in this earlier period. The timeline-documentation is in FARA and the Senate lobbying databases under BGR Group and Ukraine. Barbour was the Mississippi Governor who appointed Senator Roger Wicker as interim Senator to replace Trent Lott – virtually guaranteeing his election. Could this be why Wicker appears more keen to keep away impeachment witnesses than Trump? Trump announced at the last minute that he wanted witnesses to which Wicker replied: “There’s obviously a frustration on [Trump’s] part that makes him just want to get everything out in the open,” said Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). “But we have an obligation to conduct the trial in the way that in our judgment is most appropriate…” See “Trump Disrupts Republicans Trial Strategy: But GOP Senators rebuffed the president’s suggestion to bring in new witnesses“, By Burgess Everett and John Bresnahan, Politico, 1-22-2020, 5 pm EST https://archive.li/sqBaQ

Couldn’t Ukraine get weapons from France? Or does France fear losing business in Russia by helping out Ukraine? It makes little sense to get weapons from the US to protect from Putin, since Trump has appeared so madly in love with Putin, and Trump was Putin’s preferred candidate. It’s akin to Russians (or anyone else) seeking asylum in the US. Where are Ukraine’s European partners? Too worried that Putin will cut off their energy supplies? Or of Trump? Europe gives Ukraine development aid, but are they selling them military equipment and training them?

The NY Times reported, “Ukraine, Seeking U.S. Missiles, Halted Cooperation With Mueller Investigation:  Ukraine, deeply dependent on the Trump administration for financial and military aid, froze its cooperation with the special counsel’s office.“, The New York Times, May 2, 2018: https://archive.li/PFd8A

Part of the Mueller investigation: “U.S. v. Paul J. Manafort, Jr. (1:17-cr-201, District of Columbia) A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned a superseding indictment on Feb. 23, 2018, against Paul J. Manafort, Jr., 68, of Alexandria, Va. The superseding indictment contains five counts: conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading FARA statements, and false statements. (See more at Special Counsel’s Office: https://www.justice.gov/sco )

According to the New York Times (May 2, 2018) article, Ukraine halted four corruption cases involving Manafort, while the Trump administration finalized plans to sell anti-tank missiles to Ukraine. They say that an export license was issued by the State Department on December 22, 2017, and that the Pentagon announced final approval for the sale on March 2nd. https://archive.li/PFd8A

On March 1st, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency reported: “WASHINGTON, Mar. 1, 2018 – The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Ukraine of Javelin Missiles and Javelin Command Launch Units (CLUs) for an estimated cost of $47 million.  The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale today….” http://www.dsca.mil/major-arms-sales/ukraine-javelin-missiles-and-command-launch-units

According to the New York Times article (May 2, 2018), “The order to halt investigations into Mr. Manafort came in early April.” And “Volodymyr Ariev, a member of Parliament who is an ally of President Petro O. Poroshenko” said in an interview that “In every possible way, we will avoid irritating the top American officials,’….” While the Manafort related “cases were not closed… the order blocked Mr. Horbatyuk from issuing subpoenas for evidence or interviewing witnesses….” One investigation had to do with “a single $750,000 payment to Mr. Manafort from a Ukrainian shell company“. Records had been subpoenaed from Ukrainian banks before the investigations were halted. Another has to do with a secret ledger, called “the Black Ledger”, with payouts of $12.5 million to Manafort, signed by Vitaly Kalyuzhny. Two more cases have to do with the Skadden Arps report. NYT article: https://archive.li/PFd8A
See too: https://miningawareness.wordpress.com/2020/01/25/the-black-ledger-ukraine-ukrainian-journalist-mp-says-payments-received-by-manafort-show-all-indicators-of-money-laundering-and-fraud-investigation-needed-fbi-must-examine-bank-account/

Half Russian-half Dutch lawyer Van der Zwaan, who worked for Skadden Arps, was involved with the Skadden Arps report, and was in a US jail for one month. See: https://miningawareness.wordpress.com/2018/02/21/dutch-national-pleads-guilty-to-lying-to-us-special-counsel-mueller-in-russia-investigation/

Mueller Investigation: Van der Zwaan’s Maternal Language And Heart Are Russian

Trump 2016 Campaign Manager Manafort Linked To Russian Intelligence Service (FBI-Mueller)

RFERL reported last November: “Manafort, who has not been charged with a crime in Ukraine, is wanted by prosecutors to testify in a corruption case targeting Oleksandr Lavrynovych, who was justice minister under Viktor Yanukovych, the Moscow-friendly former president who fled to Russia in 2014. Prosecutors accuse Lavrynovych of illegally funneling more than $1.1 million in government funds to a powerful U.S. law firm, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom… Lavrynovych had hired the U.S. law firm in 2011 to review the jailing of then-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was sentenced to seven years in prison for allegedly brokering an unfavorable gas deal with Russia. Her sentence was viewed by much of the international community — including Russia — as political in nature. Tymoshenko was released in February 2014 and later reelected to parliament….” Excerpted from “Ukraine Wants To Question Manafort, But Says Requests To U.S. Have Gone Unanswered” November 02, 2017 17:07 GMT, by Iana Polianska and Christopher Miller https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-wants-to-question-manafort-unanswered-trump-indictment/28831822.html

“U.S. Department of State concerned about Skadden findings on Tymoshenko case 14-12-2012 16:27 Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State Victoria Nuland expressed concern over the report by the American firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, whose lawyers have not found political motives in the trial of Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. She said this during a briefing on Thursday, according to UKRINFORM. “By confining themselves to simply looking at the paper trial records and ignoring the larger political context in which the trial took place, our concern is that Skadden Arps lawyers were obviously not going to find political motivation if they weren’t looking for it. The report also fails to consider the selective nature of the trials, those who were chosen for trials against Tymoshenko and her – and former members of her government,” she said. She also noted that the position of the U.S. administration regarding selective prosecution in Ukraine remains unchanged. According to Nuland, the study by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom “was incomplete and doesn’t give an accurate picture.” https://web.archive.org/web/20170321034959/http://old.nrcu.gov.ua/en/148/518590

Additionally, as reported by the New York Times (2 May 2018): “Ukrainian law enforcement allowed a potential witness to possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to leave for Russia, putting him out of reach for questioning. The special counsel’s office has identified the man, Konstantin V. Kilimnik, Mr. Manafort’s former office manager in Kiev, as tied to a Russian intelligence agency. Mr. Kilimnik was also under investigation in Ukraine over espionage, but no charges were filed before he left the country, sometime after June. During the 2016 campaign, Mr. Kilimnik met twice with Mr. Manafort. In December, a court filing in the United States said Mr. Kilimnik was ‘currently based in Russia.” https://archive.li/PFd8A So, Kilimnik left for Russia in June 2017? Was this corrupt or incompetent law enforcement? Or kissing up to Trump?

On Kilimnik see: https://miningawareness.wordpress.com/2018/03/30/trump-2016-campaign-manager-manafort-linked-to-russian-intelligence-service-fbi-mueller/

Ukraine also receives $600 million in bilateral aid from the US. A member of the opposition, David Sakvarelidze, doesn’t think that there was coordination on the decision or a quid pro quo, but rather fear. Read the New York Times (May 2018) article here: https://archive.li/PFd8A

“U.S. Confirms Delivery Of Javelin Antitank Missiles To Ukraine” Last Updated: April 30, 2018 20:50 GMT, by Christopher Miller
https://www.rferl.org/a/javelin-missile-delivery-ukraine-us-confirmed/29200588.html

Below is an earlier related post from March 2017, followed by a March 2018 press release about the weapons provided to Ukraine: Ukrainian Journalist, Now MP: Payments Received by Manafort Show All Indicators of Money Laundering and Fraud; Investigation Needed; FBI Must Examine Bank Account https://miningawareness.wordpress.com/2017/03/29/ukrainian-journalist-now-mp-payments-received-by-manafort-show-all-indicators-of-money-laundering-and-fraud-investigation-needed-fbi-must-examine-bank-account/
[Discussion of the Banks involved and ties to previous money laundering, Bob Dole (AUB); Putin, Gazprom, Rosneft (Commerzbank) follows the Press Release.]

The Ukrainian MP gives a summary in English at around 9 minutes. Before that is an English translation of the longer Ukrainian version.
Link: http://youtu.be/GgIfKTOZRNk
[Note that despite the title, he makes clear here, and in the CNN interview, that based on his past experience as a journalist studying corruption that it looks like a case of money-laundering. He’s not saying that it is, but is calling for an investigation. We note this strictly for legal purposes, as we believe that it is money-laundering.]

“Serhiy Leshchenko: Payments received by Manafort from Yanukovych are money laundering, Kyiv, March 21, 2017

Ukrainian MP Serhiy Leshchenko presented evidence of illegal financial fraud in Ukraine, which involved a former adviser to Donald Trump, Paul Manafort. This information has once again increased the presence of Manafort in Ukrain’s information field: a week ago Ukrainian media reported the involvement of Paul Manafort in the executions of activists during the events on the Maidan in winter 2014.

Money laundering

Payments received by American lobbyist Paul Manafort from Victor Yanukovych show all indicators of money laundering and fraud. In particular, a tranche of USD 750,000 received on Manafort’s account at Wachovia bank in Virginia, came from an offshore company in Belize for allegedly supplying computers. This was stated by MP of Ukraine Serhiy Leshchenko during a briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.

“Manafort received the money from the account of the offshore company “NEOCOM Systems Limited” registered in Belize and opened in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan). He received the money not for political consulting services provided by him to Yanukovych. They concluded a contract of fictitious and fraudulent nature to launder money and falsify payments for allegedly supplying 501 computers,” noted Mr. Leshchenko.

The tranche coincides with the date and the sum that appear in the shadow accounting of the Party of Regions. A handwritten signature of Paul Manafort on the contract corresponds to his signature on the documents in the US Ministry of Justice which he completed during his registration as a lobbyist.

Manafort and Maidan

On March 15, Ukrainian media published information on the possible involvement of Manafort in the killings of Ukrainian activists in the Maidan events. A day earlier, a group of hackers hacked into and released the correspondence between Manafort‘s daughters. In one of the conversations his daughter Andrea expressed suspicion that their father had been involved in the killings and referred to the money their father got from Yanukovych as “blood money”. Emphasis our own. The original mispelled Wachovia. Original press release found here: http://uacrisis.org/53924-sergij-leshhenko-6

Note that he says that the FBI must help them because they can’t check the bank account allegedly belonging to Manafort. Perhaps he reported the information because he saw how the FBI was foot-dragging and Devin Nunes, who was House Intel Chair, was trying to scuttle the investigation.


Notice that not only AUB is mentioned, but Commerzbank. Commerzbank bought Dresdner Bank which has interesting historic ties to Putin, as well as having ties to Gazprom and Rosneft. Information on this is found after the information on AUB, Bob Dole, Stone and Manafort.

The New York Times explains the case in “Paul Manafort, Former Trump Campaign Chief, Faces New Allegations in Ukraine“, By Andrew E. Kramer, March 20, 2017, New York Times: “An invoice seems to show a payment to him of $750,000, disguised as a sale of computers. A spokesman for Mr. Manafort dismissed it all as “baseless.” This was not the first time Neocom Systems had surfaced in a corruption probe. In a 2012 money laundering and stock fraud case in Kyrgyzstan, the Central Bank listed it as a shell company used for payments by AsiaUniversalBank, a lender seized by Kyrgyzstan’s Central Bank amid money laundering allegations.” https://archive.li/XKdR4

“Paul Manafort and the Kyrgyz Connection
Who says a corruption scandal is ever really over? An old Kyrgyz banking scandal shows up in Manafort’s Ukraine dealings“. By Catherine Putz March 22, 2017, The Diplomat: https://archive.li/lDapj

AUB: “Asia Universal Bank was used for income laundering and theft of funds from loans obtained by Kyrgyzstan from foreign states were – Financial Intelligence Chief” The Free Library. 2013 Al Bawaba (Middle East) Ltd. 21 Mar. 2017 Read the article here: https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Asia+Universal+Bank+was+used+for+income+laundering+and+theft+of+funds…-a0353714253

Excerpted from a Global Witness study, “Grave Secrecy“:
“Of the jurisdictions in which AUB’s correspondent banks listed above are incorporated, the US requires its banks by law to do due diligence on their correspondent banks, as do the member states of the European Union. As of their most recent FATF mutual evaluations, Finland, Switzerland and China had not adopted this standard requiring their banks to do due diligence on their correspondent customers./ Banks in the EU or US entering a correspondent relationship with AUB were therefore required to ask questions about AUB’s due diligence systems and its regulation. If those banks in countries that have not yet adopted the FATF standard into law had a prudent eye to reducing their money laundering risk, they too would have done some due diligence…
One of the most striking features of AUB’s international access was the presence of three former US senators on its board: Bob Dole, J. Bennett Johnston and Donald W. Riegle Jr. How did this happen, particularly after the Russian Central Bank had warned Russian banks about the risks of doing business with AUB? / The answer is that following the Russian Central Bank’s action in 2006, AUB hired a Washington DC public relations company, APCO Worldwide,… APCO said it had “secured an agreement with AUB that it would put in place an independent board of directors.” Former US senators J. Bennett Johnston and Bob Dole – the latter a senior counsellor at APCO from 2004 to 2008 and a former presidential candidate – were hired to AUB’s board in June 2007. The following year, in April 2008, Eugene Gourevitch and his wife made a donation of US $4,600 to Elizabeth Dole’s US Senate election campaign. In early 2010 Senator Dole resigned from AUB’s board due to travel obligations and was replaced by another former US senator, Donald W. Riegle Jr, an employee of APCO. Both Riegle Jr and Johnston were still on the board at the time of the uprising in Kyrgyzstan in April 2010./. “I think it [hiring APCO] made it difference. Before it was like ‘Kyrgyzstan, where’s that?’ Then it was, ‘Bob Dole is a board member? Interesting, tell us more.’ AUB’s Denis Slobodyan“. https://www.globalwitness.org/sites/default/files/library/GraveSecrecy_singlepagefinal.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APCO_Worldwide

Russian Oligarch Deripaska Tied to Manafort Also Has Past Links to Bob Dole

The Evil Trio from McCarthy to Trump via Watergate, Reagan, Bush: Cohn-Stone-Manafort

Paul Manafort, used to be in business with Roger Stone. Both have apparently worked for Bob Dole. Both have apparently known Trump for decades and were introduced via Joe McCarthy’s pitbull lawyer, later mob and Trump lawyer, Roy Cohn.

Manafort “was an adviser to the U.S. presidential campaigns of Republicans Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bob Dole, and was the national chairman of the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, as well as being a senior partner in the firm Davis, Manafort, and Freedman. It was confirmed in The New York Times on the eve of the 2017 Presidential Inauguration that Manafort is under active investigation by the CIA, NSA, FBI, ODNI and FinCEN… In 2007 and 2008 Manafort was involved in investment projects with Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska (the acquisition of a Ukrainian telecoms company) and Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash (redevelopment of the site of the former Drake Hotel in New York City).” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Manafort

Roger Stone worked for Dole: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Stone
1980- 96: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black,_Manafort,_Stone_and_Kelly
1996- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BKSH_%26_Associates_Worldwide
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/BKSH_%26_Associates_Worldwide

As people noted about Trump: “Dole often refers to himself in the third person in conversation.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dole So, did Manafort teach Trump? Or both of them? Or did Roy Cohn teach Stone, Trump and Manafort this habit and they taught Dole?

Commerzbank Admits to Criminal Actions which Facilitated Olympus Accounting Fraud & Money-Laundering; Possibly Contributing to Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction

Dresdner Bank was bought by Commerzbank. The Dresdner Bank’s relationship with Russian President Putin is said to go back to when “Dresdner Bank attempted to get a banking operating license in Saint Petersburg, where former KGB agent Vladimir Putin was in charge of foreign economic relations. Dresdner Bank appointed Matthias Warnig, a former Stasi agent and Vladimir Putin’s former KGB contact, to negotiate with Putin. The office was opened in 1991.[6][7] Warnig became Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dresdner Bank ZAO, Dresdner Bank Russian subsidiary.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dresdner_Bank Recall that Putin lived in Germany and knows German. In fact, he lived in Dresden, where this bank got its name and its start: “From 1985 to 1990, the KGB stationed Putin in Dresden, East Germany. During that time, Putin was assigned to Directorate S, the illegal intelligence-gathering unit (the KGB’s classification for agents who used falsified identities) where he was given cover as a translator and interpreter“.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Putin
“Warnig became Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dresdner Bank ZAO, Dresdner Bank Russian’s subsidiary. In 2004–05, the bank advised on the controversial forced sale of Yukos assets“. Warnig is head of Nord Stream 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthias_Warnig

Although Dresdner Bank was absorbed as a subsidiary of the German Commerzbank, it appears that its “lucrative business relationship with Gazprom and the state oil company Rosneft,” has continued. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dresdner_Bank In April of 2013, Commerzbank facilitated a $1 billion USD loan to GazpromNeft and 7 months later (Nov, 2013), Commerzbank coordinated another $2.15 billion loan, from 14 leading banks, for GazpromNeft. The deal was Gazprom Neft’s largest loan facility in recent years. GazpromNeft focuses on the exploration and sale of crude oil and gas; oil refining, and marketing of petroleum products. Commerzbank also appears to be selling Rosneft shares, which is majority Russian State owned (69.5%) and 19.75% BP owned. See: https://miningawareness.wordpress.com/2014/05/06/german-dresdner-bank-commerzbank-putin-and-russian-state-owned-gazprom-rosneft (Wikipedia excerpts Creative Commons and last accessed in 2014).

“UPDATE 2-Russia signs Rosneft deal with Qatar, Glencore
Posted:Sun, 11 Dec 2016 06:14:02 -0500MOSCOW, Dec 11 (Reuters) – Russian state holding company Rosneftegaz on Saturday signed a deal with the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and commodities trader Glencore to sell a 19.5 percent stake in state-owned oil major Rosneft, Rosneft said. ” http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/basicmaterialsNews/~3/lVhXLjCxS4U/russia-rosneft-privatisation-idUSL5N1E50TF

“RPT-INSIGHT-How Russia sold its oil jewel — without saying who bought it
Posted:Wed, 25 Jan 2017 03:51:27 -0500 MOSCOW/LONDON/MILAN, Jan 24 (Reuters) – More than a month after Russia announced one of its biggest privatisations since the 1990s, selling a 19.5 percent stake in its giant oil company Rosneft, it still isn’t possible to determine from public records the full identities of those who bought it.” http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/basicmaterialsNews/~3/R2jyoa8GyMg/russia-rosneft-privatisation-repeat-insi-idUSL5N1FF1X4

“Media/Public Contact: 
pm-cpa@state.gov
Transmittal No: 
18-02
­­­WASHINGTON, Mar. 1, 2018 – The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Ukraine of Javelin Missiles and Javelin Command Launch Units (CLUs) for an estimated cost of $47 million.  The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale today.

The Government of Ukraine has requested to buy two hundred ten (210) Javelin Missiles and thirty-seven (37) Javelin Command Launch Units (CLUs) (includes two (2) Javelin CLUs to be used as spares).  Also included are Basic Skill Trainers (BST); United States Government and contractor technical assistance, transportation, training and other related elements of logistics and program support.  The total estimated cost is not to exceed $47 million.

This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by improving the security of Ukraine.  The Javelin system will help Ukraine build its long-term defense capacity to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity in order to meet its national defense requirements.  Ukraine will have no difficulty absorbing this system into its armed forces.

The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.

The prime contractors will be Raytheon/Lockheed Martin Javelin Joint Venture of Orlando, Florida and Tucson, Arizona.  However, these missiles are being provided from U.S. Army stocks and the CLUs will be obtained from on-hand Special Defense Acquisition Fund (SDAF)-purchased stocks.  There are no known offset agreements proposed in conjunction with this potential sale.

Implementation of this proposed sale will require U.S. Government and/or contractor representatives to travel to Ukraine temporarily in order to conduct training.

There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale.
This notice of a potential sale is required by law and does not mean the sale has been concluded.
All questions regarding this proposed Foreign Military Sale should be directed to the State Department’s Bureau of Political Military Affairs, Office of Congressional and Public Affairs, pm-cpa@state.gov.
-30-
 Tags: 
Ukraine
Javelin Missiles and Command Launch Units major arms sales”
http://www.dsca.mil/major-arms-sales/ukraine-javelin-missiles-and-command-launch-units
https://archive.li/6hRlY

Entire alleged audio of fundraiser dinner submitted by Giuliani “associate” Lev Parnas’ lawyer: https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/25/politics/recording-trump-lev-parnas-igor-fruman-ukraine-ambassador/index.html In the audio it is striking how dependent Trump appears on these people for information. He appears as a consistent actor in his discourse or perhaps blissfully ignorant. It is possible that he transferred dependence upon his father and Roy Cohen to various other people, including family and Russian operatives/mafia – some of whom may be one and the same. His father was in construction, and so Trump has probably been in a mob-infested environment his entire life. He probably wouldn’t know what non-mob infested life should look like. It remains possible that this audio is a fake, but the more one listens the more authentic it sounds. It is unclear who the Don is. The Donald or someone else? Note, as well, a voice that appears to be Parnas trying to plant the idea in Trump’s mind that Trump is the Jewish Messiah.

EMPHASIS OUR OWN THROUGHOUT.