Kremlin’s hand in Trump's campaign

Paul Manafort, the ex-head of the Donald Trump election headquarters, kept a Russian intelligence officer as a trustee in Ukraine, the American publication Politico and the British The Financial Times claim

His name is Konstantin Kilimnik, in the specialty he is a military translator. At the same time, however, he did not hide that he perfectly speaks foreign languages ​​- English and Swedish - “thanks to military intelligence,” writes Politico. That is how he explained his knowledge when applying for work in Moscow in a non -profit organization in 1995. His student friends remember him as a "costume, a guy from the GRU." And before joining Manafort in Ukraine, where the American political strategist advised ex-president Vikator Yanukovych and his party of regions, Kilimnik worked in the team of Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov.

“The proximity of the head of Trump’s campaign to the linguist, who has passed the Russian military school and a participant in Ukrainian politics, raises questions and concerns,” writes Politico.

Manafort himself, who worked with Physician since 2005, was forced to leave the post of head of the Trump election headquarters on August 19-due to the broken scandal around the information published by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU). They shed a new light to participate in Manafort in “Ukrainian Affairs”. As follows from the published scans of the shadow accounting of the Yanukovych Party, Manafort may have received more than $ 12.7 million from its Black Cashier. The USA emphasizes that both Yanukovych itself and the Party of Regions are affiliated with Russia.

Lobbyists against the law?

Manafort denies these accusations. Nevertheless, the FBI and Ministry of Justice of the United States began to investigate the facts devoted, including violations of the law on registering lobbyism in favor of foreign governments or political parties, CNN said.

The FBI took up the “Manafort business” back in 2014, after Viktor Yanukovych fled from Ukraine to Russia. However, it flowed sluggishly, probably in the absence of direct evidence, and now has gained a second wind in connection with the information that appeared from Kyiv.

Payments to the American political technologist, according to NABU, were made from 2007 to 2012, and a total of 22 payments are attributed to Manafort.

In the center of the FBI investigation, there is a version that Manafort has attracted two American companies - Mercury Group and Podesta Group - for lobbying in Washington the interests of the Party of Regions. It is suspected that it was the Belgian non -profit organization European Center for A Modern Ukraine, which appears as a client. However, neither Mercury nor Podesta notified the Ministry of Justice that they were involved in the advancement of the interests of a foreign client on the Capitol Hill, as required by the US legislation.

One of the owners of the family Podesta Group, in conjunction with which the ex-head of the election headquarters of Trump, John Podest, is the head of the election campaign of the Democrats candidate Hillary Clinton. Podesta Group in a press release said that she did not know anything about the connection of the Brussels NPO with the Party of Regions, and began her own investigation with the involvement of an external audit. As follows from the statement, European Center for a Modern Ukraine, when concluding a contract, testified in writing that she did not represent the interests of governments and political parties.

Manafort attracted two American companies - Mercury Group and Podesta Group - for lobbying in Washington the interests of the Party of Regions. However, neither Mercury nor Podesta notified the Ministry of Justice that they were involved in promoting the interests of a foreign client on the Capitol Hill, as required by the US legislation

Flynn, Page, Gazprom ...

One way or another, for Donald Trump, the most unpleasant thing is that the scandal around Paul Manafort broke out at the finish of the presidential race. Political opponents accuse Trump, known for complimentary statements against President Putin, that people from his near circle are somehow connected with the state structures of the Russian Federation-whether Gazprom, the English-language television channel of Russia Today, and even the special services. Hillary Clinton's headquarters requires Trump to reveal his financial ties with Russia.

“We see in this campaign from time to time Moscow. We demand that Donald Trump reveal all the sources of financial income received in Russia and answered the question of whether his advisers to representatives of the Kremlin met, ”said the manager of the election campaign Hillary Clinton Muk in an interview with ABC.

Now Trump's opponents are demanding to expand the investigation of the “Russian trace” in the close circle of the Republican presidential candidate. The focus of public opinion, in particular, was a retired general and former head of the Pentagon intelligence, Michael Flynn, who is now better known as an analyst in the Russian State Propaganda Canal RT. At the festival about the 10th anniversary of RT in December 2015, Flynn shared a table with Vladimir Putin and turned to the public with a speech. It was this person, “having a strange affection for Russia and its authoritarian government,” by the definition of Politico journalist Michael Crowley, who accompanied Trump for the first closed briefing of the FBI for presidential candidate last week. The briefing lasted more than two hours and was organized in order to familiarize the possible future of the US president with information regarding the main threats and challenges in the world.

A lot of questions in the USA and the person of Carter Page, adviser to Trump on foreign policy. This Gazprom shares holder, whose business is directly related to Russia, publicly stated that the sanctions imposed by the United States against the Russian Federation infringe on its personal interests.

"In the current situation, the question arises - is Trump himself a Kremlin puppet himself?" - turned to the Americans Robbie Muk.

At the festival about the 10th anniversary of RT in December 2015, the retired General Flynn shared a table with Vladimir Putin and addressed the public with a speech. It was this person, “having a strange affection for Russia and its authoritarian government,” by the definition of Politico journalist Michael Crowley, who accompanied Trump for the first closed briefing of the FBI for presidential candidate last week

Photo: Michael Vadon