***Did Carter Page meet with the FSB while he was in Moscow in July 2016?***
Last edited Thu Mar 15, 2018, 04:34 PM - Edit history (2)
Konstantin Rykov seems to be claiming he did. And he seems to have claimed it all the way back in July 2016:
The focus here is on Rykov's comments in his post that his NES speech was a "cover" and his further comment, "He also came to the intelligence service (FSB) to understand the reaction to Donald."
The original Facebook link in Russian:
https://www.facebook.com/konstantin.rykov/posts/10209422386386902
A brief primer on who Konstantin Rykov is, and what other things he's claimed he's done:
https://medium.com/@ScottMStedman/kremlin-propagandist-boasted-of-his-hacking-efforts-strongly-implied-colluding-with-trump-team-in-a905104965a1
Here's the most astonishing part of this post. Rykov directly tags the Facebook profile for Michael McFaul. Michael McFaul was the US Ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014.
Rykov--a Kremlin linked propagandist--is claiming to have insider knowledge as to Carter Page's true motive for visiting Russia in July 2016 and he can't wait to brag about it right in the face of the former US Ambassador to Russia.
And almost as astonishing--and perhaps brazen--McFaul actually responds to Rykov (with a simple "Starik", which roughly translates to "Old Man" ).
Now, everything I know about McFaul is that he in no way appears to have been compromised by the Russians. I highly doubt he's been turned as a Russian agent or anything of that sort. He's been a constant critic of Putin and the Russian government from Day 1 and continues to be highly critical of them to this day. He's not media shy (I've seen him on numerous programs, including Rachel Maddow) and he's not social media shy. If you look at his Twitter, he'll openly engage Russian trolls. And he's specifically identified Rykov himself (who he's interacted with on several occasions on Facebook and Twitter) as a Kremlin agent responsible for interfering in the US elections:
Link to tweet
But is this just Rykov trolling McFaul, trying to get a rise out of him? Or is he just openly bragging? The thing is, much like Rykov's November 2016 Facebook confession days after the US election (claiming he ran a social media campaign from Russia to get Donald Trump elected), it contains elements of truth that were not widely known at that point and have only been subsequently corroborated later on down.
Everything about Rykov, and the way he makes outrageous bombshell like claims in plain sight, is absolutely bizarre. Perhaps he's just a psychopath who--like a serial killer--seeks public validation for his deeds. Or perhaps he's like a terrorist, who insists on claiming responsibility for his actions, rather than hiding them away.
Whatever it is, I can only hope that McFaul had been reporting this to US intelligence as it was taking place, and that it played a part into the counter-intelligence investigation against Carter Page, which lead directly to the Trump campaign.
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