How/Why do we know about the cigar bar meeting with Kilimnik??
There is a story out there that most of us have heard by now, that Manafort and Gates met with Kilimnik in a cigar bar, to discuss various things and that Manafort gave some documents (possibly polling data) to Kilimnik.
Andrew Weissmann said that this meeting goes to the heart of the whole investigation.
Where does this story come from?
I've been trying to figure it out and the closest I can come is that Mueller's team alleges that Manafort continued to lie after his plea agreement and one of the things that he lied about was his contacts with Kilimnik. In court documents:
https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.190597/gov.uscourts.dcd.190597.509.0_2.pdf
it clearly says that he lied about his contacts with Kilimnik.
But nowhere in those court documents can i find a description of the meeting, or any specifics on what he lied about, other than it was his contact with Kilimnik.
This NY Times article gets a little more specific, saying that in a closed door hearing, prosecutors revealed that Kilminik and Manafort were discussing russian sanctions and "peace" with ukraine.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/10/us/politics/manafort-mueller-russia-inquiry.html
and at the end of the article there is a cryptic sentence:
What Mr. Manafort and Mr. Kilimnik discussed about the Russia-Ukraine conflict is not all that concerned prosecutors. Another issue is a directive from Mr. Manafort to Mr. Gates to turn over Trump campaign polling data to Mr. Kilimnik in the midst of the presidential race.
The transcript suggests that Mr. Manafort claims that he wanted only public data transferred. But Mr. Weissmann told the judge that the question of whether any American, wittingly or unwittingly, engaged with Russians who were interfering in the election relates to “the core” of the special counsel’s inquiry.
my question is, can we see that transcript from the closed-door hearing? if the NY Times Reporter saw it, can't we see it too?
it appears that the fact that the NY Times reporter got to read the transcript from that closed door hearing is the only reason we know about the cigar bar meeting and the polling data transfer.
I for one would love to see that transcript myself.
does anyone know if that transcript is available to the public? and if not, how did the NY Times reporter get to see it?
thanks
= new reply since forum marked as read
When Mueller learned the date and location of the meeting, he was probably able to get confirmation from other witnesses - people who were there but not involved. That's usually how those things work.
