Russian Agents Sought Secret US Treasury Records On Clinton Backers During 2016 Campaign
Source: BuzzFeed
US Treasury Department officials used a Gmail back channel with the Russian government as the Kremlin sought sensitive financial information on its enemies in America and across the globe, according to documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News.
The extraordinary unofficial line of communication arose in the final year of the Obama administration in the midst of what multiple US intelligence agencies have said was a secret campaign by the Kremlin to interfere in the US election. Russian agents ostensibly trying to track ISIS instead pressed their American counterparts for private financial documents on at least two dozen dissidents, academics, private investigators, and American citizens.
Most startlingly, Russia requested sensitive documents on Dirk, Edward, and Daniel Ziff, billionaire investors who had run afoul of the Kremlin. That request was made weeks before a Russian lawyer showed up at Trump Tower offering top campaign aides dirt on Hillary Clinton including her supposed connection to the Ziff brothers.
Russias financial crimes agency, whose second-in-command is a former KGB officer and schoolmate of President Vladimir Putin, also asked the Americans for documents on executives from two prominent Jewish groups, the Anti-Defamation League and the National Council of Jewish Women, as well as Kremlin opponents living abroad in London and Kiev.
Read more: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/anthonycormier/russian-agents-sought-us-treasury-records-on-clinton-backers
UpInArms
(51,284 posts)The Treasury Department refused to tell BuzzFeed News why its officials were communicating with unofficial Gmail accounts at the same time that Russia was sending the suspicious requests, or to say whether it eventually turned over any documents in response. Nor would officials answer any other specific questions about the matter.
A giant WTF?
ananda
(28,876 posts)Whoa!
LiberalFighter
(51,081 posts)lancelyons
(988 posts)These guys need to be put in jail if they did something wrong.
sdfernando
(4,941 posts)The need to be identified, tried for spying for a foreign power, and jailed for an extended period of time....and no country club jail either....general population!....Need to make harsh examples of these people to discourage future wannabes.
Maven
(10,533 posts)Who were the Treasury officials? Gmail back channels with Russian agents to sink the candidacy of a woman who was pilloried for her email practices? My fucking head is going to explode. I can't wait until the investigations start in January. More people need to serve real jail time for what went on in 2016.
UpInArms
(51,284 posts)rockfordfile
(8,704 posts)Farmer-Rick
(10,207 posts)If Traitor Trump didn't turn it over to them, the compromised US Treasury Department officials surely have.
There are no US secrets anymore.....except secrets from we the people.
NRaleighLiberal
(60,019 posts)Hillary was right, of course.
FakeNoose
(32,745 posts)As a matter of fact, you should change them regularly!
Just sayin'
ffr
(22,671 posts)And still no meaningful investigations after all that has been exposed.
Traitors!
Midnight Writer
(21,795 posts)blue-wave
(4,362 posts)saying it over and over. The weed tentacles of Russian espionage reached deep into our society to get tRump elected. We need to weed out as much as we can as quickly as we can. I'm convinced it all goes much deeper than what even this article states.
summer_in_TX
(2,748 posts)Whistleblowers in FinCEN, the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, tried to raise the alarm about Russian infiltration into FinCEN, "a powerful unit of the Treasury Department with exclusive access to the most comprehensive and sophisticated financial database in the world" and the surprising cooperation of a number of employees who ignored warnings to stop communicating with them of unencrypted email services like gmail.
They reported their concerns up the chain of command and to Congress, but their information has not led to problems being fixed. In some cases whistleblowers were retaliated against.
Helen Kennedy @HelenKennedy
Six sources told BuzzFeed News that at least two FinCEN analysts were reported to Treasurys inspector general over suspicions that they might have been working against the interests of the US.
Link to tweet
scipan
(2,356 posts)It sounds like there are multiple people in Treasury working for the Russians. And why doesn't anyone listen to the whistleblowers? The Inspector General's office seems lazy at best and compromised at worst.
Baltimike
(4,146 posts)They did ALL of these other things, but they did NOT switch any votes. Nope. Noway. Nohow.
Why, someone is getting ready to post how "no evidence has been uncovered" except for ALL of this shit. (aside: no evidence has been examined)
smfdh.