American Consequences - March 2018

electronic communications. The warrant was partly based on information secretly presented to the FBI by Steele. Steele’s dossier wasn’t the sole inspiration for an investigation of Page, though. The talkative energy broker had been in the FBI’s crosshairs since 2013 when Russian spies operating on Wall Street attempted to recruit him. Justifications for the FISA warrant were based on multiple sources on information, as disclosed to the FISA court by the Department of Justice. Not that Page was trying very hard to hide his ongoing dalliance with Rosneft. A few weeks after Trump was elected, Russian news agency TASS quoted Page, who was visiting Moscow at the time: “I had the opportunity to meet with some of the top managers of the company Rosneft. The recent Rosneft deal, in which the Qatar Fund and Glencore could take part is unfortunately a good example of how American private companies are limited to a great degree due to the influence of sanctions.” That is the deal mentioned in the dossier as a potential source of broker’s fees. And Page’s claim that the sanctions were negatively affecting U.S. firms that desired a piece of the massive Rosneft deal was accurate. The European Union mirrors the U.S. sanctions against Russia. Because the U.S. and the E.U. dominate the operation of the international banking system, Russia’s access to loan capital to fuel corporate expansions

elected U.S. president, then sanctions on Russia would be lifted.” And since Page was recognized as a foreign policy adviser by the Trump campaign, such an assurance would not be implausible if it was given. The president proclaims that Mueller’s investigation is nothing but a “witch hunt.” In interviews, Page portrays himself as unfairly hunted, and, like Trump, just about every time he opens his mouth, the investigative Page later testified to the House Intelligence Committee that he had met in Moscow during the summer of 2016 with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich and other officials... and that he had shared information about his trip and conversations in Moscow with Trump’s top campaign advisers, including Hope Hicks and Jeff Sessions. He denied meeting with Sechin, but he did tell the committee that he had conferred in Moscow with Andrey Baranov, Rosneft’s head of investor relations. These meetings with officials working for Rosneft – a company subject to U.S. sanctions – were bound to ring a few bells inside the U.S. intelligence apparatus that keeps an eye on such things. Shortly before Election Day, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) granted the FBI a warrant to surveil Page’s hounds pick up more bloody spoor to chase.

American Consequences 75

Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker