Meeting with Russian Ambassador

On December 1, 2016, Jared Kushner (Trump’s son-in law and advisor) and Michael Flynn (Trump’s campaign national security advisor) met with Sergey Kislyak, Russian Ambassador to the United States, to discuss setting up secret back-channel between Trump and Putin using Russian embassy communications facilities; not U.S. facilities at White House, State Department or the CIA.

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Transfer of Interest in Rosneft

December 7th, 2016 Rosneft announced a transfer of 19.5% interest in the company. That transferee is a Limited Liability Company formed in Cayman Islands. The interest transferred was owned by the Russian government. The new beneficial owner of the 19.5% interest in Rosneft remains a secret today.

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Russian Accommodations

On July 18th, 2016, Trump allies at Republican National Convention amended Republican Platform in a way that accommodated Russia (by weakening provision that called for arming anti-Russian forces in Ukraine). Was this move a signal?

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Meeting with Russian Officials

On July 7 or 8, 2016, Carter Page, a specialist in oil and gas production in Russia and one of Trump’s foreign policy advisors, meets Igor Sechin in Moscow. Sechin, who was Deputy Prime Minister of Russia and is a close ally of Putin, is also the Executive Chairman of Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil and…

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