Ex-Trump adviser denies any campaign contact with Russians

[anatta]

Michael Caputo, a former top adviser to Donald Trump's campaign with strong ties to Russia, firmly denied having knowledge of any alleged contacts between the campaign and Russia after testifying privately to the House intelligence committee Friday.
(today)
"I spent my time in front of the committee detailing the fact that I had no contact with Russians, that I never heard of anyone with the Trump campaign talking with Russians, that I was never asked questions about my time in Russia, that I never even spoke to anyone about Russia, that I never heard the word 'Russia,' and we did not use Russian dressing," Caputo told reporters in a press conference after the closed-door testimony. "There was absolutely no discussion of Russia on the Trump campaign 'til the day I left."

Caputo resigned from the campaign on June 20, 2016 after celebrating the dismissal of then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski with a tweet that said, "Ding Dong the witch is dead." Paul Manafort, who brought Caputo onto the campaign in November 2015, replaced Lewandowski as chairman.

The session before the House intelligence committee on Friday lasted three and a half hours -- an hour and a half longer than expected, Caputo's lawyer told reporters at the start of the press briefing, citing repetitive questions from lawmakers as the reason for the length. (fishing expedition)

Caputo was strongly critical of California Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier, who in March said he was part of a "tarantula web" of links to Russia and called him Russian President Vladimir Putin's "image consultant."

"There was no way I was Vladimir Putin's image consultant," Caputo said. "You have to be very naive and uninformed or have a team of really bad interns to come up with that analysis."

Sounding emotional, he also said his family received threats in the aftermath of Speier's comments and said he expects an apology from Speier.

Caputo said he has distanced himself from Trump because his name has been brought up in regard to the federal investigation into Russia's efforts to influence last year's election and any potential collusion by the Trump campaign.

"Nobody in the administration or the White House needs my telephone number on their call list, needs me on their visitor logs, or needs emails from me," he said.

Caputo said he would like to get back in touch with the White House down the road.

Florida Republican Tom Rooney, California Democrat Adam Schiff, California Democrat Eric Swalwell, and Washington Democrat Denny Heck attended, Caputo's lawyer, Dennis Vacco, said.

Heck told CNN's Jim Acosta shortly after the hearing that it was "probably the most fascinating three hours of time I've spent in my nearly five years in the United States House of Representatives."
http://poststar.com/news/national/g...cle_a76446aa-f343-5514-8a85-b37729067ab2.html

 

[anatta]

Jackie Spier is a disgusting individual who impugns Michael Caputo for face time on the televised hearing.
This is McCartyism. Red scare leads to insulting innuendo and death threats with a fishing expedition Hearing
++

Michael Caputo, a former top Trump campaign adviser with strong ties to Russia, told CNN in an exclusive interview that he "never once" discussed nor heard anyone else mention Russian involvement in the race to defeat Hillary Clinton.
"No one ever breathed the word 'Russia' to me," Caputo said in the interview, conducted days before he testified to the House intelligence committee Friday.
Caputo, who advised the campaign on communications, is one of several former Trump campaign aides who are being questioned as part of a multi-pronged investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. In fact, of all of President Donald Trump's campaign workers, Caputo might be the one with the deepest links to Russia: He lived in Moscow for several years in the 1990s, claims to have worked for the Kremlin and continues to try to do business there.

A colorful public relations specialist and fill-in radio talk-show host in Buffalo, New York, Caputo agreed to testify behind closed doors, at the insistence of the Republican and Democratic committee leaders. But he said he wanted his story -- his denial of wrongdoing -- to be made public.
"I heard nothing of the kind," Caputo said, when asked if he ever heard anyone inside the campaign discuss Russian assistance. US intelligence agencies have determined that Russia interfered with the election in order to help Trump win. "In fact, we were so busy just trying to keep up with the sun rising and setting on that campaign that I can't imagine anyone had the time, nor the wherewithal to go out there and even do something like this.
"Anybody who covered the Trump effort knew this was a pell-mell operation from the moment he woke up in the morning until the moment he went to bed," he said. "The idea that somebody at that campaign would have had the forethought and the treachery ... or the resources to go out and do this is laughable."
http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/14/polit...use-intelligence-committee-hearing/index.html

 

[(oo)]

The libcuck narrative is unraveling.

Rinat Akhmetshin has been the man of hour since revelations emerged that he attended the infamous Trump Jr meeting.​

But it get’s better. In addition to that, it now appears that he worked as a lobbyist along alongside Fusion GPS, the company which put together the infamous Trump dossier.​

The unverified dossier was published by Buzzfeed in January and was intended as opposition research against Trump. It got it’s nickname the “Pee Tape Dossier” because of the claim contained within that Russian intelligence agencies had footage of Trump urinating on a prostitutes in a bed at the Ritz-Carlton in Moscow.​

The collaboration was highlighted in a complaint filed by GOP Senator Chuck Grassley last year. According to Grassley, Akhmetshin also did not register as a foreign agent during his lobbying activities.​

“It is particularly disturbing that Mr. Akhmetshin and Fusion GPS were working together on this pro-Russia lobbying effort in 2016 in light of Mr. Akhmetshin’s history and reputation. Mr. Akhmetshin is a Russian immigrant to the U.S. who has admitted having been a Soviet counterintelligence officer,” Grassley said in the complaint.​

Akhmetshin and Fusion GPS also lobbied against the Magnitsky Act, a law passed by President Obama in 2012 which gave the U.S. power to defend itself from Russian corruption by withholding visas and freezing financial assets of Russian officials that have violated human rights. The act was named after Sergei Magnitsky, who discovered $230 million missing from Russian tax officials and police officers, but was arrested and died in prison after his discovery. When the U.S. passed the law, it upset Russian president Vladimir Putin so much that he immediately retaliated by outlawing the adoption of Russia orphans by Americans.​

Akhmetshin is a former Soviet Intelligence Officer who came to the U.S. in 2009. He has been working as a lobbyist since and was involved in a lawsuit that claimed he masterminded a hacking scheme and ran negative public-relations campaigns.​

According to the complaint, Akhmetshin also lobbied alongside former Congressman Ron Dellums, who was reportedly hired by Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who also met with Trump Jr. At the time, they told staffers “they were lobbying on behalf of a Russian company called Prevezon and ask[ing] [the Committee] to delay the Global Magnitsky Act or at least remove Magnitsky from the name,” Grassley’s complaint said.​

Prevezon is a Russian holding company that had ties to the money laundering fiasco that Magnitsky uncovered. They paid $6 million to settle and did not admit fault. Even more interesting is Veselnitskaya was Prevezon’s lawyer and came to New York for this case, which is where she was just before her meeting with Trump Jr.



http://archive.is/stMlL
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[anatta]

Caputo's history in Russia dates to 1994, when he says the US government sent him there to help the country's young government design election laws.
"I was sent there by the Clinton administration to meddle in their elections," he said, flippantly using language that alludes to the current controversy.
Caputo opened a public relations firm in Moscow to help Western companies do business there. He also married a Russian woman (whom he later divorced), helped create a program similar to America's "Rock the Vote" and advised then-President Boris Yeltsin on his re-election campaign. He moved back to the US in 2000 after the Russian economy collapsed and Vladimir Putin was elected president.
"And ever since then, I've been involved in the former Soviet Union, and I'm not going to stop now," Caputo told CNN.

 

[(oo)]

Rinat Akhmetshin was working with Fusion GPS, an organization linked to the Democrat party, and has worked the shadowy corners of the Washington lobbying scene for nearly 20 years.

​

Glenn Simpson, the founder of Fusion GPS, the group behind the discredited Trump Dossier, cancelled his testimony before Congress next week.

There are also many questions swirling around as to why Veselnitskaya was allowed into the United States in June of 2016 after she was denied a visa. We do know that Veselnitskaya entered the U.S. on immigration parole earlier in the year which is not commonly granted. So far, all roads lead back to the Democrats



http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/201...ht-documents-showing-flow-illicit-funds-dems/