Thread by @karolcummins

🤔VenezuelaAndTeamTrump🤔

#TeamPutinTrumpChina’s love/hate obsession with Venezuela. Hint: oil, 💰 & so much more.

#VenezuelaTrump

📌RU & China launch Gold/Yuan based New Oil Desk.

💰The VZ Players💰

Putin, Xi, Trump, Cons Think Tanks, Citgo Oil, PDVSA, Trump Inauguration, Thomas Barrack, Gates, DonJr pals Gentry Beach, Wadie Habboush, Flynn, Bannon, Pence, Lewandowski. BitCoin, Sanctions, business opportunities, refugees, drones & pirates, oh my!

Venezuela has rich resources of gold, nickel, iron ore, steel, diamond, alumina, coal, bauxite, asphalt, natural gas, and petroleum.
azomining.com/Article.aspx?A…

📌Manafort is not alone in selling his services to autocrats and strongmen. Hugo Chávez & VZ

Dispensing political advice to regimes that imprison dissidents, censor the media & persecute minorities is a growth industry, both in America & Europe.
freedomhouse.org/blog/paul-mana…

Heritage Foundation Analysis re Venezuela:

#VenezuelaTrump
heritage.org/index/country/…

Presidential Inaugural Committee

💰Chairman: Thomas Barrack Jr.

💰Finance co-chairmen:
Roy Bailey
Lew Eisenberg

💰Finance vice chairs:
Sheldon Adelson
Miriam Adelson
Brian Ballard
Gentry Beach
Elliott Broidy
Robert Grand & others

washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost…

📌Barrack met Manafort in the 1970s, when they were both living in Beirut and working for Saudi interests.

Early in 2016, Barrack had recommended Manafort for the job of campaign manager:

“The most experienced & lethal of managers” and “a killer.”
nytimes.com/2018/06/13/wor…

Thomas Barrack turned to Rick Gates Paul Manafort’s right hand man for help with planning the inauguration
vox.com/2018/7/5/17505…

The People Shaping Trump’s Inauguration
citizen.org/sites/default/…

Don Trump Jr. began his fundraising journey after the GOP convention, squired by Tommy Hicks Jr., the eldest son of Dallas billionaire Tom Hicks, and their mutual buddy, Dallas hedge fund manager Gentry Beach. Raised 2M war chest for Trump.
dallasnews.com/news/politics/…

Eric and Donald Trump Jr. are distancing themselves from Opening Day Foundation after questions over whether the nonprofit is effectively peddling access to President-elect Donald Trump during inauguration weekend. Tom Hicks & Gentry Beach. 
dallasnews.com/news/politics/…

1/4/17 Venezuela's finance ministry on Tuesday said it issued $5 billion in sovereign debt maturing in 2036, with a Chinese bank as the sole manager.

The gov’t said the yield on the bond is 6.5% and it was issued under "Regulation S." Nomura Securities’

barrons.com/articles/venez…

On 2/8/17 Gentry Beach & Wadie Habboush met w/ NSC officials. Habboush presented senior NSC officials w/ a detailed plan to improve political relations w/ VZ & lift US sanctions in exchange for opening up the SA country to potential business opportunities.
mic.com/articles/17293…

The next day, 2/9/17 Habboush returned to the White House and presented the plan directly to White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, the two sources said.
mic.com/articles/17293…

Beach and Habboush set up their meetings with NSC officials through deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland. Beach's attorney confirmed that Beach and McFarland were acquainted
mic.com/articles/17293…

Habboush told NSC officials he had met directly with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez prior to his visit, multiple sources confirmed.
mic.com/articles/17293…

B/c Beach & Habboush obtained access to senior NSC officials &that Beach was a big-$ fundraiser for the campaign raised alarm among lawyers in the WHCO over possible conflicts of interest & ethics violations.
mic.com/articles/17293…

Flynn and Bannon met with Texas billionaire, Gentry Beach and international investor, Wadie Habboush. Beach has been identified as a close personal friend of Donald Trump, Jr., and that’s where ethics concerns arise.
bipartisanreport.com/2017/04/04/tru…

DonJr & HFM Gentry Beach involved in business deals since the mid-2000s & just formed, Future Venture LLC.
LY Beach met with top NSC officials to push a plan that would curb US sanctions in Venezuela & open up business for U.S. companies re oil..
dallasnews.com/business/busin…

A U.S. subsidiary of a Venezuelan state-owned oil company that has stirred national security concerns among U.S. senators contributed $500,000 to Trump’s inaugural fund, federal disclosures show.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

PDVSA recently put up a nearly 50% stake in Citgo as collateral for a $1.5 billion loan from the RU’s Rosneft, drawing criticism from GOP legislators who worry a default by Citgo would allow Putin to get a foothold in the American oil industry.
voanews.com/a/venezuela-ma…

📌Venezuela’s Citgo Company History:
citgo.com/AboutCITGO/Com…

4/20/17
Venezuela faces shortages of food, water, medicine, electricity and money.

But its state-run oil company -- through a subsidiary -- donated $500,000 to President Trump's inauguration committee on December 22, 2016.
money.cnn.com/2017/04/20/new…

4/21/17: Venezuela’s state-owned oil company also sent half a million to Trump’s inauguration.

Under Obama, Venezuela was a socialist threat to stability in the Americas.

Under Trump, they’re — a good source of extra funding.🤔

dailykos.com/story/2017/4/2…

4/26/17
FSFP files FEC Complaint Against Citgo and Trump’s Inaugural Committee
freespeechforpeople.org/fsfp-file-fec-…

4/27/17: The oil company’s half-million donation to Trump’s Inaugural Committee wasn’t illegal. But it certainly wasn’t moral.

📌And the cash may have come from the Kremlin, at least indirectly.
thedailybeast.com/russia-gave-to…

📌Eric and Donald Trump Jr. are co-registrants of Opening Day Foundation a nonprofit,.now under scrutiny re possible pay to play. Gentry Beach involved.
dallasnews.com/news/donald-tr…

5/3/17: Lewandowski’s firm Avenue Strategies quietly inked deal with Venezuela-owned company
Contract to lobby for Citgo comes amid rising tensions.
politico.com/story/2017/05/…

Avenue Strategies (Cory Lewandowski) was brought on by Citgo to help provide access to the Trump administration amid calls for the U.S. to seize the company’s assets as a way to expand the impact of sanctions against Venezuela.

politico.com/story/2017/05/…

Lewandowski is leaving his newly-formed lobbying firm amid revelations it agreed to lobby for Venezuela’s Citgo. A large chunk of Citgo could soon be owned by Russia's Rosneft, under the terms of a contro deal that has led to calls for the WH to intervene.
cbsnews.com/news/lewandows…

📌Aug 2017 is when Trump wanted to invade VZ

instead new sanctions were imposed.

EO 13808 of August 24, 2017

“Imposing Additional Sanctions with Respect to the Situation in Venezuela”
state.gov/e/eb/tfs/spi/v…

https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/966385330566778880?s=21

Crisis-ridden Venezuela is launching an oil-backed cryptocurrency on Tuesday that it hopes will help circumvent US financial sanctions and resurrect the country's moribund economy.
smh.com.au/world/the-petr…

“Venezuela is part of China & Ru attempt to launch the Gold/Yuan based New Oil Desk.This is total spectrum warfare. Attacks on the economic & political systems of the West, kinetic attacks against the West's allies in Syria also by Turkey”

https://twitter.com/911corlebra777/status/966320973111685122?s=21

2/26/18: A group of U.S. investors is seeking Washington's approval to acquire the nearly 50 percent collateral in U.S. refiner Citgo held by Russia's largest state-owned energy firm Rosneft, one of the investors said.
reuters.com/article/us-usa…

2/26/18: Venezuela handed Rosneft ROSN.MM the 49.9 percent collateral in Citgo PDVSAC.UL in return for a $1.5 billion loan two years ago. The remaining 50.1 percent of shares in Citgo is collateral to holders of PDVSA's 2020 bond.
reuters.com/article/us-usa…

3/12/18: Ethics experts said their financial entanglements raised questions about whether Beach’s access to gov’t officials & advocacy for policy changes were made possible by DonJr’s influence & could also benefit the Trump family’s bottom line.
bostonglobe.com/news/nation/20…

Addition sanctions levied against Venezuela by the Trump Adminitration via Executive Order:

EO 13827 of March 19, 2018 “Taking Additional Steps to Address the Situation in Venezuela”

state.gov/e/eb/tfs/spi/v…

3/21/18

“As alleged, Ali Sadr Hashemi Nejad created a network of front companies and foreign bank accounts to mask Iranian business dealings in Venezuela and evade U.S. sanctions,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a statement.

#Malta
lovinmalta.com/news/news-brea…

4/27/18
Conservative Think Tank Atlas Network’s interest in Venezuela:

DOLLARIZATION IN VENEZUELA?
atlasnetwork.org/news/article/d…

Trump imposes yet more ‘sanctions’ on Venezuela.

EO 13835 of May 21, 2018

“Prohibiting Certain Additional Transactions with Respect to Venezuela”
state.gov/e/eb/tfs/spi/v…

5/7/18: The US announced sanctions on three Venezuelans and 20 companies with ties to socialist President Nicolas Maduro for narcotics trafficking, with U.S.

VP Mike Pence calling for more nations to increase pressure on Caracas.
reuters.com/article/us-usa…

5/21/18
45 signed an EO imposing penalties, which would bar US companies or citizens from buying debt or accts receivable from the Venezuelan gov’t, inc’g Petróleos de Venezuela, the gov’t owned oil CO that is the parent of Citgo Petroleum Corp,
nytimes.com/2018/05/21/us/…

Canada has imposed further sanctions on key figures in the gov’t of the newly re-elected Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in response to what Ottawa has called “the illegitimate and anti-democratic presidential elections” held in Venezuela on May 20.
rcinet.ca/en/2018/05/30/…

Trump repeatedly suggested Venezuela invasion, stunning top aides – report (occurred in August 2017, reported July 2018)

The administration officials are said to have taken turns in trying to talk the president out of the idea in August of last year
theguardian.com/us-news/2018/j…

Trump asked advisers about invading Venezuela in 2017
cnn.com/2018/07/04/pol…

7/9/18
📌World leaders at #Erdogan’s inauguration: include #Venezuela, Sudan, Qatar, Russia, Pakistan, Moldova, Chad, Guinea, Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia, Kosovo, &
Macedonia.
warontherocks.com/2018/07/make-n…

7/26/18
2 arrested, 6 wanted in $1.2 billion scheme to defraud Venezuela's oil company, prosecutors say
Venezuelans use scheme to launder embezzled funds, officials say
local10.com/news/crime/2-a…

According to the International Monetary Fund, by the end of the year, the annual inflation rate in Venezuela will reach 1 million percent. Socialism blamed.
washingtonpost.com/opinions/venez…

7/27/18
Venezuela’s Maduro under investigation in $1.2 billion U.S. money-laundering case
miamiherald.com/latest-news/ar…

📌 Roger Stone’s New Gig: Lobbying for Drone Strikes
thedailybeast.com/roger-stones-n…

Venezuela President Maduro survives 'drone assassination attempt'
bbc.com/news/world-lat…

Venezuela’s Drone Attack May Not Be the Last
Terror in the skies is no joke

#Venezuela #Drones
medium.com/s/story/venezu…

Six people have been arrested in Venezuela for involvement in an apparent assassination attempt on President Nicolás Maduro, the interior minister says.
📌#BlackOp
bbc.com/news/world-lat…

U.S. Judge Authorizes Seizure of Venezuela’s Citgo
Creditor Crystallex is the first to win a judgement authorizing its seizure
wsj.com/articles/u-s-j…

Venezuela once Latin America’s richest nation, is now sending hordes of refugees into neighboring countries. Since 2016, nearly 2M people have fled the country.

Are more Refugees a feature (for TOC?) to fuel immigration issues? 🤔
nbcnews.com/think/opinion/…

8/12/18
While Venezuela disintegrates a familiar predator appears on the horizon. 🤔

‘They be pirates’
An old scourge is reappearing in the Caribbean
washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/…

Kinda reminds me about the scourge of pirates plaguing Somalia some time ago. 🤔

https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/1028677442251022337?s=21

Please add any additional information and/or please point me to other possible directions.

cc: @LouiseBagshawe @911CORLEBRA777 @mopeng @KiernanKathleen @freedomAU21C @TundraEatsYou @ninaandtito @ReflectingMan @ericgarland

@threadreaderapp unroll please and thank you.

Why did Trump want to invade Venezuela in August 2017?

@jamesfourM explains:
August 8: "Rosneft...made ~ $6 billion in pre-payments to Venezuelan state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A."

And
A Money laundering operation was being shut down.

https://twitter.com/jamesfourm/status/901171021465649152?s=21