Thread by @MsMariaT

"...as [Dmitry] Firtash’s foreign agent, Davis said his firm was being paid $80,000 a month — or about a million dollars a year — by a man described by prosecutors as an “upper-echelon” associate of Russian organized crime."

Russian MOB.

https://twitter.com/seth_hettena/status/1034447505314856960

" Although Davis lists his past controversial clients in Africa and Honduras on his website, Firtash’s name is noticeably absent. Davis hardly ever talks about Firtash, at least not on the record,"

WHY NOT?

"...even though Justice Department filings make it clear that [Lanny] and his colleagues at Davis, Goldberg & Galper frequently contact D.C. journalists about Firtash to pitch stories, issue statements and press releases, or to respond to questions."

"...another way to describe his lucrative line of work is representing bad guys and telling us how good they are, something he’s been doing quite effectively with Cohen, Trump’s former fixer."

Yup. The MOBSTER sad story. "He's a nice husband/son/father," blah blah blah.

"My credibility is the only thing I have,” Davis once told the NYT in an article that described him as a “front man for the dark side.” It didn’t help when Davis backtracked on his claims that Cohen had info that suggested Trump was aware of RU’s efforts to undermine HRC..."

"Davis’ client roster puts him in the same league as MANAFORT, Trump’s former campaign chairman who also made a living representing dictators and Ukrainian oligarchs. Perhaps it’s not a surprise that Manafort, who was convicted last week on 8 counts, also did business w/FIRTASH."

"In 2008, while Manafort was working in Ukraine for the pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych, Firtash’s company Group DF agreed to commit $112 million to Manafort’s vision for “Bulgari Tower,”

"The tower deal later collapsed, but not before Firtash wired in a $25 million deposit from Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG, an Austrian bank that U.S. officials believed served as a MOGILEVICH front."

"In a federal lawsuit filed in New York, Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister of Ukraine, claimed that Firtash was laundering proceeds from sales of natural gas through Manhattan real estate."

Another reason she had to be LOCKED UP.

"Firtash, a former tomato grower and truck driver 🙄 rose from obscurity to become one of Ukraine’s richest men through his deal with Gazprom, the natural gas giant controlled by the Kremlin. In 2006, Gazprom gave Firtash a monopoly on all gas trades between Russia and Ukraine."

"The vehicle for this was yet another a murky company, RosUkrEnergo, half-owned by Gazprom and half-owned by Firtash and a minority partner. In a short time, RosUkrEnergo earned billions — some of which, U.S. gov't officials suspect, ended up in Mogilevich’s pockets."

"Notably, Firtash’s stake in the Swiss-reg'd RosUkrEnergo remained a secret for 2 yrs, hidden by the same Austrian bk that was used to wire $$$ for MANAFORT’s Manhattan tower venture. Prosecutors in Chicago have moved to seize RosUkrEnergo, along w/Firtash’s other corp holdings."

"Firtash acknowledged that he needed, and received, permission from Mogilevich when he established various businesses, but he denied any close relationship to him,” Taylor wrote in a cable released by Wikileaks."

ASSANGE.

"Two of Firtash’s cos involved in the natural gas business had links — albeit indirect — to Mogilevich. (Mogilevich’s wife was a major shareholder in one co, while the other listed her as a director.) Firtash and Mogilevich also have shared the same Israeli lawyer, Zeev Gordon, "

"Firtash’s associations with Mogilevich are what may have led to his indictment in Chicago as the leader of an international titanium-mining racket. Under Mueller, the FBI devoted tremendous resources to capturing Mogilevich,"

"The FBI permanently stationed agents in Budapest in 2005, which had been Mogilevich’s base of operations, and sent him scurrying off to Moscow."

Budapest you say. #BudapestBridge

(Lots of alt-righters went to Budapest.)

"The FBI also targeted Mogilevich w/a “threat fusion cell” staffed w/FBI agents and offcls from the NSA. Reached for comment by Rolling Stone, the FBI declined to discuss the cell, acknowledging that an investigation is ongoing" <eot> (h/t @ThomasS4217)

rollingstone.com/politics/polit…

I’m no legal expert, but I follow some great ones on Twitter! 😎 @lauferlaw @SpicyFiles when Lanny did a client intake on Michael, wouldn’t his firm have done some conflict checks as to Cohen and Firtash? 🤔 (I still don’t believe Michael really wants to take down Trump! 😁)