Thread by @SarahConnor2017

Incoming transmission: #StupidGate thread...mostly looking at Manafort and Gates, their legal troubles, the Mueller investigation, and their Russia/Ukraine dealings.

(Original research done by reddit user PoppinKREAM, commentary and organization are mine).

#TheResistance

Manafort first started working for Putin via Russian Oligarch Oleg Deripaska back in 2006.

This was halfway through Putin's first term. And US/Russia relations were...strained.

#StupidGate

#TheResistance

apnews.com/122ae0b5848345…

Also in 2006, it is TOTALLY NOT SUSPICIOUS that Manafort bought a ton of real estate in New York in cash.

#StupidGate

#TheResistance

nbcnews.com/news/us-news/t…

Gates, Manafort, and Deripaska, partnered for a massive real-estate deal in 2008 with a Dmitry Firtash (under a US indictment for RICO charges - filed 2013).

The indictment indicates Deripaska is an unnamed co-conspirator.

#StupidGate

#TheResistance

thedailybeast.com/paul-manafort-…

You can't ever go home again, Manafort.

In 2015, Deripaska attempted to sue Manafort, claiming he and Gates had stolen money from him. Of course, Deripaska was upside down on a lot of loans from VEB.

#StupidGate

#TheResistance

washingtonpost.com/news/worldview…

When the @AP discovered and reported on the connections between Manafort and Deripaska, Deripaska tried to sue the AP for libel.

#Fail

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#TheResistance

politico.com/story/2017/10/…

In 2016, Manafort and Deripaska were emailing a month before Deripaska was caught on film on his yacht with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Prikhodko.

#StupidGate

#TheResistance

telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/02/0…

Lending credence to the veracity of the meeting, Russia flipped out and ordered YouTube and Instagram to take the videos and photos down.

Cause public bribery is just so tacky.

#StupidGate

#TheResistance

theguardian.com/world/2018/feb…

Back to Manafort.

Right when he was brought into the Trump campaign, the @GOP "mysteriously" softened their language towards Russia. And the promised weaponry for the Ukraine was watered down.

#StupidGate

#TheResistance

npr.org/2017/12/04/568…

Right after Trump got the nomination, Manafort was offering to set up back channels for communication between Deripaska and Trump.

#StupidGate

#TheResistance

washingtonpost.com/politics/manaf…

And then Manafort, in an unforced error, decided to email a pro-Russia Ukrainian operative using his Trump campaign email.

Which is suspicious. But, come on, who doesn't email Ukrainian operatives to demand money?

#StupidGate

#TheResistance

politico.com/story/2017/09/…

Manafort was at the Trump tower meeting with Kushner, seeking what could be seen as illegal information from the Kremlin regarding HRC.

It was really about "adoptions."

#StupidGate

#TheResistance

nytimes.com/2017/10/27/us/…

Note: neither the Kremlin nor Putin give a damn about adoptions, they just want the Magnitsky Act revoked and the US sanctions lifted.

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#TheResistance

theatlantic.com/international/…

Trump's son, son-in-law, and Campaign Manager met with Russians with the expectation of receiving damaging information about Clinton. (I totally don't get how meeting with sanctioned countries is legal).

#StupidGate

#TheResistance

globalnews.ca/news/3868363/t…

One of the Russian operatives present at the infamous Trump Tower meeting, Rinat Akhmetshin, is a former USSR counterintelligence officer and has a history of being embroiled in court cases related to hacking campaigns

#StupidGate

#TheResistance

nytimes.com/2017/08/21/us/…?

During Fusion GPS CEO Glenn Simpson's Congressional testimony, he confirmed the Trump campaign likely received foreign intelligence aid from Paul Manafort (Page 154-5).

They definitely got Russian money via the NRA.

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#TheResistance

cnbc.com/2018/01/18/tru…

The hiring and firing of Manafort, who worked for free...probably because a) he can't go back to Russia, ever (see the Deripaska tweets) and b) quid pro quo.

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#TheResistance

time.com/5003298/paul-m…

Paul Manafort and Rick Gates are indicted by the special counsel.

#StupidGate

#TheResistance

politico.com/f/?id=0000015f…

Rick Gates was the first to get flipped, possibly because he was the easier target, not being as (theoretically) wealthy as Manafort.

He plead guilty to financial fraud and lying to investigators.

#StupidGate

#TheResistance

nytimes.com/2018/02/23/us/…

And, finally (sorry this is so long), the proverbial nail in Manafort's coffin.

The DOJ said that Manafort was trying to set up a back channel to Russia.

#StupidGate

#TheResistance

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…