The Domestic Conspiracy Is Hiding In Plain Sight Erik Prince

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Wendy Siegelman
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A Sept 2018 Kronen Zeitung story reported that Erik Prince is under suspicion in Vienna & the Ministry of Justice may prosecute him for "illegal export of weapons" (arming 2 Thrush crop dusters to be used in South Sudan) by @RichardSchmitt2 HT @GoresGuide

https://www.krone.at/1776170


Erik Prince scoop: Prince is no longer Chairman of Frontier Services Group, the company he founded - he is now deputy chairman of the board and remains an executive director - Chang Zhenming an executive at Chinese state-owned CITIC is the new Chairman





Last week Prince exercised his options to buy approx $19 million of shares in Frontier Services Group, the company he founded that is now majority owned by Chinese state-owned CITIC - a few days later Prince was demoted from Chairman to Deputy Chairman

Last week Erik Prince exercised his options to buy over 200K shares of Frontier Services Group for approx. $19 million - this week he was re-designated from Chairman to Deputy Chairman



https://twitter.com/WendySiegelman/stat ... 7776984065

[seemslikeadream]

Wendy Siegelman
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It appears that Erik Prince's tarnished Blackwater brand may be attempting a comeback with a new business launched in March 2018 called Blackwater Ammunition, that to-date has only been noticed by a few gun-related websites - short thread /1
https://www.blackwaterammo.com/

Mattis is out, and Blackwater is back: ‘We are coming’

Tara Copp
Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis is out.

Mattis' resignation comes amid news that President Donald Trump has directed the drawdown of 2,000 U.S. forces in Syria, and 7,000 U.S. forces from Afghanistan, a U.S. official confirmed to Military Times, a story first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

This month, in the January/February print issue of the gun and hunting magazine “Recoil," the former contractor security firm Blackwater USA published a full-page ad, in all black with a simple message: “We are coming.”

Is the war in Afghanistan — and possibly elsewhere ― about to be privatized?

If Blackwater returns, it would be the return of a private security contractor that was banned from Iraq, but re-branded and never really went away. By 2016 Blackwater had been re-branded several times and was known at the time as Constellis Group, when it was purchased by the Apollo Holdings Group. Reuters reported earlier this year that Apollo had put Constellis up for sale, but in June the sale was put on hold.

Blackwater’s founder and former CEO Erik Prince has courted President Donald Trump’s administration since he took office with the idea that the now 17-year Afghan War will never be won by a traditional military campaign. Prince has also argued that the logistical footprint required to support that now multi-trillion dollar endeavor has become too burdensome. Over the summer and into this fall Prince has engaged heavily with the media to promote the privatization; particularly as the Trump administration’s new South Asia Strategy, which was crafted with Mattis, passed the one-year mark.

Prince has no connection to the current Constellis group; if Blackwater does return to operations, it is not clear what, if any tie, Prince would have to the endeavor.

Constellis, which had maintained a footprint at Camp Integrity by the Kabul Airport through its previous iteration as “Academi” has leased land at the facility to hold another 800 personnel, Military Times learned.

The news of a leaning on a smaller number of privatized forces, instead of a larger U.S. military footprint — and contracted support for U.S. forces that knew few bounds and at times included coffee shops, base exchanges, restaurants, a hockey rink and local vendor shops — may be welcomed by current U.S. military leadership on the ground. That includes former Joint Special Operations Command chief Army Lt. Gen. Scott Miller, a source familiar with Miller’s approach told Military Times. Miller replaced Gen. John Nicholson as the head of all U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan in September.

In an previous exclusive interview with Military Times, Prince said he would scrap the NATO mission there and replace the estimated 23,000 forces in country with a force of 6,000 contracted personnel and 2,000 active-duty special forces.

The potential privatization of the Afghan War was previously dismissed by the White House, and roundly criticized by Mattis, who saw it as a risk to emplace the nation’s national security goals in the hands of contractors.

“When Americans put their nation’s credibility on the line, privatizing it is probably not a wise idea,” Mattis told reporters in August.

But Mattis is out now, one in a series of moves that has surprised most of the Pentagon.

Drastic change would “be more likely” now, one DOD official said.
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/y ... re-coming/

The 'About Us' page says "The idea of creating a new, high-tech-high-quality and revolutionary ammunition company came to Erik Prince and Nicola Bandini" & "James Fenech, experienced and prominent Maltese guns and ammunition distributor has joined" /2
https://www.blackwaterammo.com/about-us


On March 9, 2018 "Blackwater Ammunition launches global brand, products and operations" and Prince, Bandini and Fenech selected a firearms and hunting event IWA 2018 in Nurnberg, Germany, for their worldwide launch /3
https://www.blackwaterammo.com/news


Per the ICIJ database, Nicola Bandini and James Fenech were both directors of PBM Limited, and another company Unified Global Services Group Ltd was listed as a shareholder /6
…

Officials worry Trump may back Erik Prince plan to privatize war in Afghanistan

Aug. 17, 2018 / 10:59 AM CDT
By Carol E. Lee, Courtney Kube and Josh Lederman

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is increasingly venting frustration to his national security team about the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and showing renewed interest in a proposal by Blackwater founder Erik Prince to privatize the war, current and former senior administration officials said.

Prince's idea, which first surfaced last year during the president's Afghanistan strategy review, envisions replacing troops with private military contractors who would work for a special U.S. envoy for the war who would report directly to the president.

It has raised ethical and security concerns among senior military officials, key lawmakers and members of Trump's national security team. A year after Trump's strategy announcement, his advisers are worried his impatience with the Afghanistan conflict will cause him to seriously consider proposals like Prince's or abruptly order a complete U.S. withdrawal, officials said.



In an interview with NBC News, Prince said he believes Trump advisers who oppose his plan are painting "as rosy a picture as they can" of the situation on the ground, including that "peace is around the corner" with recent U.S. efforts for peace talks with the Taliban. He said he believes Trump's advisers "over-emphasize the fluff and flare of these so-called peace talks."

Prince, a staunch Trump supporter whose sister is Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, argues that after 17 years of war in Afghanistan, it's time for the U.S. to try something new.

"I know he's frustrated," Prince said of the president. "He gave the Pentagon what they wanted. ...And they haven't delivered."

Prince said he hasn't spoken directly to Trump about the plan, but told NBC News he plans to launch an aggressive media "air campaign" in coming days to try to get the president to embrace it.

His effort coincides with Tuesday's one-year anniversary of Trump announcing a strategy that increased the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan. Trump approved the Pentagon recommendations reluctantly.

"The strategy as announced a year ago was essentially just a dressed-up version of the status quo," said Jarrett Blanc, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who served as a special representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan at the State Department during the Obama administration.

A spokesperson for the National Security Council said Trump is committed to the current strategy he signed off on after months of deliberations.

President Donald Trump receives a briefing on a military strike on Syria from his National Security team, including a video teleconference with Secretary of Defense Gen. James Mattis, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, on April 6, 2017.Shealah Craighead / The White House via Getty Images file
"No such proposal from Erik Prince is under consideration," the spokesperson said. "The president, like most Americans, would like to see more progress in Afghanistan. However, he also recognizes that withdrawing precipitously from Afghanistan would lead to the re-emergence of terrorist safe havens, putting American national security and lives in danger."

In recent briefings with Trump, the president's advisers have emphasized the possibility of a political resolution with the Taliban and downplay the lack of military advances, officials said.

"The president hears about Afghan military and political progress and the possibility of reconciliation during his briefings, but he rarely gets the full picture of security on the ground," said one senior U.S. official who has seen the briefing materials.

The NSC spokesperson said, however, that the president is briefed regularly on Afghanistan, and "his briefs are comprehensive, covering both positive improvements and problematic actions."

A defense official said the current U.S. strategy in Afghanistan might not show significant results until at least next summer, complicating efforts to convince the president to stick with it.

"The current effort will show results, but it could be another year or more before the new advising mission makes a real, widespread difference on the ground," the official said.

Trump's renewed interest in privatization was stoked by a recent video shot by Prince, according to a senior administration official, in which Prince argues that deploying private contractors instead of U.S. troops, and using limited government resources, would save the U.S. money.

The White House currently has no plans for a comprehensive Afghanistan policy review, officials said. While one could take place after a new U.S. military commander of the war takes over in coming weeks, some officials said the president's team has been reluctant to conduct one now out of concern about what the president will decide.

Prince said he hopes to speak in coming days with some officials on the National Security Council about his proposal. He said that while last year he discussed it with Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo when Pompeo was CIA director, he has not spoken to John Bolton, who become Trump's third national security adviser in April.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, on July 9, 2018.Andrew Harnik / Reuters file
The defense official said Prince's idea hasn't made its way to the Pentagon for official consideration yet, but it could quickly become a real option if Trump pushes for it.

Mattis and Pompeo both oppose Prince's plan, officials said. A senior State Department official said there's "not a chance" it will be adopted.

Asked for Bolton's view of Prince's idea, the NSC spokesperson declined to comment.

In an interview with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell Friday on MSNBC, Prince said his plan was not privatization, “not a private army. It is a very clear delineation of who’s in charge, okay? The Afghan government working for a U.S. government official, funded by the United States at a fraction of a fraction of the cost of what we’re spending now.” Prince said his plan would save the U.S. more than $50 billion.

“The president was right to campaign against endless wars,” said Prince. “If we leave decisions on war solely to the Pentagon, we will be at war forever.”

'I like following my instincts'

The security situation in Afghanistan has worsened in the year since Trump signed off on the current strategy, and there are increased concerns about government stability and corruption in Kabul. The Taliban continues to make gains, while the U.S. has renewed efforts for peace talks with the militant group.

As NBC News reported in August 2017, before approving the plan the president complained to his advisers that the U.S. was losing the war and suggested firing Gen. John Nicholson, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan.

When Trump announced the current strategy, he noted that his "original instinct was to pull out, and historically I like following my instincts." But he said he'd decided to listen to his advisers to pursue an "honorable and enduring outcome" to the war. The U.S. currently has about 15,000 troops in Afghanistan.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday that the president is "committed to finding a political solution to end the conflict in Afghanistan."

"As always, we're going to continue to review and look at the best ways to move forward," Sanders said.

Lately Trump has pressed his advisers about Afghanistan progress on a weekly basis in Cabinet meetings and national security briefings, officials said. As he's grown frustrated, Trump has leaned on Pompeo, the member of his national security team who is closest to him. Pompeo traveled to Afghanistan last month for a trip the administration said was designed to advance the current U.S. strategy.

Prince was not an official adviser to the Trump campaign but donated $250,000 to pro-Trump causes during the campaign and met with members of Trump's national security team during the transition. The Washington Post reported that special counsel Robert Mueller is looking into whether Prince tried to establish a backchannel between Russia and the Trump administration during a meeting with a Putin associate in the Seychelles in 2017.

In his interview with Mitchell, Prince denied his meeting with the Russian was about a backchannel. “It was an incidental meeting and I had no follow up with him since then.”

When Prince's plan had Trump's attention in 2017, it had the backing of his former strategist Steve Bannon and the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.

The plan appealed to Trump because of the promise that it would be less expensive and put fewer American troops at risk than the current U.S. strategy.

It calls for private contractors and aircraft to aid Afghan forces, with some help from the CIA and the Pentagon's special operations forces — all of whom would be overseen by a U.S. government envoy for Afghanistan policy who reports directly to the president and is given the authority to coordinate with the Afghan government.

Prince believes Trump's frustration now could provide a path for the privatization idea. Trump also has shown more of a willingness follow his instincts on foreign policy since reshuffling his national security team earlier this year to replace former National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson — both of whom opposed Prince's plan.

U.S. service members walk off a helicopter on the runway at Camp Bost on Sept. 11, 2017 in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.Andrew Renneisen / Getty Images file
A former senior administration official said while the U.S. has relied on foreign governments to help pay for military conflicts, it would be new to ask those countries to pay private security companies directly.

Prince's close ties to the United Arab Emirates, as well as the record of Blackwater, most notably in Iraq, would likely raise strong objections among administration officials and members of Congress. In 2007, Blackwater security contractors escorting a U.S. embassy convoy killed 17 civilians in Baghdad's Nisour Square. One employee was convicted of first-degree murder and three were convicted of manslaughter, but their verdicts were overturned in 2017.

The use of private security contractors in U.S. military conflicts has been controversial, including in Afghanistan. Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai curtailed the use of security contractors, a policy the current government would have to undo for a plan like the one proposed by Prince to be implemented.

"It's a ridiculous idea. It would only make things worse, prolong the war, and cause more deaths," the former senior administration official said.

Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, said privatization would make it harder for Congress and others to know what precisely is happening in the war.

"It makes an already murky position murkier," Katulis said. "The cost savings is not worth the potential damage to oversight of U.S. national security."
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/military/o ... ar-n901401

https://twitter.com/WendySiegelman

[seemslikeadream]

From Blackwater to Batteries

Erik Prince has moved beyond mercenary armies. His next project is mining minerals in Congo and Afghanistan to help power electric cars. It’s unlikely to help conflict-ridden countries—and could harm them.

Antony LoewensteinJanuary 25, 2019, 3:06 PM
A Congolese man digs through mine waste searching for left over cobalt. May 31, 2015.
A Congolese man digs through mine waste searching for left over cobalt. May 31, 2015. (FEDERICO SCOPPA/AFP/Getty Images)

The founder of the military contractor Blackwater, Erik Prince, has a new project. He’s aiming to raise $500 million to invest in the discovery, exploitation, and delivery of resources required to produce electric car batteries. Minerals such as cobalt, lithium, and copper are mostly found in conflict zones such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Afghanistan.

Speaking recently to CNBC, Prince said that he aimed to end cobalt’s status as a “conflict mineral” in Congo, and his plans included regular jobs and incomes for artisanal miners who toil in in horrific conditions, in “loincloth,” according to Prince. The Congolese Chamber of Mines estimated in 2015 that there may be 2 million artisanal miners in the country digging for gold, diamonds, and minerals such as cobalt. Prince told CNBC that he wanted to create an “ethical mine” so businesses invested in his project could trace the source of the cobalt and know that it was coming from a location without any abuses. Approximately 67 percent of global mined cobalt in 2017 came from Congo.

It’s an ambitious goal, because Congo has a long history of atrocious mining conditions, including for children as young as 6. In 2018, CNN found that it was still common in Congo to find minors toiling in cobalt mines. Despite companies such as Glencore claiming that it doesn’t use materials from informal cobalt mines, the broadcaster discovered that, “dealers at markets in the DRC were filmed buying cobalt without verifying its source and mining method. They then send it for processing where it is mixed with cobalt from other mines before ending up in batteries that power devices [such as cell phones and car batteries] around the world.”

This is the industry that Prince is now entering, and his controversial history makes many critics cast a skeptical eye on his real agenda.

Some employees of the Prince-founded private military contractor Blackwater committed war crimes against civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq after 9/11. Prince has helped provide foreign troops for the army of the United Arab Emirates (whose military is today committing some of the worst abuses in Yemen) and attempted to create a private air force for the repressive government of South Sudan.

The Trump administration reportedly considered establishing a private spy network, designed by Prince and convicted Iran-Contra scandal participant Oliver North, to circumvent the so-called deep state that U.S. President Donald Trump fears is out to get him. Prince is a staunch Republican Party supporter, and his sister, Betsy DeVos, is Trump’s education secretary. He’s facing scrutiny by Robert Mueller’s investigative team into questionable meetings in the Seychelles in January 2017, just before Trump’s inauguration, with the Russians and the UAE to reportedly discuss a back channel between Moscow and Washington.

Prince claims his trip to the Seychelles was for business purposes, that it had no connection to Trump, and that his meeting with the head of a Russian sovereign wealth fund with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin was “incidental.”

Prince is currently the head of a Hong Kong-based company, Frontier Services Group, a logistics, aviation, and security company whose primary investors include the Chinese government-owned Citic Group. Frontier focuses on protecting Chinese enterprises in Africa and Asia when working in the most inhospitable places on earth. It has invested in a copper mine in Congo, won a security contract in war-torn southern Somalia, and invested in a bauxite mine in Guinea.

Prince told Foreign Policy in an email that his plans to source cobalt will involve using “geo science expertise and certainly look to other regions of Africa, south America and East Asia to diversify the supply base of key minerals.” He said that 15 percent of cobalt in the Congo is extracted by artisanal miners and his “strategy includes professionalizing and enhancing those assets and making them compliant. We would also apply new technology to the millions of tons of tailings already existing to further extract copper and cobalt in an efficient and environmentally acceptable manner.” Prince said that he has not discussed his plans with the Trump administration.

China is a key transit point for cobalt, because Chinese companies dominate the supply chain, placing Prince in prime position to capitalize, given his deep ties to Beijing. Many Chinese firms have also been found to buy cobalt mined by children in Congo. Prince told FP that although China already produces around 50 percent of the world’s electric cars, Frontier is not expected to participate in this initiative and instead remains focused on logistics and transportation support, not resource and mining development. Prince said that he anticipates a “geographically diverse set of investors joining us.”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/01/25/fr ... rcenaries/

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOB4V-ukpBI

Wendy Siegelman

Here’s the transcript of Erik Prince’s House testimony and the section where he said he met Don Jr once at a campaign event and after that during the transition https://docs.house.gov/meetings/IG/IG00 ... 171130.pdf …

https://twitter.com/WendySiegelman

A fresh look at Erik Prince’s House Intelligence Committee testimony and emails with Christophe Charlier, Chairman of Russian company Renaissance Capital

Committee members asked Prince about Glencore, the UAE’s Mubadala fund, his former employee Joe Schmitz and his relationship to Charlier and Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov.

Wendy Siegelman
Jun 10, 2018

This past week Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, released a letter he had sent to Rep. Devin Nunes requesting that the committee provide Special Counsel Mueller transcripts of all interviews conducted during the Trump-Russia investigation. Schiff raised concerns that:
“certain witnesses may have testified untruthfully before our committee, and believe that Mr. Mueller should consider whether perjury charges are warranted.”

While the transcript of Erik Prince’s November 2017 testimony to the House Intelligence Committee was publicly released (excluding one part that was ‘off the record’), new reporting has called into question the veracity of Prince’s testimony. It seems likely that Prince is one of the witnesses Schiff referred to in his letter.
Recent news stories have added additional context to some sections of Prince’s testimony, and there are a few key parts of the transcript that have not been widely reported on that raise questions worth further investigation.
Erik Prince’s Emails with Christophe Charlier

There has been surprisingly little reporting on multiple references in Prince’s testimony to 23 pages of material Prince provided to the committee that included emails exchanged with Christophe Charlier. Prince had previously provided the documents to the Senate in response to a request for communications he had with any Russian national from approximately 2016 to 2017. Although Prince was not sure if Charlier was a Russian national, he described the emails this way:

MR. PRINCE: Yeah. The first email, as I recall, dates from November, end of November 2016. And he is emailing me, congratulating me on the appointment of my sister to be Secretary of Education. And then the rest of the communications were in 2017.

And Mr. Charlier runs an investment bank with an office in Russia.
And he lives between the U.K. and Switzerland, I recall. And that
investment bank focuses on natural resources, fundraising, capital,
debt equity, mergers and acquisitions kind of stuff. (p.33)

Christophe Charlier is Chairman of Renaissance Capital, an “emerging and frontier markets investment bank” founded in 1995 by a group that included New Zealander Stephen Jennings, who departed in 2013 after the firm was sold to Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov’s Onexim Group. Renaissance Capital’s website describes operations in Sub-Saharan Africa, Russia, the Middle East and Asia, all regions — with the exception of Russia —similar to those where Erik Prince is known to do business. Prince said he first met Charlier around 2012–2013 when he was looking for help raising equity for a project in Africa.

Rep. Jackie Speier asked Prince about Charlier’s boss, Mikhail Prokhorov and his involvement with Oleg Deripaska’s aluminum company Rusal, where Prokhorov had served as a board member and his company Onexim had owned 14% of Rusal. Prince denied knowledge of Rusal and said about Prokhorov: “I might have met him in passing, but I had no business dealings with him at all.”

Rep. Speier then asked Prince about Renaissance Capital:

MS. SPEIER: So press reports indicate that this firm has
employed a string of former KGB spies and received millions of British pounds as part of a giant fraud being investigated by Sergei Magnitsky, the individual found dead in a Russian prison. Were you aware of that?

MR. PRINCE: No. Christophe is the only guy I ever met from the firm. (p.73)
An August 2017 Telegraph article described Renaissance Capital as a firm that “has employed a string of former KGB spies” and:

“£6 million from funds at the centre of a giant fraud which was being investigated by Sergei Magnitsky has allegedly been traced to a UK bank account held by Renaissance Capital.”
The U.S. Department of Justice had traced proceeds of the fraud to a bank account in Bournemouth held by Renaissance Capital Investment Management Ltd. However, the article notes that prosecutors “have not alleged that Renaissance was aware of or complicit in the original crime.”

The Telegraph lists several senior Renaissance Capital employees with prior experience in the KGB and FSB:
Yuri Sagaidak, a KGB spy expelled from Britain in 1989, was the firm’s deputy general director until at least 2005.
Vladimir Dzhabarov, former acting head of financial intelligence at its successor the FSB, was appointed vice president in 2006.

Yuri Kobaladze, a former KGB general, was Renaissance’s managing director from 1999 until early 2007.
Although these examples are a decade old, there is a very recent significant story involving a senior employee of Renaissance Capital who also worked as an FSB officer.

In March 2017 the U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictment of Igor Sushchin and three other people for the 2014 Yahoo hack which impacted 500 million user accounts — a theft that appeared to be the world’s largest known cyber breach. Igor Suschin, described in the indictment as an FSB officer, had been working at Prokhorov’s Renaissance Capital, managed by Charlier, at a division called Renaissance Broker, and was fired the day after the indictment was announced. Suschin’s job was “head of information security at the Russian financial firm, where he monitored the communications of Russian financial firm employees.”

Rep. Speier moved on to questions about an email from Charlier discussing the Swiss commodity and mining company Glencore, which highlights how Prince and Charlier discussed important strategic plans related to Prince’s business:
MS. SPEIER: Okay. Who is Cyrus Behbehani from Glencore, and
what is your relationship with him?

MR. PRINCE: He works for Glencore, and someone I have talked to
before about commodities.
MS. SPEIER: So in this email on June 28, Charlier asked you, do
you ever interact with Glencore? I know someone, whose name is blotted out, quite well as we sat on the RUSAL board together. He could be interested, acquirer from -- for your African businesses. At the right time for you, I would like my team to take a look at these businesses and see if we can come up with interesting ideas.
And you wrote back, "I don't know Ivan, but do you know," and
that's referencing Cyrus Behbehani. So -- (p.74)
When Mikhail Prokhorov left the board of Oleg Deripaska’s company Rusal, Charlier took his place as a director alongside Ivan Glasenberg, the CEO of Glencore. It appears that Ivan Glasenberg is the person Charlier suggests could be interested in acquiring Erik Prince’s African businesses. And Charlier indicates that he would like his team to look at Prince’s businesses, indicating a potential future business interaction.
Erik Prince wrote to Charlier that he did not know Ivan, but he did know Cyrus Behbehani at Glencore. Behbehani had previously headed up Morgan Stanley’s Middle East operations and was hired by Glencore in March 2017.
Rep. Speier then asked Prince if he was familiar with the Russian oil company Rosneft selling a portion of the company to Glencore. Prince replied “I have no knowledge of that or dealings in that.”
The sale of 19% of Rosneft to Glencore and Qatar in December 2016 had been covered extensively in the news, largely because the transaction was mentioned in the Christopher Steele dossier, which described the brokerage from the sale as a quid pro quo payment to Trump’s associates in exchange for lifting sanctions against Russia. Speier asked Prince again about any knowledge of the Rosneft deal and Prince doubled down on his denial:
MS. SPEIER: Okay. So you don't know anything about Rosneft's
privatization sale to Glencore or other companies in December?

MR. PRINCE: Zero. Zero. (p.75)
The UAE’s Mubadala sovereign wealth fund
Rep. Mike Quigley asked Prince questions about emails with Charlier discussing Mubadala, the sovereign wealth fund of the United Arab Emirates, and whether Mubadala was involved in Prince’s meeting in the Seychelles:
MR. QUIGLEY: In one of the emails you provided to us today,
Charlier asked you whether you developed relations with Mubadala. But there is no response from you. Are you familiar with Mubadala?
MR. PRINCE: Yeah. It's actually called Mubadala. It's a
business entity in the UAE that does everything from computer chips
to aluminum production to agriculture, agribusiness. So, yeah, I have met with people from Mubadala before, sure.
MR. QUIGLEY: Are you still in contact with them?
MR. PRINCE: Not lately, no.
MR. QUIGLEY: When did the first contact occur?
MR. PRINCE: Probably 2010.
MR. QUIGLEY: Was this firm represented at the Seychelles meeting?
MR. PRINCE: I don't know.
MR. QUIGLEY: Was a deal with this firm discussed at the Seychelles meeting?
MR. PRINCE: Well, no. But I would say bauxite was, and they have
an interest in bauxite. So that would probably be the only tangential overlap they have. (pp.80-81)
When asked if Mubadala was represented at the January 2017 Seychelles meeting, Prince’s “I don’t know” is more vague than many of his other responses. And he confirms that Mubadala had an interest in bauxite, which was as a topic of discussion with Mohammed bin Zayed in the Seychelles. In 2013 Mubadala had launched a multi-billion dollar co-investment fund with the Russian Direct Investment Fund led by CEO Kirill Dmitriev, who Prince also met with in the Seychelles. It would not be surprising if it turns out that Mubadala was represented at the Seychelles meeting.
Outside of these references to Charlier’s emails in Prince’s House testimony, there is little public information on Prince’s interactions or business deals with Charlier, other than a minor item related to a film Erik Prince was involved with.
Christophe Charlier is listed as a film producer on IMDB, and has a ‘Special Thanks’ credit for a 2013 documentary called The Somali Project. The film, also called The Project, documented the creation of the Puntland Maritime Police Force (PMPF) to hunt pirates in the coastal waters of Somalia — and features interviews with Erik Prince, who came up with the initial idea for the PMPF. As I noted in this article, the movie was funded by the Moving Picture Institute where, until recently Rebekah Mercer was listed on the board of Trustees.
It’s notable that the majority of the documentation Prince provided to the Senate and House in response to their request for any communication with a Russian national, was emails exchanged with Christophe Charlier. Although there is no indication they had a formal business relationship, the emails indicate ongoing discussions about strategic business plans. A closer look at Charlier and his long-time boss, Mikhail Prokhorov, reveals immense wealth, power, and several interesting connections to the Trump-Russia story.
Christophe Charlier and Mikhail Prokhorov
Mikhail Prokhorov has barely appeared on the radar in the Trump-Russia story, and when he has he’s been described as the 6-foot-8 inch owner of the Brooklyn Nets, one of the richest and most eligible bachelors in Russia, and a former candidate who ran for President against Putin in 2012, gaining 8% of the vote and accusations from skeptics that he was a fake rival.
Prokhorov made his fortune with business partner Vladimir Potanin after they bought Norilsk Nickel, a fascinating story covered in this 2010 New York Times profile of Prokhorov.
Christophe Charlier had worked for Prokhorov as head of mergers and acquisitions at Norilsk Nickel from 2002 to 2004. However according to Charlier’s current bio on the NBA site, where Charlier is listed as Chairman of the Board of NETS basketball, even prior to 1998 he had worked in the Investment Banking Group of Renaissance Capital in Moscow. Charlier has had a long history with Prokhorov that spans more than two decades.
In 2008 Prokhorov sold his stake in Norilsk Nickel to Oleg Deripaska in exchange for several billion dollars in cash and 14% ownership of Rusal. In February 2018, Prokhorov’s Onexim sold its stake in Deripaska’s Rusal completely.
It appears that Prokhorov may be selling assets before they become vulnerable to sanctions. In April 2018 he sold 49% of his stake in Brooklyn’s Barclay Center and the Nets to Joseph Tsai, a co-founder of Alibaba with Jack Ma, with an option for Tsai to buy the remaining stake within three years.
In addition to the information raised during Erik Prince’s house testimony about how Renaissance Capital had employed former KGB spies and that $10 million of laundered money was allegedly traced to a Renaissance Capital account, Prokhorov has been associated with a few other controversial news stories.
A December 2017 story revealed that Prokhorov had 23 bank accounts at FBME, formerly known as the Federal Bank of the Middle East, which was shut down after it was accused by the U.S. Treasury of “facilitating money laundering, weapons proliferation, sanctions evasion, organized crime, and financing a terror group.”
In addition to Prokhorov’s tangential connection through Christophe Charlier to Erik Prince, who attended the January 2017 Seychelles meeting, Prokhorov has connections to another Trump-Russia meeting that is being investigated by Mueller — the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting held with Don Jr., Kushner, Manafort, Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, and several other attendees, allegedly to discuss ‘adoptions’ and dirt on Hillary Clinton.
Prokhorov was classmates in the late 1980s with Ike Kaveladze, and in 2003 after Norilsk Nickel (co-owned by Prokhorov and Potanin) purchased a Colorado mining company, Kaveladze was nominated as a board director. His nomination was withdrawn when a story surfaced about his involvement in 2000 in a $1.4 billion money laundering scheme in California. Kaveladze, who now works for Aras Agalarov’s Crocus Group, was one of the attendees of the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting.
Another person frequently cited in news stories about the Trump Tower meeting is the lawyer Scott Balber, who represents Aras and Emin Agalarov and Ike Kaveladze. Scott Balber was the lawyer for the Miss Universe organization, and Balber was Donald Trump’s lawyer in a 2013 lawsuit against Bill Maher after he offered to give $5 million to charity if Trump could prove his father was not an orangutan. In 2015 Scott Balber represented the Russian company Rosatom’s civilian nuclear division — the same company mentioned in the ‘uranium’ scandal with Clinton.
And Scott Balber also represents Mikhail Prokhorov. This year Prokhorov has financed a legal effort to attack the credibility of the whistle-blower who exposed Russia’s doping program, and Balber is the lawyer pursuing the case.
Prokhorov has one other coincidental connection to the Trump-Russia story and Erik Prince’s Seychelles meeting — Prokhorov owns a property called North Island in the Seychelles.
There is no evidence that Prokhorov had any involvement in the Seychelles meeting or in the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting or that he has any direct connection to Erik Prince. However Prince’s frequent emails with Christophe Charlier, their discussions about Prince’s business interests, and Charlier’s many years working for Prokhorov, make this an area that warrants attention.
Erik Prince’s email exchange with Christophe Charlier, a long-time senior employee of Mikhail Prokhorov, one of the wealthiest men in Russia, highlights how Prince often pursues business discussions and deals with powerful people in regions of the world — Russia, China, the UAE — where business and government interests may not align with those of the United States.
Trump Campaign Foreign Policy Advisor Joe Schmitz
Outside of Prince’s emails with Christophe Charlier, there was a small part of the testimony when Rep. Eric Swalwell asked Prince about Joe Schmitz that reveals an area the committee may have been investigating related to an early phase of the Trump campaign.
Joseph Schmitz was a former Defense Department inspector general, but left the Pentagon in 2005 amid accusations that he had protected officials in the George W. Bush administration who were suspected of wrongdoing. Schmitz went to work for The Prince Group, parent company of Blackwater, until 2008.
Several years later Schmitz appeared to have continued to pursue deals with Prince. In 2014 Schmitz was involved with a plan to supply moderate Syrian rebels with weapons sourced in Eastern Europe and financed by a wealthy Saudi. In talks with members of the Syrian opposition Schmitz said that Erik Prince might be willing to help. However, the discussions apparently stalled when the plans ran afoul of the CIA.
In March 2016, Trump named his foreign policy advisors — Walid Phares, Carter Page, George Papadopoulos, Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg and Joe Schmitz.
Unlike Page and Padaopoulos, Schmitz has been mostly under the media radar. However, an April 2018 story described how Schmitz was involved in the effort to find dirt on Hillary Clinton, and he had met with officials at the FBI, State Department and elsewhere with information a source had provided related to Clinton’s missing 30,000 emails.
Rep. Swalwell asked Prince about his interactions with Schmitz during the campaign:
MR. SWALWELL: Have you ever met Joseph Schmitz?

MR. PRINCE: Joe Schmitz?

MR. SWALWELL: Yes.

MR. PRINCE: Yeah. He's a lawyer that used to work for me.

MR. SWALWELL: Did you ever talk to Joe Schmitz during the 2016 campaign?

MR. PRINCE: Sure.

MR. SWALWELL: Did you ever talk with Mr. Schmitz about the campaign's policy platform with respect to Russia?

MR. PRINCE: I don't think so, no.

MR. SWALWELL: How often did you interact with Mr. Schmitz during
the campaign?

MR. PRINCE: Maybe twice.

MR. SWALWELL: Was that in person or by phone?

MR. PRINCE: Probably in person. (pp.90-91)
In the months before the 2016 election, Prince did several interviews for Breitbart pushing the Clinton uranium Russia story, and describing incriminating information the NYPD had about Clinton on Anthony Weiner’s laptop. Given Prince’s interest in exposing negative stories about Clinton, it’s likely that Joe Schmitz’s efforts to find Clinton’s 30,000 missing emails would have been of interest to his former boss Erik Prince.
From the Seychelles to the White House to Cambridge Analytica, Erik Prince and the UAE are key…

In January 2017 Erik Prince attended a meeting in the Seychelles with the United Arab Emirate’s Crown Prince Mohammed…
medium.com
Erik Prince is all over the map. Literally.

From DC to the DRC, Erik Prince keeps pitching new ideas — from proposals for privatized wars and spy agencies, to…
medium.com
Cambridge Analytica executives created a company with the Executive Director & Deputy Chairman of…

This has been a big weekend for news on the data firm that claimed to help get Donald Trump elected — Cambridge…
medium.com
Note: Image of Erik Prince modified and courtesy of Miller Center on Flickr
https://medium.com/@wsiegelman/a-fresh- ... 03f06c6568

Wendy Siegelman
‏

EDNY indictment charges ex Mozambican govt officials and business execs in alleged $2 billion fraud/money laundering scheme

Erik Prince's Frontier Services Group pursued joint venture in 2018 with companies involved in scheme (Proindicus, EMATUM, MAM)

Three Former Mozambican Government Officials and Five Business Executives Indicted in Alleged $2 Billion Fraud and Money Laundering Scheme That Victimized U.S. Investors

More Than $200 Million in Alleged Bribes and Kickbacks Paid to Mozambican Government Officials and Investment Bankers

BROOKLYN, NY – An indictment was unsealed on March 4, 2019, charging Najib Allam, an executive of the Privinvest family of maritime services companies, and Teofilo Nhangumele and Antonio do Rosario, former Mozambican government officials, for their roles in a $2 billion fraud and money laundering scheme that victimized investors in the United States and around the world. The indictment was previously unsealed on January 3, 2019 as to co-defendants Jean Boustani, a Privinvest executive, Manuel Chang, the former Finance Minister of Mozambique, and Andrew Pearse, Surjan Singh and Detelina Subeva, former high-ranking investment bankers at an international investment bank (the Investment Bank). Each defendant is charged with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. In addition, Boustani, Allam, Chang, do Rosario, Pearse, Singh and Subeva are charged with securities fraud conspiracy. Pearse, Singh and Subeva are also charged with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery and internal controls provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Brian A. Benczkowski, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the charges.

“As charged in the indictment, the defendants orchestrated an immense fraud and bribery scheme that took advantage of the United States financial system, defrauded its investors and adversely impacted the economy of Mozambique, in order to line their own pockets with hundreds of millions of dollars,” said United States Attorney Donoghue. “This indictment underscores the Department of Justice’s continuing efforts to end such fraudulent and corrupt practices and to hold those responsible to account for their crimes.”

“The indictment unsealed today alleges a brazen international criminal scheme in which corrupt Mozambique government officials, corporate executives, and investment bankers stole approximately $200 million in loan proceeds that were meant to benefit the people of Mozambique,” said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski. “The Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners are dedicated to using all tools at our disposal to prosecute those who engage in money laundering, financial fraud and corruption at the expense of U.S. investors, wherever those individuals may be located.”

“Today’s indictment proves that no matter who you are, or what position of power you’re in, you’re not immune from prosecution,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney. "The FBI will continue to use all resources at our disposal to uncover crimes of this nature and expose them for what they really are.”

The Fraudulent Scheme

The indictment alleges that between approximately 2013 and 2016, Boustani, Allam, Nhangumele, do Rosario, Chang, Pearse, Singh, Subeva and their co-conspirators ensured that the Investment Bank, and another foreign investment bank, would arrange for more than $2 billion to be extended, in three loans, to companies owned and controlled by the Mozambican government: Proindicus S.A. (Proindicus), Empresa Moçambicana de Atum, S.A. (EMATUM) and Mozambique Asset Management (MAM). The proceeds of the loans were intended to fund three maritime projects for which Privinvest was to provide the equipment and services. Specifically, Proindicus was to perform coastal surveillance, EMATUM was to engage in tuna fishing and MAM was to build and maintain shipyards.

Instead, the defendants and their co-conspirators illegally facilitated Privinvest’s criminal diversion of more than $200 million of the proceeds of the loans. These stolen funds included more than $150 million that Privinvest — at the direction of Boustani, Allam and others — used to bribe Chang, Nhangumele, do Rosario and other Mozambican government officials to ensure that companies owned and controlled by the Mozambican government would enter into the loan arrangements, and that the government of Mozambique would guarantee those loans. In addition, Privinvest diverted approximately $50 million in kickback payments to Pearse, Singh and Subeva, who assisted the co-conspirators to obtain financing for the loans through the Investment Bank and the other foreign investment bank. The loans were subsequently sold in whole or in part to investors worldwide, including in the United States. In doing so, the participants in the scheme conspired to defraud these investors by misrepresenting how the loan proceeds would be used, the amount and maturity dates of other financial obligations held by Mozambique and the ability of the government of Mozambique to repay the loans.

To date, the companies controlled by the government of Mozambique have failed to make more than $700 million of loan repayments that have become due.

The Defendants

Boustani, a citizen and resident of Lebanon and Antigua and Barbuda, was the lead salesperson and negotiator for Privinvest, and is charged for his role in coordinating the payment by Privinvest of more than $200 million in bribe and kickback payments to Mozambican government officials and investment bankers in order to facilitate the three loans. He is alleged to have personally received at least $15 million from the scheme. Boustani was arrested in Queens, New York on January 2, 2019 and arraigned later that day in federal court in Brooklyn. Boustani has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and a trial date has not yet been set.

Allam, a citizen of Lebanon, was the Chief Financial Officer of Privinvest, and is charged for his role in helping Boustani and others coordinate the payment by Privinvest of more than $200 million in bribe and kickback payments. Allam remains at large.

Nhangumele, a citizen and resident of Mozambique, acted in an official capacity on behalf of the President of Mozambique during the charged scheme, and is charged for his role in facilitating the payment by Privinvest of over $150 million to Mozambican government officials to gain approval for the maritime projects, and to cause Mozambique to borrow more than $2 billion from the two investment banks in government-guaranteed loans to finance the projects. Nhangumele has not yet been arrested on the charges in this indictment and Nhangumele is not currently in U.S. custody.

Do Rosario, a citizen and resident of Mozambique, held positions within the Mozambican government, including with the Mozambican state intelligence service, known as “SISE,” and managerial roles for each of the three state-owned entities formed to undertake the maritime projects that are the subject of the indictment. He is charged for his role in ensuring that Mozambique would undertake the maritime projects and award the contracts for those projects to Privinvest, and that Finance Minister Chang would issue government guarantees binding Mozambique to repay $2 billion in loans to undertake the projects. He is alleged to have personally received more than $12 million from the scheme. Do Rosario has not yet been arrested on the charges in this indictment and is not currently in U.S. custody.

Chang, a citizen and resident of Mozambique, was the former Finance Minister of Mozambique, and is charged for signing guarantees on behalf of Mozambique for the three corrupt loans. He is alleged to have personally received at least $5 million from the scheme. Chang was arrested on December 29, 2018, in South Africa, pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant issued at the request of the United States. The United States is seeking his extradition.

Pearse, a citizen of New Zealand, Singh, a citizen of the United Kingdom and Subeva, a citizen of Bulgaria, reside in the United Kingdom. At the time of the charged scheme, Pearse and Singh were managing directors, and Subeva was a vice president, of the Investment Bank. Each has been charged for facilitating bribe payments to government officials in Mozambique and for circumventing the internal accounting controls of the Investment Bank, which arranged two of the three loans. Pearse, Singh and Subeva were arrested on January 3, 2019, in the United Kingdom, pursuant to provisional arrest warrants issued at the request of the United States. The United States is seeking their extradition.

* * * * *

The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The investigation is being conducted by the FBI’s New York Field Office. The government’s case is being handled by the Business and Securities Fraud Section of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY), the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) and the Fraud Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew S. Amatruda and Mark E. Bini of the EDNY, Trial Attorneys Margaret Moeser and Sean W. O’Donnell of MLARS and Trial Attorney David M. Fuhr of the Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.

The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided critical assistance in this case. The Department appreciates the significant cooperation and assistance provided by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The Department also appreciates the assistance provided by law enforcement authorities in the United Kingdom and in South Africa.

The Defendants:

JEAN BOUSTANI
Age: 40
Lebanon, Antigua and Barbuda

NAJIB ALLAM
Age: 58
Lebanon

MANUEL CHANG
Age: 63
Mozambique

ANTONIO DO ROSARIO
Age: 44
Mozambique

TEOFILO NHANGUMELE
Age: 50
Mozambique

ANDREW PEARSE
Age: 49
United Kingdom

SURJAN SINGH
Age: 44
United Kingdom

DETELINA SUBEVA
Age: 37
United Kingdom

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 18-CR-681 (WFK)
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/th ... s-indicted

Indictment alleges 2013-2016 several people including Antonio do Rosario arranged for more than $2 billion in loans to govt owned companies Proindicus, EMATUM & MAM - and then illegally facilitated diversion of more than $200 million of the loan proceeds
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/th ... s-indicted …



A May 2018 story reported that Erik Prince's Frontier Services Group (FSG) was in discussions to take over half of Ematum and to partner with Proindicus
https://allafrica.com/stories/201805040298.html …


Wendy Siegelman Retweeted Robert Young Pelton
Wendy Siegelman added,

Robert Young Pelton

This comes on the heels of a potential workout of the secret debt used to create dockyard MAM, EMATUN (TUNAMAR) and security company PROINDICUS. A fabulous con in which a creative expat banker managed to convince Lloyds to insure sovereign debt failure. http://www.verdade.co.mz/nacional/67314 ... cus-e-mam- …
Show this thread

There is no indication that Prince or Frontier Services Group is involved in the indictment - but they were involved in discussions that took place with the companies named in the indictment a few years following the alleged fraud and money laundering scheme


Is Another Boko Haram or Al-Shabaab Erupting in Mozambique? Some are suspicious of the coincidental upsurge in attacks & the award of a $750 million contract for protecting gas fields to a private security consortium that includes Erik Prince, by @PFabric…
Show this thread


Mozambique defaulted on $2 bil loan from Credit Suisse in Mar '16, the IMF halted aid. Erik Prince & FSG offered to recapitalize the tuna project & take care of the $ 2 bil debt - a deal was signed Dec 2017 a month after FBI started investigating the deal


http://www.spyker.co/erik-prince-buys-a ... ozambique/ …

[seemslikeadream]

Erik Prince just got busted for felony perjury

Erik Prince acknowledges 2016 Trump Tower meeting for first time

When pressed by Mehdi Hasan on Head to Head, Blackwater founder Erik Prince said the meeting was about 'Iran policy'.

4 hours ago
Erik Prince, founder of the private American security company Blackwater, has admitted to meeting with members of the Trump campaign in August 2016 after, according to a public transcript, apparently failing to disclose the gathering during his testimony in front of the House Intelligence Committee last year.

When asked by Mehdi Hasan on Al Jazeera's Head to Head programme about the August 3, 2016 Trump Tower meeting that reportedly took place between Prince, Donald Trump campaign officials, an Israeli social media specialist and an emissary for two Gulf princes, the former Blackwater CEO did not deny the meeting took place.

"We were there … to talk about Iran policy," Prince said when pressed by Hasan.

According to the New York Times, that meeting was attended by Prince, Donald Trump Jr, George Nader, a former Blackwater employee and emissary for the crown princes of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Stephen Miller, then a top aide to the Trump campaign and currently a senior policy adviser to the president and Joel Zamel, whose company, Psy-Group, employed former Israeli intelligence operatives and specialised in social media manipulation, and was reportedly contacted by Rick Gates, a top Trump campaign official, for proposals for social media manipulation to help Trump win the election.

Prince apparently did not, however, disclose information about the meeting when testifying before the House Intelligence Committee on November 30, 2017, according to a public transcript.

Prince testified under oath that he had "no official, or, really unofficial role" in the Trump campaign. He also told the House panel that he did not have any formal communications or contact with the campaign other than policy papers given to Steve Bannon, attending some fundraisers and a "yard sign".

When asked by Al Jazeera's Hasan about why he didn't then disclose the August 2016 Trump Tower meeting, Prince initially said he "disclosed any meetings, the very, very few" he had.

When pressed further by Hasan, Prince said, "I don't believe I was asked that question."

Prince later contradicted himself, saying he did tell the panel about the meeting. When asked to explain why it was not in the transcript, Prince said, "I don't know if they got the transcript wrong."

He later also said that "not all of the discussion that day was transcribed".

He added that he "certainly" remembers discussing the meeting with "investigators".

A staff member of the House Intelligence Committee told Al Jazeera that Prince was not asked about the August 3, 2016 meeting in Trump Tower during his testimony and any redactions that were made to that testimony were done to protect personally identifiable information.

The Blackwater founder's comments to Hasan is the first time that Prince or anyone else who reportedly attended the meeting has publicly acknowledged it and the first indication that it could have been about Iran policy. At the time, Nader was reportedly seeking to advance a clandestine plan to destabilise Iran through the use of private military contractors.

Since coming to office, Trump has taken a hawkish stance towards Iran, pulling out of the nuclear deal in 2018 and blaming the country for the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS). Last month in Warsaw, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the conference, "You can't achieve stability in the Middle East without confronting Iran". US National Security Advisor John Bolton has also advocated for regime change in the country.

In Head to Head’s wide-ranging interview with Prince, the Blackwater founder also responds to questions about his meeting in the Seychelles with a Russian businessman close to the Kremlin and discusses the private security company’s history during the Iraq War, including the Nisour Square massacre, as well as his proposal for ending the war in Afghanistan.

Blackwater's Erik Prince: Iraq, privatising wars, and Trump will air March 8, 2019 at 20:00 GMT and be repeated on March 9 at 12:00GMT, March 10 at 01:00 GMT and March 11 at 06:00 GMT.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/ ... 01138.html

BLACK CUBE
viewtopic.php?f=33&t=40981

The Psy Group meeting was about Iran? Another blatant lie. Even Zamel said it was about Psy Group!

Polly Sigh
‏
Blackwater’s Erik Prince tells ⁦@mehdirhasan⁩ his Aug 2016 Trump Tower meeting [which he didn't disclose to Congress] with Don Jr, George Nader, and Joel Zamel was about Iran policy, despite testifying he had "no official role" in Trump campaign.
https://interc.pt/2Cd5ql6





The moment Erik Prince knows he's been caught in multiple lies by the amazing @mehdirhasan.

First, Prince said he wasn’t asked about the Aug 2016 Trump Tower meeting; then he said he told Congress about it; then he said the transcript was wrong.
#Maddow
Head to Head


Polly Sigh Retweeted Ryan Goodman
Per @rgoodlaw, Don Jr lied to Congress about the same Aug 2016 Trump Tower meeting. Which raises the question, what are Erik Prince and Don Jr hiding? Mueller likely already knows the answer since meeting attendees Nader and Zamel are cooperating.

Ryan Goodman

Donald Trump Jr. also apparently lied to Congress about the same Trump Tower meeting with Erik Prince.

Compare what Don Jr. told Congress (on the left) with what the NYT reported about Trump Tower meeting (on the right)

https://www.justsecurity.org/61682/perj ... thorities/ … (from my "Perjury Chart") 2/2
Show this thread


The audience openly laughing in Erik Prince's face as @mehdirhasan nails him on one lie after another was immensely satisfying.Polly Sigh added,




Hannah Jane Parkinson

an absolutely beautiful British audience performance of incredulously laughing in Prince’s face, but also not even attempting to hide disdain
Show this thread


Aug 3, 2016: Joel Zamel & George Nader [who Erik Prince has known since their Blackwater days and introduced to Don Jr as "an old friend with deep ties to Arab leaders"] were at a Manhattan hotel when Prince called and summoned them to Trump Tower.


Aug 3, 2106: In a Trump Tower meeting set up by Erik Prince, Don Jr & other aides met an emissary to Crown Princes MBS & MBZ [Nader] and an Israeli social media manipulation specialist [Joel Zamel] offering help to…
Show this thread


DEC 2016: Kushner, FLYNN & Bannon met w/ MBZ in NY, after which Erik Prince met w/ MBZ as a Trump transition representative & asked MBZ to set a meeting for them w/ the head of RDIF, [an arm of Russia's VEB Bank whose CEO met w/ Jared in DEC 2016].


NEW: Mueller gathers evidence that 2017 Seychelles meeting was to establish KREMLIN BACK CHANNEL [Hi Jared!] – and was set up in advance so a Trump transition representative could meet w/ a Moscow emissary.…
https://twitter.com/dcpoll

[seemslikeadream]

Erik Prince was one of the people in the loop of Stone's efforts to optimize the WikiLeaks releases!

DONALD TRUMP WAS “COLLUDING” WITH ROGER STONE ON FOUR DIFFERENT DIRECT LINES

September 6, 2019/5 Comments/in 2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe /by emptywheel

The parties in the Roger Stone trial just released some pre-trial documents that include a stipulation for a bunch of emails and phone numbers that will be discussed at trial. (I’m not linking them because they’re not redacted.)

The big surprise — though I guess we should have expected this — is that Erik Prince is on there, which means he’s probably the Trump supporter eagerly awaiting the drop of John Podesta’s emails.

On or about October 3, 2016, STONE wrote to a supporter involved with the Trump Campaign, “Spoke to my friend in London last night. The payload is still coming.”

[snip]

Later that day, on or about October 4, 2016, the supporter involved with the Trump Campaign asked STONE via text message if he had “hear[d] anymore from London.” STONE replied, “Yes – want to talk on a secure line – got Whatsapp?” STONE subsequently told the supporter that more material would be released and that it would be damaging to the Clinton Campaign

But far more damning is that there are four Donald Trump phone numbers there, as well as numbers for his two assistants and his bodyguard, Keith Schiller.



Trump told Robert Mueller, under oath, that he didn’t remember being in the loop on Roger Stone’s efforts, clear lies.

Response to Question II, Part (e)

I was in Trump Tower in New York City on October 7, 2016.

I have no recollection of being told that WikiLeaks possessed or might possess emails related to John Podesta before the release of Mr. Podesta’s emails was reported by the media. Likewise, I have no recollection of being told that Roger Stone, anyone acting as an intermediary for Roger Stone, or anyone associated with my campaign had communicated with WikiLeaks on October 7, 2016.

Response to Question II, Part (f)

I do not recall being told during the campaign that Roger Stone or anyone associated with my campaign had discussions with any of the entities named in the question regarding the content or timing of release of hacked emails.

Response to Question ll, Part (g)

I spoke by telephone with Roger Stone from time to time during the campaign. I have no recollection of the specifics of any conversations I had with Mr. Stone between June 1.2016 and November 8, 2016. I do not recall discussing WikiLeaks with him, nor do I recall being aware of Mr. Stone having discussed WikiLeaks with individuals associated with my campaign, although I was aware that WikiLeaks was the subject of media reporting and campaign-related discussion at the time.

Now we know that Trump spoke to Stone a lot. So much so it’s going to make clear all these claims are lies.

In the George Papadopoulos’ testimony to Congress, Mark Meadows defined “collusion” to mean “benefitting from Hillary Clinton emails.”

Mr. Papadopoulos. And after he was throwing these allegations at me, I —

Mr. Meadows. And by allegations, allegations that the Trump campaign was benefiting from Hillary Clinton emails?

Mr. Papadopoulos. Something along those lines, sir. And I think I pushed back and I told him, I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. What you’re talking about is something along the lines of treason. I’m not involved. I don’t know anyone in the campaign who’s involved. And, you know, I really have nothing to do with Russia. That’s — something along those lines is how I think I responded to this person.

Mr. Meadows. So essentially at this point, he was suggesting that there was collusion and you pushed back very firmly is what it sounds like.

It turns out Donald Trump was “colluding” with Roger Stone on four different direct lines!
https://www.emptywheel.net/2019/09/06/f ... nes-trial/