Donald Trump, Paul Manafort Trump campaign manager and Ivanka Trump during the sound checks on stage in the Quicken Arena for the Republican National Convention. (mark reinstein / Shutterstock.com)
The U.S. Department of Treasury sanctioned a longtime associate of Paul Manafort, and filled in one of the larger blanks in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Donald Trump's ties to Russia.
The Biden administration sanctioned Konstantin Kilimnik, a Ukrainian-Russian associate of Manafort, for sharing sensitive polling data and campaign strategies with the Kremlin during the 2016 campaign -- which linked findings in investigations by Mueller and the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Legal experts and others who followed the Mueller probe and other investigations into alleged Russian collusion felt vindicated by the news.
For the first time EVER, the US government said Russian agent Konstantin Kilimnik provided Russian intelligence agencies with the internal Trump campaign polling/strategy data he received from Manafort and Gates in 2016. Even Mueller didn't go that far. https://t.co/wGNnHdFxRU pic.twitter.com/O9GEjpJ0CG
— Marshall Cohen (@MarshallCohen) April 15, 2021
👀 We knew Trump 2016 polling data went from Manafort > Kilimnik. Today, Treasury says that data went from Kilimnik > Russian intelligence agencies. https://t.co/VIIt9U4Tog pic.twitter.com/5v6RvGCbVL
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) April 15, 2021
No collusion, eh? Trump's campaign chief was in league with a Russian intelligence officer. The Trump-Russia hoax was calling it a “hoax." And remember Trump pardoned Manafort. https://t.co/wE86ze3px7
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) April 15, 2021
Trump Campaign Chair Manafort gave sensitive polling data to his associate Kilimnik, Russian intel agent.
What did Kilimnik do with it?
Mueller report 2019: Don't know
Senate report 2020: Don't know
Treasury Dep't 2021: He passed polling data to Kremlinhttps://t.co/5S3AOuI63D
— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) April 15, 2021
NEW: US sanctions "known Russian agent" Konstantin Kilimnik, Paul Manafort's man in Kyiv, for attempting to influence the 2020 election. He's wanted by the FBI, which is offering a reward of up to $250,000 for info leading to his arrest. He's currently in/near Moscow. pic.twitter.com/UVXZrgJF9T
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) April 15, 2021
There was no collusion, just the Russians hacking Trump's opponent to help Trump and Trump's campaign manager passing campaign info to the Russians.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) April 15, 2021
Unambiguous collusion. Anyone who denies this should be ignored on every topic. https://t.co/Q8HMQfeU4h
— Grudgie the Whale (@grudging1) April 15, 2021
Mueller was right.
“The FSB, GRU, & SVR operate a network of websites that obscure their Russian origin to appeal to Western audiences. Outlets ... focus on divisive issues in the United States, denigrate U.S. political candidates, & disseminate false and misleading information."
— An Old Woman, M.S. Applied Statistics (@linda72135856) April 15, 2021
So much for "no collusion." pic.twitter.com/6XEbHT7GNY
— Andrew Hsieh (@AndrewOnSeeAIR) April 15, 2021
While this is the first time, the US government acknowledged the Trump campaign's active coordination with Russia in 2016, credible & publicly available sources revealed this criminal activity several years ago.
cc: @TheJusticeDept, do your job.
— Christopher C. Alberto (@ChrisAlbertoLaw) April 15, 2021
To summarize: Trump's campaign chair and deputy campaign chair provided an internal strategy memo and private polling to a Russian agent who then passed it onto Russian intelligence agencies. The Kremlin then used that information to try to help Trump win the 2016 election. https://t.co/pvMmdS0pS9
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) April 15, 2021
And thus the central narrative of the Mueller investigation confirmed.
— Dirk Schwenk (Esq) 🎵 (@DirkSchwenk) April 15, 2021
It's time to release the full unredacted Mueller Report
— MisterZofter (@Zoftwarz) April 15, 2021
At the height of the campaign, Kilimnik flew from Moscow to NY to meet Trump's campaign chief, Paul Manafort, w/ a message from "the guy who gave you your biggest black caviar jar."
NEW U.S. Treasury report: Kilmnik gave "sensitive information on polling" to the Russian govt. pic.twitter.com/TGs1iywFEu
— Andrea Bernstein (@AndreaWNYC) April 15, 2021
So Trump's campaign chair passed secret, sensitive data to Russian intel through an operative at a time when everyone knew Russia was massively interfering to elect Trump. Then Manafort clammed up and Trump pardoned him. Collusion & conspiracy. Let's just say it: Mueller failed. https://t.co/xit4BjUm5v
— Seth Hanlon (@SethHanlon) April 15, 2021
Another confirmation how Putin's American political warfare operative Paul Manafort ran the Kremlin's U.S. presidential candidate Trump, and worked with GRU operative/longtime partner Konstantin Kilimnik to execute a hybrid war against the U.S. to install its mafia puppet regime. https://t.co/L6RFv5YU75
— Alexandra Chalupa (@AlexandraChalup) April 15, 2021
Today's statement from the Treasury Department is clear:
Paul Manafort giving 2016 Trump campaign polling data to Russian agent Konstantin Kilimnik, who gave it to Russian government intelligence agencies means that there was collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. pic.twitter.com/VkRQiPgjsa
— JRehling (@JRehling) April 15, 2021
