U.S. Treasury names 200 figures close to Vladimir Putin | World Defense

U.S. Treasury names 200 figures close to Vladimir Putin

Khafee

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U.S. Treasury names 200 figures close to Vladimir Putin
By Sara Shayanian | Jan. 30, 2018
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The U.S. Treasury released a list late Monday identifying a number of elite Russian business and political figures. File Photo by Tumay Berkin/EPA-EFE

Jan. 30 (UPI) -- The U.S. Treasury has released a list of prominent Russian business and political figures linked to President Vladimir Putin, implementing a law aimed at punishing Russia for meddling in the 2016 election and military intervention in Ukraine.

The list, published just before midnight Monday, names 114 senior political figures with ties to Putin and nearly 100 oligarchs with a net worth of $1 billion or more -- including aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska and Chelsea soccer club owner Roman Abramovich.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, oligarchs Roman Abramovich and Mikhail Prokhorov -- who challenged Putin in Russia's 2012 presidential election -- and top officials in the government's FSB and GRU spy agencies are also on the list.

The names include more than 40 of Putin's closest advisers -- including spokesman Dmitry Peskov -- and all 30 of his cabinet ministers. The most prominent senior official not appearing on the list is the Kremlin's central bank governor, Elvira Nabiullina.

"I feel nothing about it. I am pretty much indifferent to that," Peskov told reporters about his inclusion.

Peskov added that the Treasury's "unprecedented" report effectively created a list of "enemies" of the United States.

"De facto everyone is called the enemy of the United States," the spokesman said. "If you read the text and the title of this document, all this is done in accordance with the law on countering the enemies of the United States."

Putin called the list Tuesday "nonsense," and said it would "reduce bilateral relations to zero" between Moscow and Washington.

"Average Russians stand behind the names on this list, so that means the entire country has been listed ... We should carry on with our own business, and then they will realize that it's pointless to make these lists, to threaten us," Putin said. "The dogs bark, but the caravan keeps going."

Monday's Treasury report is part of a law Trump approved in August, the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which expands sanctions against Russia by punishing those who do business with the Russian military or intelligence sectors. It also called for the Treasury to give Congress a report on Russia's wealthiest citizens.

No new sanctions were imposed with the list, but some on the individuals on it are already under U.S. sanction -- though they were part of the law passed by Congress that mandated the release of the list. The Trump administration has said further sanctions are unnecessary.

A State Department representative told Politico the administration is using the law "to press Russia to address our concerns related to its aggression in Ukraine, interference in other nations' domestic affairs and abuses of human rights."

Earlier this week, Peskov said the list was an attempt by the United States to influence Russia's 2018 presidential election.

"We really do believe that this is a direct and obvious attempt to time some steps to coincide with the election in order to exert influence on it," he said.

However, Peskov said the new list will have no influence on the March vote, in which Putin is running for a fourth term.

Last weekend, the Treasury announced sanctions against 21 individuals and nine business entities as part of its "commitment to maintain sanctions pressure on Russia until it fully implements its commitments under the Minsk agreements."

"The U.S. government is committed to maintaining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and to targeting those who attempt to undermine the Minsk agreements," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said. "Those who provide goods, services, or material support to individuals and entities sanctioned by the United States for their activities in Ukraine are engaging in behavior that could expose them to U.S. sanctions."

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/201...-close-to-Vladimir-Putin/2351517234235/?nll=1
 

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Russia meddling in US election was in favour of Trump who is now the president so implementing a law aimed at punishing Russia will be swept under the rug.
 

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Grand Jury Indicts Thirteen Russian Individuals and Three Russian Companies for Scheme to Interfere in the United States Political System

Friday, February 16, 2018

The Department of Justice announced that a grand jury in the District of Columbia today returned an indictment presented by the Special Counsel's Office. The indictment charges thirteen Russian nationals and three Russian companies for committing federal crimes while seeking to interfere in the United States political system, including the 2016 Presidential election. The defendants allegedly conducted what they called "information warfare against the United States," with the stated goal of "spread[ing] distrust towards the candidates and the political system in general."

"This indictment serves as a reminder that people are not always who they appear to be on the Internet," said Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein. "The indictment alleges that the Russian conspirators want to promote discord in the United States and undermine public confidence in democracy. We must not allow them to succeed. The Department of Justice will continue to work cooperatively with other law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and with the Congress, to defend our nation against similar current and future schemes. I want to thank the federal agents and prosecutors working on this case for their exceptional service. Also, we received exceptional cooperation from private-sector companies like Facebook and Paypal."

According to the allegations in the indictment, twelve of the individual defendants worked at various times for Internet Research Agency LLC, a Russian company based in St. Petersburg, Russia. The other individual defendant, Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin, funded the conspiracy through companies known as Concord Management and Consulting LLC, Concord Catering, and many subsidiaries and affiliates. The conspiracy was part of a larger operation called "Project Lakhta." Project Lakhta included multiple components, some involving domestic audiences within the Russian Federation and others targeting foreign audiences in multiple countries.

Internet Research Agency allegedly operated through Russian shell companies. It employed hundreds of persons for its online operations, ranging from creators of fictitious personas to technical and administrative support, with an annual budget of millions of dollars. Internet Research Agency was a structured organization headed by a management group and arranged in departments, including graphics, search-engine optimization, information technology, and finance departments. In 2014, the agency established a "translator project" to focus on the U.S. population. In July 2016, more than 80 employees were assigned to the translator project.

Two of the defendants allegedly traveled to the United States in 2014 to collect intelligence for their American political influence operations.

To hide the Russian origin of their activities, the defendants allegedly purchased space on computer servers located within the United States in order to set up a virtual private network. The defendants allegedly used that infrastructure to establish hundreds of accounts on social media networks such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, making it appear that the accounts were controlled by persons within the United States. They used stolen or fictitious American identities, fraudulent bank accounts, and false identification documents. The defendants posed as politically and socially active Americans, advocating for and against particular political candidates. They established social media pages and groups to communicate with unwitting Americans. They also purchased political advertisements on social media.

The Russians also recruited and paid real Americans to engage in political activities, promote political campaigns, and stage political rallies. The defendants and their co-conspirators pretended to be grassroots activists. According to the indictment, the Americans did not know that they were communicating with Russians.

After the election, the defendants allegedly staged rallies to support the President-elect while simultaneously staging rallies to protest his election. For example, the defendants organized one rally to support the President-elect and another rally to oppose him–both in New York, on the same day.

On September 13, 2017, soon after the news media reported that the Special Counsel's Office was investigating evidence that Russian operatives had used social media to interfere in the 2016 election, one defendant allegedly wrote, "We had a slight crisis here at work: the FBI busted our activity.... So, I got preoccupied with covering tracks together with my colleagues."

The indictment includes eight criminal counts. Count One alleges a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States, by all of the defendants. The defendants allegedly conspired to defraud the United States by impairing the lawful functions of the Federal Election Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. Department of State in administering federal requirements for disclosure of foreign involvement in certain domestic activities.

Count Two charges conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud by Internet Research Agency and two individual defendants.

Counts Three through Eight charge aggravated identity theft by Internet Research Agency and four individuals.

There is no allegation in the indictment that any American was a knowing participant in the alleged unlawful activity. There is no allegation in the indictment that the charged conduct altered the outcome of the 2016 election.

Everyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. At trial, prosecutors must introduce credible evidence that is sufficient to prove each defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, to the unanimous satisfaction of a jury of twelve citizens.

The Special Counsel's investigation is ongoing. There will be no comments from the Special Counsel at this time.

https://www.globalsecurity.org/secu...216-doj01.htm?_m=3n.002a.2228.uf0ao06fso.21uc
 

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After US Indictments, Russia Denies Election Meddling
February 19, 2018

The Kremlin on Monday denied Russian government involvement in interfering with the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the allegations are baseless.

The comments come days after the U.S. special counsel charged 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities with conducting an illegal "information warfare" campaign to disrupt the election to the benefit of President Donald Trump.

Former FBI Director Robert Mueller's indictment of the Russian interests contended that the Internet Research Agency, a St. Petersburg-based social media company with Kremlin ties, 12 of its employees, and its financial backer orchestrated the effort.

The 37-page charging document alleges that the Russian conspirators sought to coordinate their effort with Trump campaign associates, but it does not accuse anyone on the Trump campaign of colluding with the Russians.

Trump has long insisted that his campaign did not collude with Russia, even as the U.S. intelligence community and now Mueller have concluded that Russia conducted a wide campaign to meddle in the election to help Trump win.

The indictment marks the first time Mueller's office has brought charges against Russians and Russian entities for meddling in the 2016 election.

Trump used a series of Twitter comments Sunday to assail the various investigations by Mueller and congressional committees.

"If it was the GOAL of Russia to create discord, disruption and chaos within the U.S. then, with all of the Committee Hearings, Investigations and (Republican) Party hatred, they have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams," Trump said. "They are laughing their asses off in Moscow. Get smart America!"

Trump was also critical of H.R. McMaster, his national security adviser, who said Saturday there was "incontrovertible" evidence of Russian interference in the election.

"I never said Russia did not meddle in the election, I said 'it may be Russia, or China or another country or group, or it may be a 400 pound genius sitting in bed and playing with his computer,' Trump tweeted. "The Russian 'hoax' was that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia - it never did!"

Trump said McMaster "forgot to say that the results of the 2016 election were not impacted or changed by the Russians and that the only Collusion was between Russia" and his Democratic opponent, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and other Democrats. Trump said McMaster overlooked Democratic funding of political opposition research in a controversial dossier alleging shady Trump links to Russian operatives.

Trump sarcastically praised one of his political opponents, Congressman Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, for saying that the administration of former President Barack Obama could have done more to thwart overseas cyberattacks after the 2014 hack into the files of the entertainment company Sony Pictures.

"I think that others around the world watched that and determined that cyber is a cost-free intervention," Schiff said in an interview on NBC.

Trump tweeted, "Finally, Liddle' Adam Schiff, the leakin' monster of no control, is now blaming the Obama Administration for Russian meddling in the 2016 Election. He is finally right about something. Obama was President, knew of the threat, and did nothing. Thank you Adam!"

Trump added, "Now that Adam Schiff is starting to blame President Obama for Russian meddling in the election, he is probably doing so as yet another excuse that the Democrats, led by their fearless leader, Crooked Hillary Clinton, lost the 2016 election. But wasn't a great candidate?

"I've always said Obama should've acted sooner," Schiff responded in his own tweet. "But you won't recognize the truth, impose sanctions or act at all. If McMaster can stand up to Putin, why can't you?"

Mueller's sprawling investigation has led to the indictments of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and associate Rick Gates on money laundering charges in connection with their lobbying efforts in Ukraine that predates Trump's 2016 campaign.

Former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and former campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos have pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about their contacts with Russian officials and are cooperating with Mueller's probe.

In addition to investigating the Russian meddling in the election, Mueller is probing whether Trump has in several ways obstructed justice to undermine the investigation, including his firing of former FBI Director James Comey, who was leading the agency's Russia probe at the time Trump ousted him. Mueller, over Trump's objections, was then appointed to take over the Russia probe.

https://www.voanews.com/a/kremlin-charges-over-us-election-tampering-prove-nothing/4260582.html
 

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Putin: Russian nationals accused of meddling with US election will never be extradited
March 04, 2018
Russian President said that Russian nationals accused of meddling with US presidential elections in 2016 weren't acting on behalf of the Russian authorities

NEW YORK, March 4. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied that Russian nationals accused of meddling with US presidential elections in 2016 weren't acting on behalf of the Russian authorities and vowed they will never be extradited to the United States.

"I know that they did not represent the Russian state, the Russian authorities. What they did specifically, I have no idea", Putin said in an interview with NBC TVchannel, a fragment of which was aired on Sunday.

He said he was unaware of who could be behind those people and called on the US to provide reliable evidence that they had done anything wrong. "Let them just not talk to the press, let them provide some materials, specifics and data. We will be prepared to look at them and talk about them", he said.

When asked whether these people could be extradited to the United States, the Russian leader stressed: "Never. Russia does not extradite its citizens to anyone, just like the United States".

On February 16, the US Department of Justice indicted 13 individuals and three organizations from Russia for allegedly interfering in the US presidential election in 2016. Special Counsel Robert Mueller filed charges that implicate businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin and 12 staff members of the Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg, which Washington claims to have taken part in efforts "to defraud" the United States.

US President Donald Trump and the key players of his team have repeatedly denied all suspicions of illegal contacts with Russian officials during the election campaign. Moscow, too, has been denying allegations that it tried to influence the US presidential election.

http://tass.com/politics/992690
 
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