Saturday, November 25, 2017

I missed accounts of a Russian oligarch in the Russia-Trump investigation

While scanning the entries in Moyers' investigation timeline, I came across a name I hadn't noticed in any reporting before: mitry Rybolovlev. I obviously missed this Guardian report:

In 2008 Rybolovlev bought Trump’s seaside Florida mansion – Maison de L’Amite – for $95m. Trump made a $50m profit, having bought the property just four years earlier. The sale at the peak of the global financial crisis raised eyebrows.

Rybolovlev never set foot inside and eventually demolished the villa, which had a serious mould problem. His spokesman said Rybolovlev had made a good enough investment, with the territory eventually divided into three lots, two of which have since sold for large sums.

There are also questions about whether Rybolovlev ever had personal interactions with Trump. During the US election campaign Rybolovlev’s distinctive private Airbus jet – with the call-sign M-KATE – was spotted in the same place as Trump’s during election rallies.

The two planes landed within an hour of each other in early November 2016 at Charlotte International airport in North Carolina. Trump addressed an election rally nearby. Rybolovlev has said this was “pure coincidence” and that he has never met Trump.

The oligarch travels extensively in the US, including New York and LA, for reasons of “business and pleasure”, his spokesman said. Additionally, Rybolovlev’s luxury yacht, “My Anna”, was spotted in Dubrovnik, Croatia, in August 2016, at the same time that Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, were visiting on holiday.

Rybolovlev says he has never met Kushner.
  Guardian
Rybolovlev shows up in the timeline in these entries:


Intriguing, to say the least.  Who was keeping track of this?  If it were Mueller's people, we wouldn't be seeing the reports.  (The videos attached to these links are all from Rachel Maddow at MSNBC.)

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

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