WASHINGTON — In the estimation of American officials, Oleg V. Deripaska, a Russian oligarch with close ties to the Kremlin, has faced credible accusations of extortion, bribery and even murder.
They also thought he might make a good source.
Between 2014 and 2016, the F.B.I. and the Justice Department unsuccessfully tried to turn Mr. Deripaska into an informant. They signaled that they might provide help with his trouble in getting visas for the United States or even explore other steps to address his legal problems. In exchange, they were hoping for information on Russian organized crime and, later, on possible Russian aid to President Trump’s 2016 campaign, according to current and former officials and associates of Mr. Deripaska.
In one dramatic encounter, F.B.I. agents appeared unannounced and uninvited at a home Mr. Deripaska maintains in New York and pressed him on whether Paul Manafort, a former business partner of his who went on to become chairman of Mr. Trump’s campaign, had served as a link between the campaign and the Kremlin.
The attempt to flip Mr. Deripaska was part of a broader, clandestine American effort to gauge the possibility of gaining cooperation from roughly a half-dozen of Russia’s richest men, nearly all of whom, like Mr. Deripaska, depend on President Vladimir V. Putin to maintain their wealth, the officials said.
hippityhoponpop on September 2nd, 2018 at 01:07 UTC »
So the leaking of Bruce Ohr’s testimony to Congress has begun. And of course all of the leaks will be from Republicans looking to help the president. FBI agents doing their job isn’t controversy. The fact that the FBI was already investigating this before the dossier is.
SuccessfulOperation on September 2nd, 2018 at 00:58 UTC »
Theory I'm seeing floated is that the CIA leaked this to pressure Deripaska into cooperating and to signal to Putin that he can't trust his own oligarchs...two birds, one stone.
And whats better is that the CIA clearly doesn't care if Deripaska lives or dies, but as long as Putin is subject to wonder how loyal his inner circle is.
UPDATE:
Oh, and the "well Deripaska told Putin the FBI tried to flip him" angle doesn't work. Why? Because if anyone not named Oleg Deripaska doesn't tell Putin/Kremlin directly that the feds approached him, then it makes Deripaska look like he's hiding something. And the USA doesn't care if Deripaska lives or dies. He's a mob boss withSERIOUS BLOOD on his hands. The US just wants to use him as a pawn, or he can gamble with a guy who lets him count his billions and doesn't care about killing him. His money offers him no refuge at the end of the day.
tank_trap on September 1st, 2018 at 21:08 UTC »
This needs to be repeated time and time again to the Trumpkins. The FBI had started investigating collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia before they got their hands on the dossier.
Also, it was the Republicans that initially funded Fusion GPS to find dirt on Trump. Trumpkins, you can blame the Republicans for that.