Top Russian Official Tried to Broker ‘Backdoor’ Meeting Between Trump and Putin
November 18, 2017 by admin
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These contacts were set against the backdrop of a sophisticated effort by Russia to hack Democratic computers, disseminate propaganda and undermine Mrs. Clinton’s candidacy. The latest disclosure about Mr. Torshin, who is a leading figure in Mr. Putin’s party, United Russia, shows the direct involvement of a high-ranking Russian official in the Kremlin’s outreach to the campaign.
The overture to the Trump campaign was first reported by CNN. The New York Times confirmed new details, including Mr. Torshin’s involvement and his claim to be acting on Mr. Putin’s behalf. In a letter on Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee accused Mr. Kushner of withholding the “backdoor overture” email, an accusation that Mr. Kushner’s lawyers denied.
In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday, Abbe D. Lowell, a lawyer for Mr. Kushner, said that the Senate had asked for all documents related to Mr. Kushner’s contacts with the Russians and that he had responded. “Again, this was not any contact, call or meeting in which Mr. Kushner was involved,” Mr. Lowell said. “He is forwarded this long chain later on.”
A special counsel for the Justice Department is investigating Russia’s campaign to disrupt the 2016 election, and whether any of Donald J. Trump’s associates aided in that effort. The president has repeatedly called the investigation a witch hunt, and as recently as last week, he said he accepted Mr. Putin’s assurances that Russia did not try to meddle in the election.
Mr. Torshin’s proposal is explained in a May 2016 email from Rick Clay, an advocate for conservative Christian causes, to Rick Dearborn, a Trump campaign aide. Mr. Clay was organizing a dinner in Louisville, Ky., honoring wounded veterans, and Mr. Trump was scheduled to be in the city for the National Rifle Association’s annual convention. In the email to Mr. Dearborn, Mr. Clay said he hoped that Mr. Trump would attend the dinner, and he also included details about the overture from Mr. Torshin.
The email said that the dinner would be a chance for Mr. Trump to meet Mr. Torshin, who is a life member of the National Rifle Association in the United States and a vocal advocate for gun rights in Russia, according to three people who have seen the email.
Credit
Doug Mills/The New York Times
The email said that the Russians believed they had “shared Christian values” with the Trump campaign.
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Mr. Torshin has established ties to Russia’s security establishment. He served in the upper house of the Russian Parliament and also sat on the country’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee, a separate government council that includes the director of the Federal Security Service, known as F.S.B., and the ministers of defense, interior and foreign affairs.
Spanish investigators claim Mr. Torshin laundered money for the Russian mob through Spanish banks and properties while he was in Parliament. Mr. Torshin has denied the accusations.
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Mr. Clay said in a telephone interview on Friday that while the request seemed “very thin,” he did not think at the time that anyone in the Russian government was trying to interfere with the election. “That never ever, ever, ever entered my mind,” he said. “You look back at it now, and it actually causes you some pause.”
Mr. Clay said he no longer had the email and could not remember its specifics. He recalled that Mr. Torshin and a former assistant, Maria Butina, made the request through a longtime friend, Johnny Yenason, of the Military Warriors Support Foundation, a veterans’ support organization. Mr. Yenason did not return messages seeking comment. Efforts to contact Mr. Torshin and Ms. Butina were unsuccessful.
Mr. Dearborn forwarded the email to top campaign aides, including Paul Manafort, Rick Gates and Mr. Kushner, according to two people who have seen the exchange. Mr. Kushner replied that Mr. Dearborn should decline, saying people often claimed to be acting as intermediaries for powerful figures just to gain access to the campaign.
“Pass on this,” Mr. Kushner said, according to Mr. Lowell’s letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, adding: “Most likely these people then go back home and claim they have special access to gain importance for themselves. Be careful.”
Mr. Clay said Mr. Dearborn sent him a response rejecting the idea.
“He told me it was inappropriate,” Mr. Clay said. “I agreed with him.”
Neither Mr. Trump nor his campaign officials attended the veterans’ dinner, Mr. Clay said. Donald J. Trump Jr. attended a separate dinner that night, hosted by the National Rifle Association, that Mr. Torshin also attended. Both dinners were in Louisville.
Senate investigators obtained Mr. Clay’s email as part of their inquiry into Russian election meddling. On Thursday, the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee said Mr. Kushner should have provided the email and other materials to the committee but did not. The Senate Intelligence Committee also did not receive the email from Mr. Kushner.
Mr. Torshin is ardently pro-Trump, and on numerous occasions since 2015 has posted Twitter messages about the president. In a post in February 2016, Mr. Torshin wrote: “Maria Butina is now in the USA. She writes to me that D. Trump (NRA member) really is for cooperation with Russia.”
Мария Бутина сейчас в США. Пишет мне, что Д.Трамп (член NRA) реально за сотрудничество с Россией. https://t.co/enLxGEeCaX
—
А.П. Торшин (@torshin_ru)
Feb. 14, 2016
A month later, he wrote, “Trump is a real man,” and included a link to a video clip posted by BuzzFeed of Mr. Trump fist-bumping Marco Rubio during a Republican presidential debate.
Трамп – мужик! Видно по нему. https://t.co/HUoHyYqkWG
—
А.П. Торшин (@torshin_ru)
March 5, 2016
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Keystone oil pipeline leaks in South Dakota, as Nebraska weighs XL
November 17, 2017 by admin
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CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) – TransCanada Corp (TRP.TO) shut part of its Keystone oil pipeline system after a 5,000-barrel leak in South Dakota, the company said on Thursday, four days before neighboring Nebraska was set to decide on the company’s long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline.
Opponents of TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline seized on the spill, saying it highlighted the risks posed by the XL project – which has become a symbol for environmentalists of fossil-fuel pollution and global warming.
TransCanada said in a statement it discovered the leak in the town of Amherst at 6 a.m. on Thursday after systems detected a drop in pressure, and that it was working with authorities as it investigates the cause.
South Dakota Department of Environmental and Natural Resources spokesman Brian Walsh said the leak came from an underground pipeline and that it had been contained at the site.
U.S. President Donald Trump has made Keystone XL a key plank in his energy policy and handed TransCanada a federal permit in March, reversing former President Barack Obama’s decision to reject the line on environmental grounds after years of study.
Trump has argued that the 830,000-barrel pipeline, which would serve as an extension of the existing Keystone system linking Alberta oil to U.S. refineries, will lower fuel prices, shore up national security and bring jobs.
TransCanada and its supporters have also said the project would bring significant economic benefits, and could be operated safely.
“If this spill had happened along the proposed route in Nebraska, it would be absolutely devastating,” said Brian Jorde, a lawyer representing Nebraska landowners opposed to Keystone XL. “Their proposed route is within a mile of thousands of water wells.”
“We hope the PSC is paying attention,” said Greenpeace campaigner Mike Hudema, referring to the regulatory body that will rule on XL.
The Nebraska Public Service Commission, or PSC, is scheduled on Monday to announce a decision on whether the proposed pipeline route through the state is in the best interests of Nebraskans. It is not allowed to consider the potential of spills as the project already has an environmental permit.
A rejection of the route would dim the chances the project gets built and would be a setback for both Trump and the Canadian energy sector, which says it needs more export routes to fetch better prices.
Other states have already approved XL’s route.
TransCanada said the spill in South Dakota had led the company to shut the Keystone pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta, to Cushing, Oklahoma, and to Wood River and Patoka in Illinois. It said the southern leg of the system to the Gulf Coast remained operational.
Canadian heavy crude differentials for December delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, widened to $14.65 per barrel below U.S. crude from a discount of around $14.20 per barrel the previous day.
Thursday was the last day of the Canadian crude trading window, meaning volumes were thin, but traders said the sell-off could deepen if it appeared the pipeline would be down for some time, leading to a glut of crude in Alberta.
Canadian heavy crude for January delivery also widened 40 cents to $15.50 per barrel below U.S. crude.
Reporting by Ethan Lou and Nia Williams in Calgary, Alberta; Editing by Richard Valdman and Peter Cooney