Natalia Veselnitskaya attended a black-tie inaugural party hosted by the campaign committee of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, according to an associate who accompanied her. https://t.co/2308ZNDKXu
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) January 20, 2018
RUS NEVER SLEEPS! Among the many stories that slip below public purview — but not, one assumes, the eyes of Mueller’s Marauders — when the Repubs are busy manipulating the Toddler-in-Chief…
As questions about Russia’s interference in the 2016 election were beginning to percolate publicly, prominent business leaders and activists from the country attended inaugural festivities, mingling at balls and receptions — at times in proximity to key U.S. political officials.
Their presence caught the attention of counterintelligence officials at the FBI, according to former U.S. officials, although it is not clear which attendees drew U.S. government interest. FBI officials were concerned at the time because some of the figures had surfaced in the agency’s investigation of the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, the officials said.
An FBI spokesman declined to comment on security concerns related to the inauguration. White House officials did not respond to requests for comment.
The Washington Post identified at least half a dozen politically connected Russians who were in Washington on Inauguration Day — including some whose presence has not been previously reported. Among them was Viktor Vekselberg, a tycoon who is closely aligned with Putin’s government…
Other Russian inaugural guests included Boris Titov, a politician and business advocate who is running for president of Russia with the Kremlin’s blessing…
Michael McFaul, who served as ambassador to Russia under Obama, said he did not recall prominent Russian visitors at Obama’s 2009 events. “It’s strange,” McFaul, the director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford, said of the number of influential Russians in attendance last year.
Some Russian guests at Trump’s inauguration said they got tickets through U.S. political contacts.
Late Night Russiagate Open Thread: (Anti) Social NotesPost + Comments (84)