| | In early June 2016 [[Natalia Veselnitskaya]], a Russian lawyer,<ref>https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-seeks-more-information-pro-russia-lobbyist-present-trump-jr-meeting</ref> and her former [[U.S. State Department]] translator, Anatoli Samochornov, met with Donald Trump Jr., [[Jared Kushner]], and [[Paul Manafort]] at Trump Tower.<ref>https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/complaint-firm-behind-dossier-former-russian-intel-officer-joined-lobbying-effort</ref> Samochornov has also translated for [[Barack Obama]], Hillary Clinton, [[Joe Biden]], John Kerry, and the [[FBI]] under [[Robert Mueller]].<ref>https://thefederalist.com/2018/08/02/inspect-fisa-applications-closely-mysteries-arise-joseph-mifsud/?utm_source=The+Federalist+List&utm_campaign=d44356c9be-RSS_The_Federalist_Daily_Updates_w_Transom&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cfcb868ceb-d44356c9be-84014745</ref><ref>https://thefederalist.com/2018/07/30/facts-behind-trump-tower-meeting-incriminating-not-trump/</ref><ref>https://www.blackagendareport.com/freedom-rider-british-collusion-and-criminality</ref><ref>Samochornov is the Program Officer for the U.S. State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program. https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/newyork/press-releases/2010/nyfo021710-1.htm</ref> Veselnitskaya carried with her four pages of "dirt" Simpson dug up on [[Clinton Foundation]] donors.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/11/07/fusion-gps-official-met-with-russian-operative-before-and-after-trump-jr-sit-down.html</ref><ref>https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-dossier-firm-also-supplied-info-used-meeting-russians-trump-n819526</ref><ref>https://pjmedia.com/trending/honeypot-confirmed-russian-lawyer-met-with-fusion-gps-before-and-after-meeting-with-trump-camp/</ref> | | In early June 2016 [[Natalia Veselnitskaya]], a Russian lawyer,<ref>https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-seeks-more-information-pro-russia-lobbyist-present-trump-jr-meeting</ref> and her former [[U.S. State Department]] translator, Anatoli Samochornov, met with Donald Trump Jr., [[Jared Kushner]], and [[Paul Manafort]] at Trump Tower.<ref>https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/complaint-firm-behind-dossier-former-russian-intel-officer-joined-lobbying-effort</ref> Samochornov has also translated for [[Barack Obama]], Hillary Clinton, [[Joe Biden]], John Kerry, and the [[FBI]] under [[Robert Mueller]].<ref>https://thefederalist.com/2018/08/02/inspect-fisa-applications-closely-mysteries-arise-joseph-mifsud/?utm_source=The+Federalist+List&utm_campaign=d44356c9be-RSS_The_Federalist_Daily_Updates_w_Transom&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cfcb868ceb-d44356c9be-84014745</ref><ref>https://thefederalist.com/2018/07/30/facts-behind-trump-tower-meeting-incriminating-not-trump/</ref><ref>https://www.blackagendareport.com/freedom-rider-british-collusion-and-criminality</ref><ref>Samochornov is the Program Officer for the U.S. State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program. https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/newyork/press-releases/2010/nyfo021710-1.htm</ref> Veselnitskaya carried with her four pages of "dirt" Simpson dug up on [[Clinton Foundation]] donors.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/11/07/fusion-gps-official-met-with-russian-operative-before-and-after-trump-jr-sit-down.html</ref><ref>https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-dossier-firm-also-supplied-info-used-meeting-russians-trump-n819526</ref><ref>https://pjmedia.com/trending/honeypot-confirmed-russian-lawyer-met-with-fusion-gps-before-and-after-meeting-with-trump-camp/</ref> |
| − | Simpson and Veselnitskaya had been hired by Russian [[oligarch]]s through intermediaries to engage in [[illegal]] [[lobbying]] for the repeal of [[Russian sanctions]].<ref>Veselnitskaya was hired by Denis Katsyv of the Russian Katsyv family to represent Prevezon; when in the United States, Veselnitskaya hired BakerHostetler to discredit [[Bill Browder]], who pushed through Russian sanctions, the [[Magnitsky Act]]. Katsyv and Veselnitskaya wanted to limit sanctions and discredit Browder. Browder claimed corrupt Russian businessmen and the government stole $350 million of his money and killed his employee, Sergei Magnitsky. BakerHostetler hired FusionGPS and Simpson to compile an anti-Browder dossier.</ref><ref>Simpson’s work involved passing stories to his deep network of [[journalism]] contacts in order to undermine the [[law]]. Browder confirmed FusionGPS was paid by [[Russia]], through the Katsyv family, headed by Pyotr Katsyv, Vice President of ‘Russian Railways’, a huge Russian transportation company, in which the Russian government is the sole shareholder. https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/checking-facts-there-evidence-fusion-gps-was-paid-russia-while-compiling-trump</ref> Simpson's specific task was to discredit [[Bill Browder]], the driving force behind the [[Magnitsky Act]], or Russia sanctions bill.<ref>Browder renounced his American citizenship in 1998 to avoid U.S. taxes and returned in 2010 to lobby Sens. [[John McCain]] and [[Ben Cardin]] for passage of the Magnitsky Act, named for his employee who died in jail while serving a sentence on evasion of Russian taxes. How a person who renounced their American citizenship and didn't pay U.S. taxes has the power to move Congress to help reclaim his wealth through sanctions is anybody's guess.</ref><ref>Browder filed a FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) complaint against Simpson and FusionGPS with the FBI for unregistered lobbying to repeal sanctions, which [[Andrew McCabe]] never acted on.</ref> Browder referred to Simpson as "a professional smear campaigner."<ref>Browder referred to Simpson as "a professional smear campaigner....Glenn Simpson knowingly spread false information on behalf of people connected to the Russian government to try to protect Russian torturers and murderers from consequences....Glenn Simpson’s job was to knowingly and dishonestly change the narrative of how Sergei Magnitsky came to die from murder to natural causes, and to change the narrative that Sergei Magnitsky was a criminal and not a whistleblower." .... Magnitsky, who helped Browder investigate many of the corrupt Russian firms, was arrested in Nov. 2008 and accused of engaging in fraud and tax evasion. | + | Simpson and Veselnitskaya had been hired by Russian [[oligarch]]s through intermediaries to engage in [[illegal]] [[lobbying]] for the repeal of [[Russian sanctions]].<ref>Veselnitskaya was hired by Denis Katsyv of the Russian Katsyv family to represent Prevezon; when in the United States, Veselnitskaya hired [[BakerHostetler]] to discredit [[Bill Browder]], who pushed through Russian sanctions, the [[Magnitsky Act]]. Katsyv and Veselnitskaya wanted to limit sanctions and discredit Browder. Browder claimed corrupt Russian businessmen and the government stole $350 million of his money and killed his employee, Sergei Magnitsky. BakerHostetler hired FusionGPS and Simpson to compile an anti-Browder dossier.</ref><ref>Simpson’s work involved passing stories to his deep network of [[journalism]] contacts in order to undermine the [[law]]. Browder confirmed FusionGPS was paid by [[Russia]], through the Katsyv family, headed by Pyotr Katsyv, Vice President of ‘Russian Railways’, a huge Russian transportation company, in which the Russian government is the sole shareholder. https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/checking-facts-there-evidence-fusion-gps-was-paid-russia-while-compiling-trump</ref> Simpson's specific task was to discredit [[Bill Browder]], the driving force behind the [[Magnitsky Act]], or Russia sanctions bill.<ref>Browder renounced his American citizenship in 1998 to avoid U.S. taxes and returned in 2010 to lobby Sens. [[John McCain]] and [[Ben Cardin]] for passage of the Magnitsky Act, named for his employee who died in jail while serving a sentence on evasion of Russian taxes. How a person who renounced their American citizenship and didn't pay U.S. taxes has the power to move Congress to help reclaim his wealth through sanctions is anybody's guess.</ref><ref>Browder filed a FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) complaint against Simpson and FusionGPS with the FBI for unregistered lobbying to repeal sanctions, which [[Andrew McCabe]] never acted on.</ref> Browder referred to Simpson as "a professional smear campaigner."<ref>Browder referred to Simpson as "a professional smear campaigner....Glenn Simpson knowingly spread false information on behalf of people connected to the Russian government to try to protect Russian torturers and murderers from consequences....Glenn Simpson’s job was to knowingly and dishonestly change the narrative of how Sergei Magnitsky came to die from murder to natural causes, and to change the narrative that Sergei Magnitsky was a criminal and not a whistleblower." .... Magnitsky, who helped Browder investigate many of the corrupt Russian firms, was arrested in Nov. 2008 and accused of engaging in fraud and tax evasion. |
| | Magnitsky was tortured for months in a Russian prison and deprived of medical treatment, all in order to elicit a false confession that he and Browder were engaged in fraud and tax evasion, Browder has alleged. After Magnitsky’s health deteriorated, he was transferred to another jail. There, the lawyer was allegedly beaten with blunt objects by prison guards. He died on Nov. 16, 2009 at the age of 37. | | Magnitsky was tortured for months in a Russian prison and deprived of medical treatment, all in order to elicit a false confession that he and Browder were engaged in fraud and tax evasion, Browder has alleged. After Magnitsky’s health deteriorated, he was transferred to another jail. There, the lawyer was allegedly beaten with blunt objects by prison guards. He died on Nov. 16, 2009 at the age of 37. |