Special Counsel Set to File on Trump Team’s Talks of Sanctions Relief

This has been one of the hot topics for debate, ever since it was discovered that Russia had set about to interfere in the 2016 election.

Why?

Why would they care about our election, and why would they seem to favor Donald Trump over anyone else in the primaries, and in particular, over Hillary Clinton?

The simple answer would be Trump’s inexperience and utter ignorance. He would be easy to manipulate, and as we’ve seen, he’s more than willing to turn on his own countrymen to please Putin.

There was also the talk of Donald Trump’s  business affairs, and his efforts to work a deal with the Russian government, in order to have a Trump property in Moscow. That would certainly make him more compliant. Authorities are looking into that, now, given the revelations from former Trump attorney, Michael Cohen.

But what about what may come out about former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and the charges that he had conversations with former Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, which he did not disclose? What were those conversations about?

Well, with Flynn’s sentencing just hours away, and the knowledge that he has sang so prettily and full-throated for special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, that Mueller recommended no jail time for him, we can expect a few things.

One of those things we’re hearing today is that Mueller’s team are preparing court filings that will detail how members of Trump’s campaign and administration engaged in active conversations with Russian officials about sanctions relief.

So, yeah. That would be one good reason for the Russians to favor a Trump administration. It would be more favorable, and infinitely more approachable.

Doubt it?

Just think of the Russians that were reportedly present at the 2016 RNC convention in Cleveland, and how the language in the GOP platform towards Russia was “softened,” thanks to the efforts of Trump campaign chairman, Paul Manafort.

Now the transition period is under the watchful eye of Robert Mueller.

And there are witnesses.

“During his investigation Mueller has shown little proclivity for chasing dead ends,” said Paul Pelletier, a former senior Department of Justice official. “His continued focus on the evidence that members of the Trump campaign discussed sanction relief with Russians shows that his evidence of a criminal violation continues to sharpen. This has to come as especially bad news for the President.”

“Sanctions conversations that happened after November are more serious,” said Angela Stent, a former national intelligence officer for Russia under President George W. Bush. “At that point Flynn, for example, would have already known he was going to be part of the administration and those conversations would have included plans for what might happen [next].”

And no, the Kremlin didn’t put all of its eggs in the Flynn basket. Witnesses are saying there were others on Team Trump who were discussing ways to ease sanctions on Russia.

The sanctions, put in place by the Obama administration in 2014, were the answer to Russia’s increased aggression in the region, and the annexation of Crimea.

Russian estimates are that those sanctions have cost the Russian economy about a $100 billion squeeze.

This was supposed to make it more difficult for them to conduct business with the United States and certain European allies.

Several of Russia’s financial entities, including the Russian Direct Investment Fund, one of Moscow’s sovereign wealth funds, and VTB, one of the leading banks in the country, were put under sanctions but still allowed to transact with Americans under certain circumstances. Others, though, including top government officials like Igor Sechin, the CEO of Rosneft, the formerly state-owned Russian oil enterprise, were blacklisted.

When Trump began campaigning in 2015, the Russian sanctions had started to take a toll on local Russians. Trump, unexpectedly, vowed to roll them back. “I don’t think you’d need the sanctions,” the future president said in response to a question from the Russian provocateur Maria Butina, who pleaded guilty earlier this month to conspiracy to violate restrictions on foreign agents.

Well, there’s that connection.

While still conducting some business with the U.S. and Europe, it was an arduous task. The lifting of those sanctions would make things so much easier for Russia, so a pro-Russia administration was a must-have.

That June 2016 Trump Tower meeting?

Yeah. Sanctions relief was discussed at that time. In fact, Donald Trump Jr. suggested a review of those sanctions, should his pops get the nod from voters in November.

But since Trump took office, the Treasury department has increased the number of sanctions on Russia. In April 2017, for instance, the government blacklisted another set of Russian oligarchs and government officials, many of whom have close connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

And remember how miffed Trump was about that?  How he drug his heels, refused to implement those sanctions, until basically forced to do so, by Congress?

That wasn’t a coincidence.

Congress is currently considering a number of pieces of legislation that would further punish Moscow for its interference in the 2016 elections.

And you can expect Trump’s whining over the matter to come immediately after.