Mueller Time! A previously unnamed Bannon crony has visited Mueller. Twice…
His name is George Nader,
… a little-known Bannon associate who boasts of his well-placed connections in the Middle East, Axios has learned. … Mueller’s team has brought Nader in for questioning in the past week. … Nader visited the White House frequently during the early months of the Trump administration. He became friendly with former chief strategist Steve Bannon, visiting his office regularly. A source familiar with the White House meetings said Jared Kushner also met Nader. After asking around about Nader, Kushner decided not to continue meeting with him, according to the same source.
Sources said Nader represented himself as being personally close to Mohammed bin Zayed — the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. But several sources who’ve observed Nader in action say he frequently name-drops, and that while he might be part of MbZ’s extended entourage, it’s unclear how influential he actually is.
As Twitter’s @AliasVaugn pbserves,
This screams of “Flynn’s M[iddle] E[ast] nuclear [power plant] deal that everyone was involved in”.
… Axios interestingly couldn’t find many people in DC who’ve met Nader, and “nobody was quite clear about what he does for a living”. IDK about you, but I think this is textbook “agent of a foreign govt/spy” behavior. … [T]he fact Mueller supposedly spoke with Nader at least twice, the last time being last week, is even more significant. Mueller doesn’t waste time with people who don’t know anything that matters.
Nader sounds like a second Papadopoulos. So, yes, it’s time to update your Russiagate-Kremlingate-Trumpgate scorecard.
Politico just did — with an amazing interactive page naming 270 people:
A Politico analysis of court documents, congressional letters, public testimony and media reports reveals that the investigations into the 2016 election and its aftermath now involve hundreds of people in Washington, Moscow and around the world.
Some names sound familiar, like Stephen Bannon and Donald Trump Jr., but most don’t. Taken together, they illuminate the way federal investigators are assembling the pieces of the Russia puzzle.
They break down their stats:
- 73 associated with his 2016 campaign
- 44 are lawyers
- 27 are current or former Trump administration officials
- 24 served on the transition team
- 12 have ties to the Trump Organization
It’s a page we are bookmarking.
Twitter’s @SethAbramson notes that Politico‘s thorough research nevertheless missed several players:
If Panos Kammenos is in there, I don’t see him.
Likewise, Jacob Heilbrunn (Center for the National Interest) claims—maybe falsely—to have been responsible for the Mayflower VIP event where Trump and top aides met Kislyak. CNI is said to have Russian ties. Where’s Heilbrunn?
Gazprom advisor Richard Burt helped write the Mayflower Speech—a key event in the Trump-Russia story. I don’t see him here.
Likewise, Russia pipeline advocate Bud MacFarlane was at the VIP event, helped get mentee K.T. McFarland her job, secretly lobbied Trump on Saudi Arabia.
And that’s just for starters in a thread Mueller news junkies should also bookmark.
The Doc has a hunch things are going to erupt in a big way before the groundhog sees its shadow (or not),
Get those scorecards up to date!
‘Nuff said!
