ANOTHER Trump insider has flipped, spilled beans to Mueller
This time, it is another international “man of mystery” who has details of dirty diplomatic doings — with the potential to land several Trump associates in the slammer. CNN has the scoop:
A Middle East specialist with ties to Donald Trump’s team attended secret meetings during the presidential transition between the United Arab Emirates and Trump associates, and is now cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller, two people familiar with the matter say.
George Nader, a low-profile diplomatic go-between who has forged close ties to the Emirates, was stopped and questioned by the FBI at Dulles International Airport in January as he returned from an overseas trip, these sources say. Since then, he has been talking to Mueller’s investigators and providing information to the grand jury.
Nader attended a December 2016 meeting in New York between Emirati officials and members of Trump’s inner circle, and another in January 2017 in the Seychelles islands between the Emiratis and Erik Prince, a Trump associate.
The New York Times adds this detail:
The meeting, convened by the crown prince, brought together a Russian investor close to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia with Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater and an informal adviser to Mr. Trump’s team during the presidential transition, according to three people familiar with the meeting. … Emirati officials believed Mr. Prince was speaking for the Trump transition team, and a Russian fund manager, Kirill Dmitriev, represented Mr. Putin, according to several people familiar with the meeting. Mr. Nader, who grew close later to several advisers in the Trump White House, had once worked as a consultant to Blackwater, a private security firm. Mr. Nader introduced his former employer to the Russian.
By way of reminder: Erik Prince founded the “security” (read: “privatized war”) company Blackwater, which became been so embroiled in scandal and war crimes that it had to change its name — at least twice. He is a religious extremist and has financially backed the militaristic “Legion of Christ/Regnum Christi,” a Catholic cult aligned with the most fascistic corner of evangelicals
Italian journalist @AliasVaughn was ahead of the curve, explaining the significance of this development in a Twitter thread posted Saturday:
The NYT is all “this goes beyond Russian influence”. Darlings, hate to break it to you, but who says that UAE buying political influence and Russian influence are separate? The Middle East is a hot mess for a reason. AND, this relates to JARED KUSHNER.
…
“How much this line of inquiry is connected to Mr. Mueller’s original task of investigating contacts between Mr. Trump’s campaign and Russia is unclear.”. No, it isn’t. You’re acting like RU doesn’t have interests in the ME and like that Flynn nuclear plan never existed.
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[F]or the JARED KUSHNER part, UAE has had a confrontational approach toward Iran and? QATAR. And Trump AND KUSHNER (who didn’t get money from Qatar and turned vs them) led the Emirati- and Saudi-led BLOCKADE vs Qatar. Bingo for Mueller.
By way of reminder: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is the suster of Erik Prince.
