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| Russian drilling platform in the Arctic |
Is Brett Kvanaugh on the U.S. Supreme Court because Russian-mafia interests have infiltrated the highest levels of U.S. government? The answer is yes, says Alabama political insider Jill Simpson, and other voices back her up. Were machinations in the Kavanaugh confirmation driven largely by a GOP desire to remove sanctions that have put a hold on a $500-billion Arctic drilling project that Vladimir Putin desperately wants? Simpson -- who has deep knowledge of modern-era relations between Alabama and Russian political figures -- says the answer is yes, and significant evidence backs her up.
Those two factors, combined, paint a grim picture of democracy's future in the United States -- especially if somnolent American voters do not wake up, starting with the November mid-term elections. Even then, the infiltration is so serious -- and its threats to the Mueller investigation so significant -- that it might be too late.
The clearest sign of Russian-mob influence came with the FBI's cursory supplemental background check on Kavanaugh -- given that bureau director Christopher Wray has major ties to Russia, via his affiliation with Atlanta-based law firm, King and Spalding. Simpson spelled that out for us in a post on Friday A June 2017 USA Today article, just after Donald Trump had nominated Wray to replace the fired James Comey, adds layers of specifics. From USA Today:
The most troubling issue that Wray may face is the fact that his law firm — King and Spalding — represents Rosneft and Gazprom, two of Russia’s largest state-controlled oil companies.
Rosneft was prominently mentioned in the now infamous 35-page dossier prepared by former British MI6 agent Christopher Steele. The dossier claims that the CEO of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, offered candidate Donald Trump, through Trump’s campaign adviser Carter Page, a 19% stake in the company in exchange for lifting U.S. sanctions on Russia. The dossier claims that the offer was made in July while Page was in Moscow.
Rosneft is also the company that had a $500 billion oil drilling joint-venture with Exxon in 2012, when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was Exxon’s CEO. However, the deal was nixed by President Obama in 2014, when he imposed the sanctions that crippled Russia’s ability to do business with U.S. companies. The lifting of sanctions by the Trump administration would enable Exxon to renew its joint venture agreement with Rosneft, and the law firm of King and Spalding could end up in the middle of the contract negotiations between those two companies.
There you have references to both the $500-billion drilling deal and King and Spalding's likely presence in the midst of contract negotiations. How much in legal fees have the Obama-era sanctions cost King and Spalding? Is it in the tens (maybe) hundreds of millions of dollars? Is FBI director Christopher Wray, a former King and Spalding partner, keenly aware of that -- driving him to direct a sham FBI background check that would ensure Kavanaugh's placement on the U.S. Supreme Court, as a sure vote to support anything that would lift sanctions. How many individuals -- perhaps including Wray, GOP U.S. Senators, White House officials, and Kavanaugh himself -- have been promised loads of cold Arctic cash to make the drilling deal go through. If that scenario, in fact, is playing out, it speaks to massive international criminality.
Here is more from USA Today about Wray, King and Spalding, and energy-related conflicts in Russia:
The law firm’s representation of Gazprom raises even more serious conflict issues for Wray. Gazprom was a partner in RosUkrEnergo AG (“RUE”), which is controlled by Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash. He is under federal indictment in Chicago for racketeering charges, has had numerous financial dealings with former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, and is generally considered to be a member of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.
Though there is no indication that Wray personally worked on any of the Rosneft or Gazprom legal matters handled by his law firm, he might well have an ethical and legal conflict of interest that would prevent him from any involvement in the FBI’s Russian probe. When a law firm such as King and Spalding represents clients, then all of the partners in that law firm have an actual or potential conflict of interest, preventing them from undertaking any representation of any other client that has interests clearly adverse to those of these two Russian companies. These conflict rules continue to apply even after a lawyer leaves the law firm, so Wray could be ethically barred from involving himself in a federal investigation that includes within its scope a probe of Rosneft, Gazprom and affiliated companies. The public appearance of conflict of interest and impropriety might require him to recuse himself from the investigation.
If Wray was confirmed as the FBI director, and then had to recuse himself with regard to some or all of the Russia-related aspects of the critical investigation being conducted by the FBI and special counsel Robert Mueller, the potential damage to the investigation could be significant. If Wray refused to recuse himself from the Russia-Trump investigation — or at least acknowledge the potential conflict issue, a serious cloud could be cast over the FBI’s level of commitment to the investigation.
As for the Arctic- drilling deal, Simpson says it is the "Billion Dollar Baby" bouncing around behind the scenes of the Kavanaugh contretemps. We first wrote about Big Oil's plans for Arctic drilling in July 2010, and followed with a July 2018 post, focused on the likely interest of U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) in pushing the Russia deal through. From a Simpson Facebook post:
FBI Director Christopher Wray does not have me fooled, and he should not have any women fooled on what he is up to with the Kavanaugh appointment. His approval of Kavanaugh is all about a Russian Oil Company drilling in the Arctic. We have already gotten rid of his buddy, Rex Tillerson, over the Exxon deal, and now it is Wray's time. Christopher's law firm, Atlanta's King and Spalding, represents Putin's two biggest oil and gas companies, which are Roseneft and Gazprom. They (the Roseneft bunch) had a deal to do the work on the Arctic Drilling with Putin and, well folks, Christopher is in the FBI chair to put that deal through for the Russian government. It is a $500-billion deal, but we are watching the situation closely at the Alabama Resistance.
They need Kavanaugh on the bench to do so. Trump is their side show to distract us from what is truly at play. These men work for Vladimir Putin on his $500 billion Arctic deal. The FBI director's firm represents the Russian government.
Here's more from a second Simpson Fasebook post:
Have you ever wondered why the FBI is not going out and arresting all these folks involved with Russian election theft in 2016? Well the former law firm of FBI director Mr Wray firm represents Putin and his gas and oil companies, which are the biggest businesses he owns and controls in Russia. Essentially, our FBI has been infiltrated at the top levels by Putin's No. 1 law firm in the United States. In fact, the FBI director's firm (King and Spalding, of Atlanta) put together the biggest deal Putin's bunch had ever attempted -- the $500-billion Arctic drilling deal with Exxon, which was stopped when President Obama put sanctions on them for the 2014 annexation of Crimea.
They thought getting Trump elected would lift the sanctions, but the Alabama Resistance released the info that stopped them in January 2017. They are, however, still putting players into position, like Kavanaugh and Wray, to try to put the deal through. You all will notice these guys come from Yale, the same school Bush went to.
This deal with Putin is being conducted through the Exxon bunch. So we must watch them closely. I am going to tell you these Good Ole boys want that $500-billion Arctic deal, and we must say no. This is why the GOP is so lined up with Putin.
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