Every now and then when I need a laugh, I like to think about how Erik Prince actually testified under oath he just randomly bumped into Russian spies at a hotel bar off the coast of Africa in Seychelles. pic.twitter.com/LoZFvoLpnc
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) April 10, 2018
Well, this is new. Erin Banco, at NJ.com, reports:
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is examining a series of previously unreported meetings that took place in 2017 in the Seychelles, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, as part of its broader investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, according to two sources briefed on the investigation.
The sources said several of those meetings took place around the same time as another meeting in the Seychelles between Erik Prince, founder of the security company Blackwater, Kirill Dmitriev, the director of one of Russia’s sovereign wealth funds, and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the effective ruler of the United Arab Emirates (also known as “MBZ”). Details of that earlier meeting were first reported by the Washington Post last year.
The inquiry into the meetings in the Seychelles suggests there is growing interest on the Mueller team in whether foreign financing, specifically from Gulf states, has influenced President Trump and his administration…
The meetings in the Seychelles are a key component of Mueller’s investigation, sources familiar with the investigation said. The meetings connect powerful players from Russia, the U.S., the UAE and Saudi Arabia across the political, financial and defense worlds. The details of what was discussed in the meetings in January and in the following months, however, are scarce…
Wealthy and politically-connected individuals from across the globe — from Russia, France, Saudi Arabia and South Africa — land in the Seychelles for meetings that take place as a part of a larger gathering hosted by MBZ, according to an individual briefed on the matter, who also requested anonymity. Many of them fly in on private jets and several do not clear customs. Some check into the Four Seasons Hotel while others arrive and stay on their yachts.
Individuals connected to the Saudi financial system, including the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency and the Arab National Bank, flew into the island the second week of January 2017, as did an aircraft purportedly owned by the former deputy minister of defense, Prince Khaled bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, fight records show. Other individuals on those aircraft held passports from Egypt and Singapore…
As ever, our Republican overlords: Patriotism? That’s for the rubes — we’re only loyal to the money.
Another Russiagate Open Thread: Sneakin’ Round the SeychellesPost + Comments (128)