Exxon’s Rex Tillerson is top candidate for secretary of state https://t.co/bcmujkGsYi
— Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) December 9, 2016
Asked why Tillerson is qualified to be SecState, Trump cites his "massive deals w/Russia," he "knows the players" https://t.co/QvgtJkkkrP pic.twitter.com/M6BkacXs5N
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) December 10, 2016
In case it isn't clear: if you're a Western oil executive with "close ties to Putin," it means you bend over backwards to please Putin.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) December 10, 2016
From Ioffe’s Politico article:
… It’s hard to imagine Tillerson publicly chiding Putin today because he is now so very dependent on that friendship. In 2011, he negotiated a multibillion-dollar deal between Exxon Mobil and Rosneft, the Russian state oil giant cobbled out of Khodorkovsky’s seized empire and run by Putin’s former KGB buddy, Igor Sechin. The deal would have allowed Exxon access to the Russian Arctic shelf—which, according to U.S. government estimates, is thought to contain some 22 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas deposits—in exchange for helping Rosneft, which didn’t have the technological capabilities, drill for the stuff.
In 2014, Russia invaded Ukraine, seized the Crimean peninsula and started an insurgency in Eastern Ukraine, triggering a wave of American and European sanctions. But that summer, Tillerson thought it best to stay away from the St. Petersburg Economic Forum and instead sent his deputy, who, acting on behalf of Exxon Mobil, signed another energy deal with Rosneft and Sechin, who had ended up under sanctions…
… Russia had become an international pariah, and its economy—to say nothing of its rule of law or judiciary—was in shambles, but Western companies were bowing and scraping before a man who had just shocked the world by violating international law. Tillerson was at the head of that line. Instead of using their deep ties to Russia—by this point, it is said Tillerson had become buddies with Sechin—to push the Kremlin on the “rule of law” that had so bothered Tillerson six years prior, Russia’s new friends pushed on the White House. Shortly before sending his emissary to St. Petersburg to sign the deal, Tillerson told reporters in Texas that he was lobbying Washington against sanctions…
The lesson of Putin’s 16-year tenure is a lesson that all businesspeople, foreign and domestic, have learned: To do business in Russia, you have to be on good, personal terms with Putin and Sechin. And you have to understand that those two gatekeepers to Russia’s riches are fickle and sadistic, and, as former KGB operatives, know little of real friendship. To do business in Russia—both for Exxon Mobil and for Tillerson’s own massive retirement fund, whose fortunes would rise significantly if a Trump White House lifted sanctions—you have to dance to Putin’s tune, and take whatever favors and humiliations he sends your way. Putin may act a friend and pin state medals on your breast, but he is, ultimately, a cynic. And to play ball with him, you have to be a cynic, too. Forget your honor, your rule of law, your independent judiciary, your human rights, your international law, and focus on the gold coins he throws to your feet. And forget looking dignified as you gather them up.
That, "Don't worry, it's all set" look. pic.twitter.com/vplv8rJsSR
— Schooley (@Rschooley) December 10, 2016
If HRC chose a SecState who ran an oil giant and got a medal from Putin, the GOPers defending Trump would re-convene the Salem witch trials.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) December 10, 2016
Open Thread: Trump’s Chosen Secretary-of-(Exxon)-StatePost + Comments (222)