[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 57 (Monday, April 3, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H2619-H2620]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
INVESTIGATION INTO RUSSIAN CONNECTIONS IS LONG OVERDUE
(Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, today The Washington Post reported that the
United Arab Emirates arranged a secret meeting in January between
Blackwater founder and major Trump contributor Erik Prince and a
Russian close to President Vladimir Putin. The meeting was an apparent
effort to establish a back-channel line of communication between Moscow
and President-elect Donald Trump, according to U.S., European, and Arab
officials.
Erik Prince, by the way, is the brother to Betsy DeVos, the Secretary
of Education. The UAE's incentive to broker this meeting comes from the
deteriorating relationship between them and Iran. They wanted to drive
a wedge between Russia, Iran, and Syria. Agreement on that deal would
need a handsome reward, like the easing of U.S. sanctions on the
Russian Federation for its invasion of Ukraine.
Blackwater is the private security firm that became infamous for U.S.
abuses in Iraq after a series of incidents, including one in 2007 in
which the company's guards were charged and criminally convicted of
killing civilians.
``Officials said Zayed and his brother, the UAE's national security
adviser, coordinated the Seychelles meeting with Russian Government
officials with the goal of establishing an unofficial back channel
between Trump and Putin.'' The UAE at one point paid Erik Prince's firm
a reported half a billion dollars to consult on defensive security.
An independent bipartisan commission to investigate Trump officials
and Russian connections is long overdue.
[From the Washington Post, Apr. 3, 2017]
Blackwater Founder Held Secret Seychelles Meeting to Establish Trump-
Putin Back Channel
(By Adam Entous, Greg Miller, Kevin Sieff and Karen DeYoung)
The United Arab Emirates arranged a secret meeting in
January between Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a Russian
close to President Vladimir Putin as part of an apparent
effort to establish a back-channel line of communication
between Moscow and President-elect Donald Trump, according to
U.S., European and Arab officials.
The meeting took place around Jan. 11--nine days before
Trump's inauguration--in the Seychelles islands in the Indian
Ocean, officials said. Though the full agenda remains
unclear, the UAE agreed to broker the meeting in part to
explore whether Russia could be persuaded to curtail its
relationship with Iran, including in Syria, a Trump
administration objective that would likely require major
concessions to Moscow on U.S. sanctions.
Though Prince had no formal role with the Trump campaign or
transition team, he presented himself as an unofficial envoy
for Trump to high-ranking Emiratis involved in setting up his
meeting with the Putin confidant, according to the officials,
who did not identify the Russian.
Prince was an avid supporter of Trump who gave $250,000
last year to support the GOP nominee's campaign, records
show. He has ties to people in Trump's circle, including
Stephen K. Bannon, now serving as the president's chief
strategist and senior counselor. Prince's sister Betsy DeVos
serves as education secretary in the Trump administration.
And Prince was seen in the Trump transition offices in New
York in December.
U.S. officials said the FBI has been scrutinizing the
Seychelles meeting as part of a broader probe of Russian
interference in the 2016 U.S. election and alleged contacts
between associates of Putin and Trump. The FBI declined to
comment.
The Seychelles encounter, which one official said spanned
two days, adds to an expanding web of connections between
Russia and Americans with ties to Trump--contacts that the
White House has been reluctant to acknowledge or explain
until they have been exposed by news organizations.
``We are not aware of any meetings and Erik Prince had no
role in the transition,'' said Sean Spicer, the White House
press secretary.
``Erik had no role on the transition team. This is a
complete fabrication,'' said a spokesman for Prince in a
statement. ``The meeting had nothing to do with President
Trump. Why is the so-called underresourced intelligence
community messing around with surveillance of American
citizens when they should be hunting terrorists?''
Prince is best known as the founder of Blackwater, a
security firm that became a symbol of U.S. abuses in Iraq
after a series of incidents including one in 2007 in which
the company's guards were accused--and later criminally
convicted--of killing civilians in a crowded Iraqi square.
Prince sold the firm, which was subsequently rebranded, but
has continued building a private paramilitary empire with
contracts across the Middle East and Asia.
Prince would probably have been seen as too controversial
to serve in any official capacity in the Trump transition or
administration. But his ties to Trump advisers, experience
with clandestine work and relationship with the royal leaders
of the Emirates--where he moved in 2010 amid mounting legal
problems for his American business--would have positioned him
as an ideal go-between.
The Seychelles meeting came after private discussions in
New York involving high-ranking representatives of Trump,
Moscow and the Emirates.
The White House has acknowledged that Michael T. Flynn,
Trump's original national security adviser, and Trump adviser
and son-in-law Jared Kushner met with the Russian ambassador
to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, in late November or
early December in New York.
Flynn and Kushner were joined by Bannon for a separate
meeting with the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed
bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who made an undisclosed visit to New
York later in December, according to the U.S., European and
Arab officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to
discuss sensitive matters.
In an unusual breach of protocol, the UAE did not notify
the Obama administration in advance of the visit, though
officials found out because Zayed's name appeared on a flight
manifest.
Officials said Zayed and his brother, the UAE's national
security adviser, coordinated the Seychelles meeting with
Russian government officials with the goal of establishing an
unofficial back channel between Trump and Putin.
Officials said Zayed wanted to be helpful to both leaders
who had talked about working more closely together, a policy
objective long advocated by the crown prince. The UAE, which
sees Iran as one of its main enemies, also shared the Trump
team's interest in finding ways to drive a wedge between
Moscow and Tehran.
Zayed met twice with Putin in 2016, according to Western
officials, and urged the Russian leader to work more closely
with the Emirates and Saudi Arabia--an effort to isolate
Iran.
At the time of the Seychelles meeting and for weeks
afterward, the UAE believed that Prince had the blessing of
the new administration to act as its unofficial
representative. The Russian participant was a person whom
Zayed knew was close to Putin from his interactions with both
men, the officials said.
When the Seychelles meeting took place, official contacts
between members of the incoming Trump administration and the
Russian government were under intense scrutiny, both from
federal investigators and the press.
Less than a week before the Seychelles meeting, U.S.
intelligence agencies released a report accusing Russia of
intervening clandestinely during the 2016 election to help
Trump win the White House.
The FBI was already investigating communications between
Flynn and Kislyak. The Washington Post's David Ignatius first
disclosed those communications on Jan. 12, around the time of
the Seychelles meeting. Flynn was subsequently fired by Trump
for misleading Vice President Pence and others about his
discussions with Kislyak.
Yousef Al Otaiba, the UAE's ambassador in Washington,
declined to comment.
Government officials in the Seychelles said they were not
aware of any meetings between Trump and Putin associates in
the country around Jan. 11. But they said luxury resorts on
the island are ideal for clandestine gatherings like the one
described by the U.S., European and Arab officials.
``I wouldn't be surprised at all,'' said Barry Faure, the
Seychelles secretary of state for foreign affairs. ``The
Seychelles is the kind of place where you can have a good
time away from the eyes of the media. That's even
[[Page H2620]]
printed in our tourism marketing. But I guess this time you
smelled something.''
Trump has dismissed the investigations of Russia's role in
the election as ``fake news'' and a ``witch hunt.''
The level of discretion surrounding the Seychelles meeting
seems extraordinary given the frequency with which senior
Trump advisers, including Flynn and Kushner, had interacted
with Russian officials in the United States, including at the
high-profile Trump Tower in New York.
Steven Simon, a National Security Council senior director
for the Middle East and North Africa in the Obama White
House, said: ``The idea of using business cutouts, or
individuals perceived to be close political leaders, as a
tool of diplomacy is as old as the hills. These unofficial
channels are desirable precisely because they are deniable;
ideas can be tested without the risk of failure.''
Current and former U.S. officials said that while Prince
refrained from playing a direct role in the Trump transition,
his name surfaced so frequently in internal discussions that
he seemed to function as an outside adviser whose opinoins
were valued on a range of issues, including plans for
overhauling the U.S. intelligence community.
He appears to have particularly close ties to Bannon,
appearing multiple times as a guest on Bannon's satellite
radio program over the past year as well as in articles on
the Breitbart Web site that Bannon ran before joining the
Trump campaign.
In a July interview with Bannon, Prince said those seeking
forceful U.S. leadership should ``wait till January and hope
Mr. Trump is elected.'' And he lashed out at President Barack
Obama, saying that because of his policies ``the terrorists,
the fascists, are winning.''
Days before the November election, Prince appeared on
Bannon's program again, saying that he had ``well-placed
sources'' in the New York City Police Department telling him
they were preparing to make arrests in the investigation of
former congressman Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) over allegations
he exchanged sexually explicit texts with a minor. Flynn
tweeted a link to the Breitbart report on the claim. No
arrests occurred.
Prince went on to make a series of unfounded assertions
that damaging material recovered from Weiner's computers
would implicate Hillary Clinton and her close adviser, Huma
Abedin, who was married to Weiner. He also called Abedin an
``agent of influence very sympathetic to the Muslim
Brotherhood.''
Prince and his family were major GOP donors in 2016. After
the Republican convention, he contributed $250,000 to Trump's
campaign, the national party and a pro-Trump super PAC led by
GOP mega-donor Rebekah Mercer. The Center for Responsive
Politics reported that the family gave more than $2.7 million
to GOP candidates and super PACs, including about $2.7
million from his sister, DeVos, and her husband.
Prince's father, Edgar Prince, built his fortune through an
auto-parts company. Betsy married Richard DeVos Jr., heir to
the Amway fortune.
Erik Prince has had lucrative contracts with the UAE
government, which at one point paid his firm a reported $529
million to help bring in foreign fighters to help assemble an
internal paramilitary force capable of carrying out secret
operations and protecting Emirati installations from
terrorist attacks.
The Trump administration and the UAE appear to share a
similar preoccupation with Iran. Current and former officials
said that Trump advisers were focused throughout the
transition period on exploring ways to get Moscow to break
ranks with Tehran.
``Separating Russia from Iran was a common theme,'' said a
former intelligence official in the Obama administration who
met with Trump transition officials. ``It didn't seem very
well thought out. It seemed a little premature. They clearly
had a very specific policy position, which I found odd given
that they hadn't even taken the reins and explored with
experts in the U.S. government the pros and cons of that
approach.''
Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, said he
also had discussions with people close to the Trump
administration about the prospects of drawing Russia away
from Iran. ``When I would hear this, I would think, `Yeah
that's great for you guys, but why would Putin ever do that?'
'' McFaul said. ``There is no interest in Russia ever doing
that. They have a long relationship with Iran. They're allied
with Iran in fighting in Syria. They sell weapons to Iran.
Iran is an important strategic partner for Russia in the
Middle East.''
Following the New York meeting between the Emiratis and
Trump aides, Zayed was approached by Prince, who said he was
authorized to act as an unofficial surrogate for the
president-elect, according to the officials. He wanted Zayed
to set up a meeting with a Putin associate. Zayed agreed and
proposed the Seychelles as the meeting place because of the
privacy it would afford both sides. ``He wanted to be
helpful,'' one official said of Zayed.
Wealthy Russians and Emirati royalty have a particularly
large footprint on the islands. Signs advertising deep-sea
fishing trips are posted in Cyrillic. Russian billionaire
Mikhail Prokhorov owns North Island, where Prince William and
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, went on their honeymoon in
2011. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, president of the
UAE, built a hilltop palace for himself with views across the
chain of islands.
The Emiratis have given hundreds of millions of dollars to
the Seychelles in recent years for causes including public
health and affordable housing. But when the Emirati royal
family visits, they are rarely seen.
``The jeep comes to their private jet on the tarmac and
they disappear,'' said one Seychellois official who spoke on
the condition of anonymity because he did not want to be seen
as criticizing the Emiratis.
Zayed, the crown prince, owns a share of the Seychelles
Four Seasons, a collection of private villas scattered on a
lush hillside on the main island's southern shore,
overlooking the Indian Ocean, according to officials in the
Seychelles. The hotel is tucked away on a private beach, far
from the nearest public road.
Current and former U.S. officials who have worked closely
with Zayed, who is often referred to as MBZ, say it would be
out of character for him to arrange the Jan. 11 meeting
without getting a green light in advance from top aides to
Trump and Putin, if not the leaders themselves. ``MBZ is very
cautious,'' said an American businessman who knows Zayed.
``There had to be a nod.''
The Seychelles meeting was deemed productive by the UAE and
Russia but the idea of arranging additional meetings between
Prince and Putin's associates was dropped, officials said.
Even unofficial contacts between Trump and Putin associates
had become too politically risky, officials said.
Sieff reported from the Seychelles. Julie Tate, Devlin
Barrett, Matea Gold, Tom Hamburger and Rosalind S. Helderman
contributed to this report.
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