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Oligarch wars: Jewish billionaire Roman Abramovich returns to Russia after UK visa 'expires'

Ben Glaze
UK Mirror
Tue, 22 May 2018 12:34 UTC
Roman Abramovich
© REUTERS
Chelsea's Russian owner Roman Abramovich has gone home after his UK visa ran out, it has emerged.

The London-based billionaire did not attend Saturday's FA Cup final at Wembley, when his team beat Manchester United 1-0.

Reports suggest the 51-year-old oil and gas tycoon returned to his native country last month when his visa expired.

Without updated paperwork he would be unable to come back to Britain, where he has a massive home and business interests.

Last night there was speculation the visa renewal was being dragged out amid pressure on the Government to take a tougher approach to rich foreign oligarchs.

The riddle follows growing UK-Moscow diplomatic tensions over the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.

Comment: Abramovich will apparently have to explain to the UK government how he made his fortune in order to have his visa renewed.
An application for renewal has been lodged with the Home Office but sources close to Abramovich have said that the process is taking longer than usual. Number 10 said it would not comment on individual cases, but it was the "logical conclusion" that some rich individuals who had applied under the previous investment visa rules would no longer be eligible.

Abramovich - who is reportedly worth £9.3billion - would need to show that he has at least £2 million ($2.7mn) to invest in the UK from legal sources - a sum which shouldn't be an issue for the oligarch, who is listed by the 2017 Sunday Times Rich List as Britain's 13th-richest man. There has been no suggestion from the UK government that Abramovich earned his money unlawfully.

The Chelsea owner, an orphan and university drop out, made his wealth in the early 1990s in a series of oil export deals. He bought the Sibneft oil operation in 1995 with his business partner Boris Berezovsky. He also took over oil giant Sibneft at a fraction of its market value. In 2005, he sold his stake in Russian Aluminum to another Russian billionaire and a 73% stake in Sibneft to gas company Gazprom for $13 billion.

On Monday Russian officials complained that the UK was wielding the rejection of visas as a weapon in the political war between London and Moscow following recent tensions, which recently reached fever pitch over the Sergei Skripal poisoning and the UK's involvement in airstrikes against the Syria government.


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Eye 1

Trump admin slaps even more sanctions on Venezuela after Maduro's re-election


RT
Tue, 22 May 2018 11:49 UTC
Maduro election
© Carlos Garcia Rawlins / ReutersVenezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks in front of supporters after the results of the election were released, in Caracas, Venezuela, May 20, 2018
The Trump administration has stepped up economic pressure on Venezuela, announcing new financial sanctions which prohibit US citizens from purchasing any Venezuelan debt.

The move comes in response to the reelection of President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday, which official Washington has dismissed as a "sham" and refused to recognize.

"We call for the Maduro regime to restore democracy, hold free and fair elections, release all political prisoners immediately and unconditionally, and end the repression and economic deprivation of the Venezuelan people," Trump said in a statement.

Comment: Further reading: Venezuela's CIA-inspired regime change problem and how much of the independent media is missing the bigger picture

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Chess

Iran promises EU it will adhere to nuke deal 'on one condition'


Sputnik
Tue, 22 May 2018 11:49 UTC
Tehran
© Sputnik / Vladimir Fedorenko
Faced with the prospect of renewed US sanctions, Iran is looking for efforts by Washington's European allies to keep the 2015 nuclear accord alive.

Iran has promised the EU to adhere to the terms of the 2015 nuclear agreement provided that EU countries make up for the damage Tehran may suffer from US sanctions, Iran's nuclear chief, Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi told reporters.

Over the weekend Salehi met with the European commissioner for energy and climate, Miguel Arias Canete, who had been dispatched to Tehran with a plan to stop Iran's financial isolation and ensure its continued implementation of the terms of the nuclear accord.
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Cowboy Hat

Trump using NATO to get 'disloyal' Europeans into line

Finian Cunningham
RT
Fri, 18 May 2018 16:13 UTC
Trump NATO
© Mandel Ngan / AFP
The growing rift in the transatlantic alliance is set to blow wide open after US President Trump used a top-level meeting with NATO this week to blast Germany and other European members for being "disloyal".

Sounding like a Mafia don, Trump warned that such NATO members "will be dealt with".

Speaking in the Oval Office, along with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Trump resorted to his usual gripe about "unfair burden sharing" of military spending in the alliance. The US president has long rebuked other NATO members for not meeting the alliance's spending target of 2 per cent of GDP.

Turning to former Norwegian Prime Minister Stoltenberg, Trump said with menacing tone: "I think you will be able to handle the ones that aren't [spending enough], right?"

Comment: Whether Trump's intentions are simply to 'make America great again' - or not, it's becoming clear how his recent moves seem to have more than a little bit in common with the imperial agenda:

STRATFOR Chief outlines psychopathic Zio-Anglo-American plans for world domination in speech to Chicago Council on Global Affairs

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Eagle

Best of the Web: FBI and CIA re-booted the Cold War in order to cover their own election meddling

Thomas J. Farnan
Townhall
Sun, 20 May 2018 00:01 UTC
fbi cia
On December 29, 2016, the Obama Administration - with three weeks remaining in its term - issued harsh sanctions against Russia over supposed election interference. Two compounds in the United States were closed and 35 Russian diplomats were ordered to leave the country.

Russia responded by calling the actions "Cold War déjà vu."

In the two years that have elapsed since, it has been learned that the "intelligence" that formed the basis for the sanctions was beyond dubious.

A single unverified "dossier" compiled by an ex-British spy with no discernable connections to Russia was shopped to FISA judges and the media as something real.

The dossier was opposition research by the Hillary Clinton campaign, a fact that was not disclosed and actively hidden by off-the-book transactions through the law firm Perkins Coie.

Comment: What's remarkable at this point is how easily the 'Russian collusion' narrative is not only crumbling around their feet, but upon further investigation and rigorous questioning, reveals just how criminally elements of the US intelligence community have behaved; not Trump.

Watch Deep State mouthpiece and hack author of Russian Roullete Michael Isikoff try to talk his way out of the damning facts he unwittingly presents in his own book about ex-CIA chief John Brennan!



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Laptop

FBI's "outside contractors", the DNC servers and Crowdstrike

Jeff Carlson
themarketswork.com
Fri, 18 May 2018 22:44 UTC
crowdstrike
© Crowdstrike
The DNC lawsuit against Russia and the Trump Campaign provides for a new timeline of events. And raises new questions.

Recall, the DNC famously refused to allow the FBI to examine their servers - which has always seemed more than a bit odd.

If the DNC had definitive proof of Russian hacking, one would expect a standing invitation to examine the evidence. Instead, they have protected those servers from any outside examination.

This may be tied to NSA Director Rogers' discovery of Outside Contractors.

The generalized story is that the DNC was hacked in April 2016. This is not accurate. Nor is the DNC's timeline of events complete.
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Laptop

New WikiLeaks emails show Podesta lied about his work for Podesta Group, ties to Russian businesses

Ruby Henley
Investment Watch Blog
Mon, 21 May 2018 22:31 UTC
clinton podesta
It has been quite some time since I have reported on John and Tony Podesta. Tony Podesta has literally disappeared from public view. As far as John Podesta, he does tweet now and again.

Judicial Watch has received access to new emails coming from John Podesta. The emails prove John Podesta lied when he said he was not affiliated with the Podesta Group.

There are documents from the U.S. Department of State showing the Podesta Group working on behalf of the pro-Russia Ukrainian political group "Party of Regions."

The documents also reveal then Obama White House Counsel John Podesta lobbying on behalf of his brother's firm. Plus, he was, in fact, embroiled with a pro-Russia Ukrainian political group called the "Party of Regions."

Was this not grounds for an investigation on John Podesta? I would say so!

The emails can be read at judicialwatch.org.

Comment: In other words, everyone in Washington does it. It's called the swamp for a reason.

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Blackbox

Flashback Was the entire Russiagate-Trump 'investigation' a Clinton operation?

Aussie Downer
Investor's Business Daily
Tue, 06 Mar 2018 21:26 UTC
hillary clinton
© Jamie McCarthy/Getty ImagesFormer US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks onstage at the Paley Center for Media on Nov. 13, 2017 in New York City.
You might not know the name of Alexander Downer, but you should. The former Australian Foreign Minister and current Australian ambassador to the United Kingdom, Downer is the person who actually started the ball rolling in creating the anti-Trump dossier. And, it turns out, he's a Clintonite.

Downer sat down for a pint or two in a London pub with former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos back in 2016. Papadopoulos claimed to Downer that the Russians had some nasty information on Hillary Clinton.

Downer subsequently told the FBI. And the FBI then began investigating not Clinton, but possible ties between the Trump campaign and the Russians.

When it became known that a foreign diplomat had informed the FBI, it was treated as if it was a simple act of diplomatic chivalry by an ally tipping us off to dirty tricks by the Russians.

It turns out it's a bit more complicated than that. In fact, as The Hill has reported, Downer is a Clintonista, and signed over $25 million in Australian government funds to the Clinton Foundation to fight AIDs in Southeast Asia. It was one of the biggest gifts ever to the foundation.

Comment: And not only that: the FBI had a spy in the Trump campaign, Stefan Halper. And Steele, Halper, Mifsud (with whom Papadopolous spoke) and Downer all have ties to British intelligence.

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Microscope 1

Mueller's ever-expanding probe is even more expansive than it seems

Natasha Bertrand
The Atlantic
Mon, 14 May 2018 00:01 UTC
Mueller
Special Counsel Robert Mueller leaves the U.S. Capitol Building after meeting with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C., on June 21, 2017.

The special counsel's team has interviewed a number of big names. But their interest in more obscure players tells a story, too.

FBI agents working for special counsel Robert Mueller allegedly detained a lawyer with ties to Russia who is closely associated with Joseph Mifsud, the shadowy professor who claimed during the election that Russia had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton.

The revelation was made in a book co-written by that lawyer, Stephan Roh, and set to be published next month. "The Faking of RUSSIA-GATE: The Papadopoulos Case" is the latest in a stream of books aiming to capitalize on the chaos of this political moment. But it sheds new light on the expansive nature of Mueller's investigation into Russia's election interference and possible ties between President Donald Trump's campaign team and Moscow. It also highlights Mueller's interest in answering one of the probe's biggest outstanding questions: whether the campaign knew in advance that Russia planned to interfere in the election.

Comment: See also:

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Question

Mueller vs. Trump: Is there a constitutional confrontation in the offing?

Theodore B. Olson
The Weekly Standard
Fri, 18 May 2018 00:31 UTC
Trump and Mueller charicature
© Thomas Fluharty
Can special counsel Robert Mueller require President Trump to testify before a grand jury? It would be unprecedented, and his effort to do so could lead to a major constitutional confrontation.

The president could, of course, resist a grand jury subpoena by asserting his right under the Fifth Amendment not to be a witness against himself. However, for political reasons, he may not wish to do that. And he may not need to.

Another off-ramp for the president, which he may choose not to take, is to remove the special counsel. Mueller is an appointee of the Department of Justice, part of the executive branch. He is therefore a subordinate of the president. Trump might have to jump through some hoops to remove him-such as removing the deputy attorney general who selected Mueller - but he has the power to do so. If, that is, he's willing to withstand the public outcry and demands for impeachment that would surely follow. Legislative measures, such as those already introduced in Congress, to shackle or impede the president's power to remove the special counsel are almost surely unconstitutional. So the president could avoid a grand jury subpoena by removing the official who is threatening to obtain one. But this is another step with potentially grave political implications that he may not wish to risk.

Comment: See also:

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