WaPo: FBI Was Alarmed By Presence Of Key Russian Elites At Trump Inauguration

WASHINGTON, USA - JANUARY 20: President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wave to the crowds during the 58th U.S. Presidential Inauguration after he was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States of ... WASHINGTON, USA - JANUARY 20: President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wave to the crowds during the 58th U.S. Presidential Inauguration after he was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States of America in Washington, USA on January 20, 2017. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) MORE LESS

FBI counterintelligence officials were alarmed last year when a handful of Russian business leaders and activists with close ties to President Vladimir Putin showed up at Donald Trump’s inaugural festivities, the Washington Post reported Saturday.

Though the report does not specify which attendees drew of the FBI’s interest, former U.S. officials told the Post that they were concerned by the presence of individuals who had come up in the federal probe into the Trump campaign’s links to Russia.

The FBI and White House respectively declined and did not respond to the newspaper’s requests for comment.

Those in attendance included oil tycoon Viktor Vekselberg, pharmaceutical executive Alexey Repik, and lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya. Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating Veselnitskaya’s summer 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with Donald Trump Jr. and other key campaign officials.

According to the Post’s report, these members of Russia’s one percent rubbed shoulders with high-ranking U.S. officials at balls and other events celebrating Trump’s surprise victory.

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  1. Avatar for tena tena says:

    And rightly so. Not to mention all the damn Russian gangsters buying condos from the man and all the rest of it and there is a whole hell of a lot.

  2. For years if not decades

  3. Avatar for tena tena says:

    Since the 90s. There is a clear trail of Trump visits to Russia starting in the 90s. So it has been decades alright.

  4. Avatar for pshah pshah says:

    I had no idea “adoptions” was such a complex issue.

    Wasn’t Trump collecting money by the boatload for his Inaugural funds? What better way to launder money? And that money is still unaccounted for.

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