A Theory That The Trump-Sater-FBI Connection Explains More Than The Russian Connection
Ok, I’m just going to throw this one out there. I have no credible sourcing for what I’m about to say. I’m just trying to make sense of what we apparently learned in the last couple of days about the nexus of Trump, Felix Sater, and the CIA and the FBI.
The reports from the New York Times and the Washington Post show that a Russian-backed Ukrainian politician and Sater used Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer, to pass on to the Trump administration a reported “peace plan” for Ukraine and Russia that would essentially have the Russians pull out of eastern Ukraine. In return, Ukrainians would agree to lease Crimea back to the Russians for 50 or 100 years. I wouldn’t doubt that an easing of sanctions is also mentioned as well.
Felix Sater has his own sordid history that includes securities fraud in coordination with the NYC mafia and assault. But Sater managed to duck responsibility for his securities fraud conviction by becoming some kind of informant or operative for the CIA and/or the FBI, buying weapons on the black market in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Shortly after he started working for the intelligence agencies, in 2003, Sater also managed to land a job with Bayrock Securities, originally founded by a Kazhak businessman who was clearly funded by Russian oligarch money, and quickly becoming a managing partner and then COO of the company. Shortly after becoming COO, Bayrock financed the Trump Soho project that was another one of Trump’s disasters that ended up, as usual, with the buyers of condos in the building suing Trump for fraud and winning a recovery of 90%. Sater was also listed as a senior adviser to the Trump Organization in 2010, a gig that ended when his criminal past was revealed during the Trump Soho lawsuit. Trump himself has admitted to knowing and working with Sater since the “early 2000s”.
This is at least what we seem to know factually about Sater. And here is where I go off into total speculation and “conspiracy theory”. One of the most interesting questions about the prior election campaign is what prompted James Comey and the FBI to intervene so blatantly and heavy-handedly. Yes, he may be a partisan hack but it is hard to see why he would put his job on the line simply to block Hillary Clinton from becoming president. If anything, Hillary was a pretty mainstream candidate who was seen as a foreign policy hawk. In addition, there was clearly a cabal in the FBI’s New York field office that was also rabidly anti-Hillary, again for no apparent reason.
One theory that answers that question in a rather satisfactory way is that Trump, through his association with Felix Sater and/or his own connections, knows something about an FBI operation that would be incredibly damaging to the bureau were it to become public. Remember, Sater was an intelligence operative in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 when the FBI and the CIA were virtually given a free hand. Bush and Cheney were willing to look the other at whatever the intelligence agencies did at that time, even if it was in clear violation of US or international law. Sater was a convicted fraudster with connections to the old Soviet Union. Trump was a failed building magnate with lots of knowledge about New York real estate and the mob. Sater, and potentially Trump himself, were probably supplying information and running operations under the direction of the New York field office of the FBI. It would make perfect sense to put these two together to create a situation where the rich and powerful in the remnants of the Soviet Union could launder their ill-gotten gains into dollars by having them invest in New York real estate. And the US intelligence agencies would get something in return.
In the wake of 9/11, the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan became a critical focus of the Bush administration. Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan became singularly important because of their proximity to Afghanistan and their apparent willingness to deal. By the end of 2011, just 3 months after 9/11, the US had signed agreements with both countries that allowed for the stationing of US support and combat troops in those countries. All these countries were clearly in what Russia had always deemed its sphere of influence. Convincing these countries to quickly allow US troops to station there while at the same time appeasing Russia probably took considerable diplomatic and presumably economic and/or monetary effort. It was into this mix that the FBI or CIA apparently sent Sater, while at the same time setting him up with Trump.
For Trump, the access to foreign money was a godsend. As COO of Bayrock, Sater could tap his connections in Russia and the republics to finance Trump, who was a black hole to legitimate Wall Street banks at that time. In fact, it must have been clear to the FBI and CIA that Bayrock was clearly a tool for Russian and old Soviet money to “invest” in legitimate projects, essentially lauder their rubles. So Sater actually becomes the perfect nexus between Trump, the FBI, and the Russian oligarchs.
In addition, it is probably no coincidence that Trump got into the world of big-time New York real estate and even the casino business around the same time that Rudy Giuliani was destroying the New York mafia as US Attorney. If there were ever two industries in the New York City are that were definitely mob-controlled, it would have been the building industry and, of course, illegal and then legal gambling. Trump would have been instrumental to the FBI with his knowledge of the various mob-related groups involved in both his businesses. Sater also would have been a valuable FBI resource due to his connections with the Genovese and Colombo crime families whom he worked with in perpetuating his securities fraud. Together, they made a nice combination. But, even before Sater, Trump probably had a long association with the FBI, especially the agents in New York.
That long association would also explain why Trump seems to have gotten away with so much fraud and criminality over the years without ever really paying a price for it. Essentially, Trump has been either using his FBI connections or, worse, blackmailing the FBI for years, especially the New York office. This would also explain Rudy Giuliani’s insane support for Trump as well.
Trump’s fondness for Putin may have less to do with what Russia has on him and more to do with the fact that he has been dealing with the oligarchs for the last decade and a half. In his warped and narcissistic mind, he would be a great president if he could do a deal where Russia and the US ended 75 years of hostility. And Trump is guy who only knows how to make deals and has been making deals with guys like Putin for years. Of course, the fact that this fits perfectly into Bannon’s vision of confrontation with Iran and China and his belief is white nationalism is an added bonus.
Looking at the egregious and unprecedented interference of the FBI in the election can reasonably be explained by a powerful desire to protect the bureau. That could either be because Slater and Trump know of an operation that is a serious breach of US law or because they know of FBI/CIA sources inside Russia and the old Soviet Republics. This would also explain the FBI’s unwillingness to investigate Trump’s Russian connections and even put out statements that would inoculate him from rumors of those connections during the campaign. It can also explain the apparent unwillingness of certain members of Congress to fully investigate Trump and perhaps why his tax returns have managed to not leak yet. It could explain why Trump has managed to get away with so much fraud and criminality over the years without really getting punished. For years, he’s had some get-out-of-jail card.
And this unfounded theory about the only thing that adequately explains the enormous risks that Comey and the FBI took during the election in an effort to help elect a guy who, at first blush, would seem the most unlikely of candidates for the FBI to openly back in probably the most egregious example of domestic intelligence interfering in a US election in our history.
I know this is a far-fetched theory. I know it’s sounds crazy. But it does explain some of the inexplicable actions of the FBI. I have no proof. I have no backup. I have nothing. Simply food for thought.