Buzzfeed provide a glimpse of another Russian intelligence operation targeting the U.S. government.
The Russian’s target in this case was the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, which enforces U.S. sanctions against Russia and Iran, as well as money laundering laws. The Russians sought information about the business partners of William Browder, a hedge fund entrepreneur ran afoul of Russian authorities, according story.
Browder’s business partners were Dirk, Edward and Daniel Ziff, billionaire brothers and, not coincidentally, contributors to the Clinton Foundation. When the Russian operative met with Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort in June 2016, they made the case that Browder and the Ziff brothers were guilty of tax fraud.
Natalia Veselnitskaya, the well connected Russian lawyer who sought the meeting, provided Trump officials with a dossier alleging financial misconduct by contributors to the Clinton Global Initiative, a project of the Clinton Foundation
The story is not necessarily evidence of collusion. It is evidence of how persistently Russian intelligence has pursued Putin’s rivals at the time they were seeking “back channel” communications with the Trump campaign.
‘Command and Control’
The Russian government’s counterpart to FinCEN sought the information, according to the Buzzfeed story. Known as Rosfinmonitoring, the office was set up by Putin in 2001 to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. Just as FinCEN works with U.S. intelligence agencies so Rosfinmonitoring, is closely tied to Russia’s intelligence system.
“Rosfinmonitoring is under the command and control of the FSB,” the former intelligence officer said, referring to Russia’s spy agency. “If you are a Russian government entity and you are communicating with Americans, you have an FSB officer sitting right next to you and that officer is probably sending the email.”
According to Buzzfeed, the Russian sought information on the Ziff’s three weeks before the Trump Tower meeting.
The Washington Post asks:
Did the Russian government get information that ended up being handed back to the campaign of the man who would soon be president?
That question can’t be answered but the story provides more details about the Russians’ interests when they came calling on the man they hoped would become president.
Source: Russian Agents Sought Secret US Treasury Records On Clinton Backers During 2016 Campaign
