ERICKSON: Were Democrats Working With The Russians?
Here is where the web starts to tangle. According to Senator Grassley, who wants Fusion GPS's executives to testify to Congress, "Fusion GPS was apparently simultaneously working on the unsubstantiated dossier alleging collusion between Trump presidential campaign associates and Russia" while also working with Prevezon to overturn the Magnitsky Act.
Suddenly it seems more than a coincidence that Prevezon's lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, has a meeting with Donald Trump, Jr. at the time Fusion GPS is putting together a dossier claiming the Trump campaign had been meeting with Russians. But it gets even more tangled than that.
Natalia Veselnitskaya's visa for entry into the United States had expired by 2016. She could not enter the country and a United States Attorney denied her "temporary parole" to enter the country. Nonetheless, the Obama Administration overruled the United States Attorney and allowed Ms. Veselnitskaya into the United States on an expired visa to meet with Donald Trump, Jr.
My understanding is there are generally only two grounds for such permission to be given. First, a lawyer like Ms. Veselnitskaya could show she was the only legal agent of a company currently in court. That did not apply here because Prevezon also retained the American law firm Baker Hostetler, which also has ties to Fusion GPS. The second way is to have a collaborative relationship with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Here is where the web starts to tangle. According to Senator Grassley, who wants Fusion GPS's executives to testify to Congress, "Fusion GPS was apparently simultaneously working on the unsubstantiated dossier alleging collusion between Trump presidential campaign associates and Russia" while also working with Prevezon to overturn the Magnitsky Act.
Suddenly it seems more than a coincidence that Prevezon's lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, has a meeting with Donald Trump, Jr. at the time Fusion GPS is putting together a dossier claiming the Trump campaign had been meeting with Russians. But it gets even more tangled than that.
Natalia Veselnitskaya's visa for entry into the United States had expired by 2016. She could not enter the country and a United States Attorney denied her "temporary parole" to enter the country. Nonetheless, the Obama Administration overruled the United States Attorney and allowed Ms. Veselnitskaya into the United States on an expired visa to meet with Donald Trump, Jr.
My understanding is there are generally only two grounds for such permission to be given. First, a lawyer like Ms. Veselnitskaya could show she was the only legal agent of a company currently in court. That did not apply here because Prevezon also retained the American law firm Baker Hostetler, which also has ties to Fusion GPS. The second way is to have a collaborative relationship with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.