Bolton said Dems should have investigated Turkish Halkbank. Wyden is, and Giuliani is there

[muriel_volestrangler]

Bolton tries to blame Democrats for not digging deep enough into Trump and Halkbank. Well, Sen. Wyden has been, since October, but Barr is doing his damnedest to block it. And, inevitably, Rudy Giuilani is tied up in the corrpution.

Oct 24, 2019: Wyden Launches Investigation Into Halkbank Scandal

“Halkbank is at the center of the ongoing scandal surrounding President Trump, Rudy Guiliani and President Erdogan. They all appear to have been working toward the same goal of preventing criminal prosecution of the bank. Congress needs to get to the bottom of why the president and his personal lawyer were carrying water for a state-owned Turkish bank, and Secretary Mnuchin is a key witness in the matter,” Senator Wyden said. “In addition, Halkbank exploited U.S. financial institutions to allegedly evade sanctions and it’s important to know how loopholes in anti-money laundering laws could be improved to prevent similar future crimes.”

Nov 25, 2019: Trump ordered review of U.S. sanctions on Turkey’s Halkbank

"Bloomberg News reported in October that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made repeated entreaties to Trump to avoid charges against Halkbank, one of Turkey’s largest lenders. Trump assigned Mnuchin and Attorney General William Barr to look into the issue after an April phone call with Erdogan.

After the call, no action was taken against the bank for months. That changed in October, when U.S. prosecutors unveiled an undated indictment accusing the bank of fraud, money laundering and violating U.S. sanctions against Iran."

The Halkbank case traces its origins to the prosecution of gold trader Reza Zarrab, who pleaded guilty to illegally funneling billions of dollars in Iranian oil money into the global market. Transporting tons of gold into Dubai via couriers, Zarrab admitted to busting U.S. sanctions against Iran and bribing powerful Turkish politicians to look the other way.
...
One of Zarrab’s shell companies, Royal Holding A.S., listed its address as a 35th floor unit in Trump Towers Istanbul.

Before pleading guilty to money laundering, sanctions evasions and bribery, Zarrab retained Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani to lead a campaign of shadow diplomacy that echoed the one in Ukraine.

Shuttling between Turkey’s capital of Ankara and the White House, Giuliani met with Erdogan, Trump, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and other senior U.S. and Turkish officials in an attempt to negotiate a prisoner swap. The New York Times reported that Tillerson resisted the White House pressure for a deal that would have effectively killed the Zarrab case.
...
Pressing for answers about the delay in Halkbank’s prosecution, Wyden wrote to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Attorney General Bill Barr, extracting major concessions from one of the men. Mnuchin disclosed seven meetings with top Turkish officials, including an Oval Office meeting last April between Trump, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Erdogan’s son-in-law Berat Albayrak. Federal prosecutors would later implicate Albayrak directly in the money laundering scheme.

https://www.courthousenews.com/when-ron-wyden-talks-turkey-the-senate-listens-inside-the-finance-committees-halkbank-probe/

Feb 3, 2020: Citing Trump Interference, Wyden Asks Barr to Recuse From Halkbank Case

Feb 15, 2020:

Report: Barr Protected Turkish Bank From Prosecution to Appease Erdogan

On Saturday, CNN turned up an egregious example of Barr running interference for Trump at DOJ, reporting that he “personally spearheaded” an effort last year to save Halkbank, a state-owned Turkish bank, from being indicted after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “pressed Trump in a bid to avoid charges.” Erdogan’s personal involvement complemented a months-long lobbying campaign by Turkey to avoid prosecution. As my colleague Dan Friedman has reported, Turkey spent millions of dollars “pressing the White House, the State Department, and Congress to ask the Justice Department not to prosecute the Turkish bank. The top lobbyist working on that case, Brian Ballard, extensively contacted Trump’s lawyer Jay Sekulow during that time.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/02/report-barr-protected-turkish-bank-from-prosecution-to-appease-erdogan/

Brian Ballard, you say?

well, well, well, lookie here:

...
Dec 2018:
NEW: As the TRUMP administration levels more sanctions against foreign politicians & companies, those sanctions targets are paying big $ to people with Trump ties — from Trump fundraiser Brian Ballard to ex-Trump aide @BCLanza — to stave off such sanctions

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016221679

Oct 2019:
Ballard Partners, the firm dubbed “the Most Powerful Lobbyist in Trump’s Washington” ended its years-long contract with Turkey’s state-run Halkbank last week, the day after that bank’s indictment in a record-breaking money laundering scheme.
<snip>
Ballard Partners, run by Trump’s top Florida fundraiser Brian Ballard, spent more than two years and made roughly $2 million representing the Turkish government and Halkbank. Ballard bundled $295,000 this past quarter to Trump Victory, a political action committee, and has donated tens of thousands of dollars more to Trump’s campaign and associates.

Records disclosed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act show that Turkey’s payments to Ballard came with high-ranking access to Trump’s State Department, Treasury Department and White House, at critical moments for the U.S.-Turkish relationship.
<snip>
Before Ballard severed ties, it had led the lobbying campaign that dispatched three of the firm’s other top figures to Atilla’s case: former U.S. Congressman Robert Wexler, ex-Clinton State Department official Jamie Rubin and Syl Lukis, a managing partner at the firm.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212612009

Nov 2019:
Federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York have issued subpoenas to people fundraising for President Donald Trump as they dig up information about Rudy Giuliani and his associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman.

According to the New York Times, the subpoenas are an extension of the probe into Parnas and Fruman, who were arrested on campaign finance charges last month. Some of the subpoenas were issued to the lobbying firm of top Trump fundraiser Brian Ballard and two people who raise money for the Trump-aligned super PAC America First Action.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212714770

But then, what do you expect from the people who run the Republican party?

WASHINGTON – Today Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and RNC Finance Chairman Steve Wynn announced additional members of the RNC’s Finance leadership team:

“I am delighted to announce the addition of these longtime friends of the Party and supporters of this administration to our Finance leadership team,” said Chairwoman McDaniel. “Elliott Broidy, Michael Cohen, and Louis DeJoy will serve as National Deputy Finance Chairmen, and Brian Ballard, Bob Grand, Gordon Sondland, Geoff Verhoff, and Ron Weiser will serve as Regional Vice-Chairmen. Together this team will employ their extraordinary talent and understanding of Americans across the country to maintain and build upon our unprecedented fundraising success.”

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210473450

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212882049

Half of the people running the financial side of the Republican party in 2016 are either in Trump-adjacent sex scandals, or Trump-adjacent connections with foreign criminals and attempts to alter US foreign policy or justice.

[sop]

1. Bolton's revelations may be a roadmap for prosecuting Trump after he's thrown out of office.

[MagickMuffin]

2. Excellent sleuthing muriel

And John Bolton can go pound sand. How has he helped in regards to anything. He could have helped during the Impeachment hearings but he IS and ever will be a COWARD!

[uponit7771]

4. +1

[crickets]

5. John Bolton is an UNPATRIOTIC greedy coward.

He could have testified and still sold his stupid book, probably with better sales numbers if he'd bothered to do the right thing. What a self-serving slime.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Wyden: Trump attempted to interfere in a criminal investigation into the largest sanctions violation

... scheme in U.S. history as a favor" to Erdoğan.

The top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee plans to call on former national security adviser John Bolton to provide information on his claim that President Trump agreed to intervene in a federal investigation into a Turkish company at the request of Turkey’s president.
...
Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement that the book “confirms that Donald Trump attempted to interfere in a criminal investigation into the largest sanctions violations scheme in U.S. history as a favor” to Erdoğan.

Wyden added that Bolton’s book provided “damning evidence” as he called on the former national security adviser to provide more information.

“I have been investigating potential political interference by Donald Trump as it relates to Turkey and sanctions enforcement, and this damning evidence corroborates what my investigation has uncovered to date,” Wyden wrote. “If John Bolton has an interest in serving his country, as opposed to selling books, he will respond promptly to my forthcoming request for more information about Donald Trump’s relationship with Turkey.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/503298-top-democrat-plans-to-call-on-bolton-for-information-on-turkey-probe-after

[crickets]

6. Thank you, muriel.

You put a lot of hard work into collating all of this information. It's gold - thanks again.