Who Is Carter Page And How Did He Come To Work For Trump's Campaign?

Sometimes I wish I'd been a little less snarky recently if for no other than reason than the following will be that much harder to swallow for some people. In some of my recent responses in other people's threads, I've been hinting at how I've been researching Trump's connections to Russia but it wasn't until this very evening that I'd put enough of the pieces together that I figured I should start posting.

3 AM is probably not the best time to post this but I've been inspired to start posting some of what I've come up with. Bear with me, I'll strive to be succinct.

You've likely read/heard that the the war in Syria is actually about pipelines. It's not my purpose in this thread to get into any detail about what's going on in Syria specifically but "it's all related."

Natural gas is a very important part of Russia's geopolitical strategy. For instance, consider this article from state-run RT published in October of last year:

Turkey unlikely to manage without Russian gas

In 2014, Turkey imported 27.3 billion cubic meters of gas from Gazprom, which amounts for nearly 60 percent of Turkey’s gas consumption. Turkey is Gazprom’s second biggest market after Germany. Russian gas is transported to Turkey via the Blue Stream pipeline which runs under the Black Sea and via the Trans-Balkan pipeline across Ukraine.

Gazprom is essentially the former Soviet gas ministry. Gazprom sells about 80% of its gas to Europe and Turkey. Russia uses the flow of its natural gas as leverage. Europeans do not want Russia having that leverage so they've been trying to go around the Russians. The Russians of course don't want to lose that leverage.

It's also worth noting at this point that there have been disputes over natural gas between Russia and the Ukraine going back to 2005. The specifics of the disputes are more than I'm prepared to get into here and now but it suffices to say it plays a major role in what is taking place.

Some of you will have no doubt heard of Carter Page by now. He is the Trump advisor who has been flying to Moscow to have meetings with sanctioned Russian officials. These officials that he's been meeting with are sanctioned by the US and EU over the Russia/Ukraine "dispute."

Carter Page started working for Merrill Lynch in 2000. He's said in interviews that because of a relationship he had with Victor Pinchuk (Ukrainian billionaire married who happens to be married to the daughter of the Ukraine's second President), he was sent to Moscow in 2004. In 2005, Russia upped its ownership of Gazprom to a majority stake, making it state controlled. Page spent three years in Moscow at this time helping put together major deals for Gazprom.

Here's an excerpt from a Bloomberg article published in March of this year when Carter Page was first identified as one of Trump's foreign policy advisors.

Page says he advised Gazprom on its largest deals during this period, such as buying of a stake in the Sakhalin oil and gas field in the Sea of Okhotsk. He also helped the company court Western investors, assisting in setting up the first regular meetings with shareholders in New York and London. Before he moved back to New York in 2007, he says, many of its top officials showed up at his going-away party, at a restaurant near the Kremlin.

After leaving Merrill Lynch, Page formed his own firm, Global Energy Capital. The company has significant investments in Gazprom. Page has maintained his ties to Gazprom and Russian officials. As one concrete example, he brought on the former Gazprom CFO, Sergey Yatsenko, as an advisor for Global Energy Capital.

What's taken me some time is figuring out how Carter Page ended up as an advisor for the Trump campaign. I believe I've made that connection.

In 1973, Donald Trump was a wealthy young man from Queens, running his father's company and trying to break into the Manhattan circles of power. In the early 70's, there existed a exclusive Manhattan nightclub called Le Disco that is described in The Art of the Deal this way:

"Its membership included some of the most successful men and the most beautiful women in the world. It was the sort of place where you were likely to see a wealthy 75-year-old guy walk in with three blondes from Sweden"

This is where Trump met Roy Cohn after striking up a conversation with him about the lawsuit pending against his father's company for their violations of the Fair Housing Act of 1968. I'll probably do a separate thread about Cohn but to quickly summarize:

Cohn got an appointment to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan due to his prominent NY judge father pulling strings. He came to the attention of many as the #3 in the DoJ's prosecution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. One of those people was J. Edgar Hoover who recommended him to McCarthy. He became nationally known as McCarthy's Witchfinder General during the Second Red scare. He left DC in 1953 and went home to NY where by the 70's, he'd become the most feared and quite possibly loathed lawyer in NY.

Trump's relationship to Cohn was the key to unlocking the door to the world he desperately wanted to be a part of. Again, I'm going to skip a bunch to hopefully keep this to three posts. One of the many many many people that Cohn introduced Trump to was Roger Stone. Roger Stone came knocking on Cohn's door in 1979 while he (Stone) was working for the Reagan campaign, trying to round up support from big dollar donors. Cohn's name was one of dozens in a box of index cards of Reagan supporters in the NY area that he'd been provided with. Their meeting as recounted by Stone:

“I go into Roy’s office,” Stone continued, “and he’s sitting there in his silk bathrobe, and he’s finishing up a meeting with Fat Tony Salerno,” the boss of the Genovese crime family. Stone went on, “So Tony says, ‘Roy here says we’re going with Ree-gun this time.’ That’s how he said it—‘Ree-gun.’ Roy told him yes, we’re with Reagan. Then I said to Roy that we needed to put together a finance committee, and Roy said, ‘You need Donald and Fred Trump.’ He said Fred, Donald’s father, had been big for Goldwater in ’64. I went to see Donald, and he helped to get us office space for the Reagan campaign, and that’s when we became friends.”

Roger Stone's relationship with Trump is also well known and also worthy of a separate thread. For the purposes of this post, it's important to know that Stone is a something of a political mercenary and an influence peddler, most often described as a "dirty trickster" a "political operative" sometimes a "consultant" and other times as a "strategist." Roger Stone was Trump's personal "lobbyist" for many many years but like how Cohn was much more than his lawyer, Stone is much more than a lobbyist for Trump's casino endeavors.

In 1980, Charles Black Jr (a campaign advisor for Kasich this election), Roger Stone and Paul Manafort formed Black, Manafort and Stone. According to Stone:

Black, Manafort, Stone, and Kelly, lined up most of the dictators of the world we could find.

At the time this included taking a million a year (on the books at least) to help Ferdinand Marco stay in power. BMS is another topic worthy of a thread but what bears mention here is that they were maverick electioneers specializing in despots with image problems. The gang didn't limit their shenanigans to foreign countries either. In 1989 for instance, Paul Manafort admitted to influence peddling during the HUD scandal:

A top Republican political consultant acknowledged Tuesday that he used "influence peddling" to steer millions of dollars in government renovation funding to a housing project that he owned in part.

Paul Manafort, a onetime adviser to the campaigns of Presidents Bush and Reagan and a former business parter of GOP National Committee chairman Lee Atwater, also told a Government Operations subcommittee that the $326,000 fee his lobbying firm charged for helping to obtain the government money was the going rate for such services.

We know how Trump knows Manafort (he's a longtime friend and business partner of Stone) who we know was introduced to Trump by his mentor Roy Cohn.

So where does Carter Page come into the picture?

Remember page in the first post when I mentioned the Ukrainian billionaire with whom Carter Page had a relationship that resulted in him getting the Moscow gig for Merrill Lynch where he developed close ties to Gazprom executives?

Victor Pinchuk knows a lot of rich and powerful people. Among them that I'm sure will grab the attention of ATSers are Bill Clinton and George Soros. He's also one the billionaires who have signed the Buffet and Gate's Giving Pledge. From his Wikipedia Page:

In 2004, Pinchuk created Yalta European Strategy (YES) - an international independent organization that is promoting Ukraine joining the European Union. Its annual summer meeting in Yalta has become the main high-level Ukraine-EU forum for debate and policy recommendations development. At the recent annual meetings among others, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Tony Blair, Stefan Fule, Paul Krugman, Alexei Kudrin, Shimon Peres, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Larry Summers and other political and business leaders were present to discuss Ukraine's European perspectives and global challenges. Pinchuk has long promoted closer ties between Ukraine and the EU

Tantalizing stuff? I haven't had an opportunity to research these relationships in detail and I so I won't speculate here but I'll likely have more to say in later threads. What else jumped out at me was a reference to a familiar name, Rinat Akhmetov.

In 2004 Pinchuk and Rinat Akhmetov, two of Ukraine's richest men, acquired the Kryvorizhstal steel factory for about $800 million.[5] Later, the first Tymoshenko Government reversed this sale, and held a nationally-televised repeat auction that netted $4.8 billion.

Guess who was working for Rinat Akhmetov in 2004?

After Yanukovych's election was thrown out for fraud in 2004, he was introduced to Manafort by Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetovwho was a big supporter of the Russophile Party of Regions and for whom Manafort was working. From a recent New York Times article:

Mr. Yanukovych had relied disastrously on Russian political advisers who underestimated voter frustration. After his defeat, he turned to American experts. Mr. Manafort had begun working for one of Ukraine’s richest men, Rinat Akhmetov, to improve the image of his companies. Mr. Akhmetov was also a prominent sponsor of Mr. Yanukovych’s party, the Party of Regions, and he introduced the two men.

I promised to keep it brief so I'll not go into what I already have on Akhmetov and Manafort and Yanukovych deserve a thread so those topics will likely be covered in a subsequent thread. I will note though that Yanukovych is a Putin pal that had to flee his own country, was rescued by Putin and is now residing in Russia. Here's the last bit I'll add about Manafort for now:

Even after Yanukovych fled, Manafort stayed in the Ukraine and went to work for Yanukovych’s former chief of staff, Serhiy Lyovochkin, rebranding the party. In fact, it's not actually known whether or not Manafort is still on the payroll. What is known is that despite a lot of effort to downplay what he was up to, Manafort is known to be involved in a host of shady deals including one for which he's being sued by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska who had put Manafort & co in charge of $100 million to invest in Ukrainian businesses. He's been implicated in a criminal corruption case against a Ukrainian justice official and most recently his name turned up in a handwritten ledger of kickbacks/payoffs indicating $12.7 million in cash payments to Manafort as part of an anti-corruption investigation.

Arguably Manafort set the stage for Putin to ultimately annex Crimea.

My apologies if some of this doesn't flow well, I pieced it together from my notes on the fly and some paragraphs I'd already written (and it's late). At any rate, I think it's more than reasonable that Manafort has known Carter Page since at least 2004 when they were respectively working with Akhmetov and Pinchuk.

First



I have read and posted tiny bits and pieces of this, but nothing to this degree. I was focusing more on Trump's NY mob ties.

Second, why are you posting this here? The NY Times wants this. ou should send this off quickly. Before someone copies it or it becomes a T&C ownership issue.


This is what a really good research post looks like.

Thank you thank you thank you

a reply to: theantediluvian

There is nothing surprising here. What's the significance of the OP?

Trump has an energy guru and major player as one of his (many) advisors.

Wow.

This also maybe why there is pushback on renewables. Everyone is fighting over the prybar and renewables would knock it right off the fulcrum.

More importantly why does this guy work for trump?
Was it i'll give my buddy a job and get my paws into the company that controls the gas flow? Or was trump told this guy will work for you?

Classic ATS. A well written post completely disregarded because it challenges people who simply can't handle being challenged.

Its pretty amazing and is, in my opinion, a sickness in their minds.

With this page guy. Is russia trying to monkey around in elections?

Does it indicate a predetermined outcome or based off of a maybe?

What's the connection

So what, hillary is owned by the Saudis.

Just ask huma.

originally posted by: jjkenobi
Trump has an energy guru and major player as one of his (many) advisors.

Wow.

It's no joke. US Intelligence has him meeting secretly with people in Moscow, purportedly selling the idea that he can effect having US Sanctions lifted. And the people he met with in Moscow were shady enough to be under NSA/CIA surveillance of some sort.

Some of those briefed were “taken aback” when they learned about Page’s contacts in Moscow, viewing them as a possible back channel to the Russians that could undercut U.S. foreign policy, said a congressional source familiar with the briefings but who asked for anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject.

The source added that U.S. officials in the briefings indicated that intelligence reports about the adviser’s talks with senior Russian officials close to President Vladimir Putin were being “actively monitored and investigated.”

www.yahoo.com...

originally posted by: Homeles
With this page guy. Is russia trying to monkey around in elections?

Does it indicate a predetermined outcome or based off of a maybe?

Trump gets elected = Sanctions being lifted on Russia for invading Crimea.

After Yahoo News reported Friday that senior U.S. intelligence officials were investigating whether the advisor, Carter Page, held secret meetings with senior Russian officials in Moscow over the summer, Trump’s campaign promptly disavowed him.

Back in March, in a recorded meeting with The Washington Post editorial board, Trump named Page as one of five members of his foreign policy team. Page, a former energy executive in Russia, described himself an expert on the Caspian Sea region and economic development in former Soviet states.

LINK

originally posted by: Indigo5

originally posted by: Homeles
With this page guy. Is russia trying to monkey around in elections?

Does it indicate a predetermined outcome or based off of a maybe?

Trump gets elected = Sanctions being lifted on Russia for invading Crimea.

Invading? WTF are you talking about? The Crimea a referendum? LOL. Did the pretty girl on TV tell you that?

a reply to: jjkenobi

Trump has an energy guru and major player as one of his (many) advisors. Wow.

a reply to: Alien Abduct

There is nothing surprising here. What's the significance of the OP?

Carter Page isn't an "energy guru" and for the record he was described Trump/the Trump campaign as a "foreign policy advisor."

Carter Page is a former Wall Street investment banker, member of the CFR, etc who already having ties to the Eastern European oligarchy, moved to Moscow in his early 30s to become a dealmaker for Kremlin cronies and a key player in Gazprom during the period when the Kremlin took back control of Gazprom and the Russian/Ukranian gas disputes started.

Gazprom is the Kremlins natural gas export apparatus. It controls 30% of the natural gas to Europe. If you believe as many do that the Syrian war is over natural gas pipelines, then you should be very very interested as Gazprom *IS* Russian natural gas.

He came under scrutiny and later criticism not only by the mainstream left media but parts of the mainstream right media as well — even before his July trip to Moscow — because of his pro-Putin speeches/writing. He's being investigated currently over meetings he's been making with sanctioned officials in Russia where it is being hypothesized that he could very well have been making promises that sanctions would be lifted if Trump becomes President.

How the National Review (one of the most influential conservative publications... ever) described Carter Page in April:

Carter Page is an out-and-out Putinite. A consultant to and investor in the Kremlin’s state-run gas company, Gazprom, Page has a direct financial interest in ending American sanctions against the company. Not only that, but Page is tight with the Kremlin’s foreign-policy apparatus and has served as a vehement propagandist for it.

What the conservative Washington Free Beacon said of Carter Page in July:

Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump, traveled to Moscow last week and criticized the United States and other Western powers for their “hypocritical focus on ideas such as democratization, inequality, corruption, and regime change” in other countries. Page, an energy executive with ties to Russian gas giant Gazprom, praised Russia and China for embracing foreign policies built on “non-interference,” “tolerance,” and “respect” while describing U.S. foreign policy as too interventionist during remarks at Moscow’s World Trade Center.

The remarks, delivered at an event hosted by the New Economic School, were hardly out of character for Page, who has a history of criticizing U.S. foreign policy and portraying Russia in a favorable light. In online writings, Page has defended Moscow’s involvement in the takeover of government buildings in Ukraine by pro-Russian forces in 2014 as “minor,” attributed the crisis in Ukraine to U.S. policy, and accused NATO of “meddling in the affairs of Eastern Europe.”

His habit of criticizing Western countries raises questions about the foreign policy advice Trump is receiving.

Trump has described NATO as “obsolete,” advocated for illegal torture techniques, and exchanged compliments with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

New News Corp owned conservative media outlet Heat Streat from early August

Carter Page, foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump, spent several days in Russia last month. Officially, he was there to give a lecture at the New Economy School. But Trump’s supporters will be stunned to learn that in the midst of the presidential campaign, his foreign policy adviser Page appeared in Moscow slamming the USA in front of a bunch of Russians. Carter Page even said America was a hypocrite to focus on democracy.

Addressing hundreds of new graduates, Page spoke about world economics and “how to increase potential in unstable times.” In his speech, given just last month on July 7th, Donald Trump’s right-hand man criticized American foreign policy for using cold war stereotypes and “often-hypocritical focus on democratization.” But it wasn’t all doom and gloom– if Trump’s foreign policy chief was against American policy, he loved Putin. Mr. Page publicly complimented Russia, currently aiding Assad in Syria against American-backed rebels, for “really moving ahead.”

It is for Donald Trump to answer about shady meetings with Russia’s government–and why his close adviser was slamming America and democracy, while praising Putin, in Russia last month, before the Russian-sponsored hack of the DNC files to hurt Hillary Clinton.

Even the Daily Caller was crying foul only a week after they announced that Carter Page was part of Trump's "short list" of advisors back in MARCH:

Daily Caller - Trump’s Energy Adviser Is Personally Invested In Gazprom

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s energy policy adviser has close ties with Russian businesses, including the Kremlin-controlled gas company Gazprom.

Trump announced last week he tapped Carter Page, a business consultant who works with former Soviet bloc countries and businesses, as his top energy policy adviser. Bloomberg News reported Wednesday that Page “developed relationships with executives at Gazprom, the former Soviet gas ministry that was partially privatized in the 1990s,” while working in Russia for the bank Merrill Lynch.

Page is also an investor in Gazprom — which has been hit hard by sanctions and low oil prices. Bloomberg reports “he still attends the annual investor meetings—and blames the trade restrictions for helping drive down the stock.”

You know who has been utterly quiet on Carter Page? Breitbart, Infowars and others who are putting out 100% pro-Tump propaganda and also tend to be favorites among pro-Trump ATSers.

And then there's Fox who only in LATE August published anything about Page at all, noting that he was being investigated AFTER the Trump campaign had already started publically backing away from Page and Ailes had resigned from Fox News and gone to work for the Trump campaign.

It hasn't gotten a lot of coverage of the freakshow infotainment world of "cable news" until the last week or two but then again, they're all but useless.

originally posted by: MALBOSIA

originally posted by: Indigo5

originally posted by: Homeles
With this page guy. Is russia trying to monkey around in elections?

Does it indicate a predetermined outcome or based off of a maybe?

Trump gets elected = Sanctions being lifted on Russia for invading Crimea.

Invading? WTF are you talking about? The Crimea a referendum? LOL. Did the pretty girl on TV tell you that?

Always confuses me when people continue that propaganda bit when Putin himself has admitted the planning and invasion..

Do people just not keep up on Vladimir's talking points? He has bragged about it now.

Putin reveals secrets of Russia's Crimea takeover plot
www.bbc.com...

Putin’s Confessions on Crimea Expose Kremlin Media
time.com...

It's good to know Donald won't be starting any WWIII with Putin like Clinton would. More votes for Donald, good job keep it up.