Republican Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Lindsey Graham told CNN’s Manu Raju that James Clapper’s hesitation to answer a question about Donald Trump having business dealings with Russia caught his attention. The senator from South Carolina says he is interested in starting a congressional probe to be overseen by his committee. But first, he wants to see how the FBI’s investigation is progressing. Clapper, the former director of national intelligence, would only say he could not jeopardize any ongoing investigations.
One interesting moment that seemingly went under the radar during Monday’s hearing with James Clapper and Sally Yates was during ranking member, Senator Whitehouse’s opening statement.
Senator Whitehouse laid out the framework for his questioning by dropping the name Felix Sater. This is a man who Trump has said he couldn’t pick out in a room, but he should. Sater’s Linkedin profile listed a Trump Organization email address and phone number at the time. Felix Sater is surely a name the public will become familiar with as things unfold.
Follow the money
In 2005, it was alleged (and should be easy to verify) that the president worked on projects with Felix Sater, a Russian American who was the managing partner for Bayrock Group. Bayrock, a real estate firm, was founded by former Soviet official Tevfik Arif. A 2010 lawsuit filed against Bayrock alleges that Trump SoHo (a Trump-Sater project) was co-financed with “mystery” money from Russia and Kazhakstan.
Felix Sater’s past also includes having faced assault and racketeering charges.
In a 2016 interview with ABC News, Sergei Millian claimed he met with Trump in his private suite at a Miami racetrack where he was asked for his assistance in selling assets to Russian investors. According to Millian, he was able to sell 200 Trump Hollywood condominium units to Russian investors.
Living in the world of classified and declassified information
In all likelihood, Senator Lindsey Graham already has many answers, given the fact that he is privy to classified information. While he is known for dropping tidbits, he has expressed his desire to proceed with caution and rightfully so. There are other investigations going on, so he must walk a very fine line when it comes to how much he can say.
Taking a peek at Donald Trump’s tax returns will undoubtedly answer a lot of questions and Trump knows this. So do Americans. Although he says he’s not there yet, Graham did state that he is willing to subpoena the president’s taxes. Who knows? The FBI may be in the process of working on just that.
