Donald Trump’s Russian handler Felix Sater was an FBI informant
As we reported yesterday, a small group of individuals recently tried to go through Russian puppet Michael Flynn to convince Donald Trump to help oust the president of the Ukraine so that Crimea could be handed over to Russia. One of these individuals was Russian businessman Felix Sater, a longtime Trump associate who has a long history of criminal convictions. But in what may be the most notable development in the story yet, Sater was working as an FBI informant.
Felix Sater has been convicted of crimes ranging from stabbing a man in the face to Mafia-related financial fraud, and coincidentally or not, Sater has also done past financial business with Donald Trump. And as of yesterday, Sater is also known to have contributed to written proposal which Russia-implicated Michael Cohen hand delivered to Michael Flynn’s office just before Flynn’s resignation. The proposal involved blackmailing the Ukrainian president out of office in order to divert the Ukrainian territory of Crimea into the hands of Russia. But while yesterday’s New York Times report seemed to indicate that Sater was operating under direction from the Kremlin, it turns out Sater has actually been an informant for the FBI.
Talking Points Memo has reported that Felix Sater became an FBI informant at some point during his criminal history. What’s not yet clear is precisely when Sater became an FBI informant, and if it’s still going on. But it’s clear Sater has a relationship with the FBI and it raises the obvious next question of whether Sater has been working with the FBI to expose Donald Trump’s financial connections to Russia.
The timing here is crucial. The New York Times report exposing Felix Sater as trying to influence Trump over the Ukraine came on the same day as a Reuters report revealing that the FBI has been investigating Trump’s clandestine financial relationship with Russia. And now we know Sater has FBI ties. What the hell is going on here? Contribute to Palmer Report
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report