Donald Trump Makes the Case That We Should Worry About Clinton and Russia

Tuesday morning, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign unleashed a torrent of information about his Democratic counterpart, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Much of the information is well established, but the Trump camp offered it as a stark reminder of the cozy relationship Clinton has had with Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin. Clinton, with help from the mainstream media, has been trying to sell the American people on the idea that Trump has the relationship with Russia following the #DNCLeak email scandal that has been tied to Russian hackers.

But, as the Trump camp puts it, there are four well-known examples of Clinton and her allies “selling out American interests” in exchange for political and financial favors. Here’s a summary:

Example 1: Clinton Sold American Military Technology to Putin

According to a Wall Street Journal report last month, when Clinton was secretary of state, she aggressively recruited U.S. investment partners for Skolkovo, an “innovation city” of 30,000 people on the outskirts of Moscow, as part of the now-infamous “Russian Reset.” She also helped the Russian State Investment Fund, Rusnano, identify American tech companies for Russian investment.

The research being conducted in Skolkovo, however, concerned U.S. military experts and federal law enforcement officials, because it appeared to be expanding Russia’s military capacity. Meanwhile, Russians tied to the innovation city project donated directly and indirectly to the Clinton Foundation.

Example 2: Clinton’s Campaign Chair Sat on a Skolkovo-based Company’s Board

According to a Breitbart News report earlier this month, John Podesta, a long-time Clinton friend and her current campaign chairman, sat on the board of the energy company Joule Unlimited, which was based in Skolkovo. That company received $35 million from Rusano, which Putin founded in 2007.

More alarm bells sounded, however, in 2014 when the FBI issued an “extraordinary warning” to several American tech companies that Skolkovo may have been a means for the Russian government to access “sensitive and classified research development facilities and dual-use technologies with military and commercial application.” Joule Unlimited was among the companies warned.

Example 3: Clinton’s ‘Big-Money Bundler’ Lobbies for Russian Bank Tied to Putin

In April, the New York Observer reported that Podesta’s brother Tony, who is another Clinton friend who serves as a “big-money bundler” for the campaign, was implicated in the “Panama Papers” scandal (Note: The Observer is owned by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner—ed.). And, as recently as the April-June reporting period, Tony Podesta has been lobbying Congress on behalf of Sberbank, Russia’s largest financial institution.

The other two lobbyists identified by the Podesta Group in its lobbyist declaration were Stephen Rademaker and David Adams, both of whom were former assistant secretaries of state (Rademaker served the George W. Bush Administration, while Adams served under Clinton in the Obama Adminstration). As the Washington Examiner also reported in April, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project indicates that Sberbank is tied directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his associates.

Example 4: Clinton Pushed for Russian Control of an American Uranium Company

According to an April 2015 New York Times report, Clinton helped push through a 2010 deal to give a Russian company a 51-percent controlling stake in the American uranium company Uranium One. The Russian company, UrAsia, was controlled by a group of investors including Canadian Ian Telfer, who became its chairman.

The deal had to be “signed off” by secretive Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, of which Clinton was a member. A similar deal in 2009 that would have placed a gold mining company under Chinese control was nixed by the committee, but the Uranium One deal was approved.

According to the Times report, Telfer’s family charity, the Fernwood Foundation, donated millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation during the time the deal was being reviewed. Fernwood also donated to the Clinton Foundation while Telfer’s company was lobbying the U.S. government with help on other mineral rights deals.