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With one sentence in a 2,000-word press release, the Treasury Department perhaps did more to lay out the case for potential Trump-Russia collusion in the 2016 election than has happened before.
The Treasury statement confirmed that Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian-linked intelligence operative, provided Russian intelligence with "with sensitive information on polling and campaign strategy." He got that inside information from Trump campaign officials.
While the sanctions issued Thursday were tied to Russia's 2020 election interference efforts -- which the US says Kilimnik played a role in -- the reference to his meddling in 2016 is perhaps the bigger revelation.
It has long been suspected but never explicitly stated by the US government that Kilimnik passed internal Trump campaign data from former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort to Russian intelligence services. The announcement Thursday establishes a simple and direct channel of communication from the upper echelon of the Trump campaign to the Russian agencies that were meddling to help Trump win.
During the early stages of the Russia probe, officials from both parties said this kind of covert relationship between the Trump campaign and the Russians would constitute "collusion."
This revelation was a long time coming. It took years for special counsel Robert Mueller's team to reveal that Manafort provided internal campaign information to Kilimnik. About a year later, the Senate Intelligence Committee openly called Kilimnik a Russian agent. But neither went so far as to say Kilimnik gave the information to the Russian government. Thursday's announcement closes the loop.
The Treasury statement confirmed that Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian-linked intelligence operative, provided Russian intelligence with "with sensitive information on polling and campaign strategy." He got that inside information from Trump campaign officials.
While the sanctions issued Thursday were tied to Russia's 2020 election interference efforts -- which the US says Kilimnik played a role in -- the reference to his meddling in 2016 is perhaps the bigger revelation.
It has long been suspected but never explicitly stated by the US government that Kilimnik passed internal Trump campaign data from former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort to Russian intelligence services. The announcement Thursday establishes a simple and direct channel of communication from the upper echelon of the Trump campaign to the Russian agencies that were meddling to help Trump win.
During the early stages of the Russia probe, officials from both parties said this kind of covert relationship between the Trump campaign and the Russians would constitute "collusion."
This revelation was a long time coming. It took years for special counsel Robert Mueller's team to reveal that Manafort provided internal campaign information to Kilimnik. About a year later, the Senate Intelligence Committee openly called Kilimnik a Russian agent. But neither went so far as to say Kilimnik gave the information to the Russian government. Thursday's announcement closes the loop.
