SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
News that Mueller is intensifying his investigation of Prince comes as reporting over the past several months has seriously called into question testimony the billionaire military contractor gave to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence last November. (Photo: The Oxford Union/REX Shutterstock)
Mueller Has Reportedly Obtained Phones and Computer of War Profiteer Erik Prince
Mueller is reviewing Prince's communications in an effort to determine whether he tried "to establish a backchannel between the Trump administration and the Kremlin," ABC reports
Jun 25, 2018
As part of his probe of possible collusion between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and the Russian government, Special Counsel Robert Mueller has obtained and is currently examining the phones and computer of notorious war profiteer and Blackwater founder Erik Prince, ABC News reported on Monday.
Citing multiple anonymous sources familiar with the matter, ABC's James Gordon Meek noted that Mueller is reviewing Prince's communications in an effort to determine whether he attempted "to establish a backchannel between the Trump administration and the Kremlin."
In a statement to ABC, Prince's spokesperson confirmed that Prince has given Mueller "total access to his phones and computer."
News that Mueller is intensifying his investigation of Prince--who is the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos--comes as reporting over the past several months has seriously called into question testimony the billionaire military contractor gave to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence last November.
As Meek wrote on Monday:
Prince testified before the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in November that he hadn't made the trip "to meet any Russian guy" and described his meeting with Kirill Dmitriev, the Putin-appointed head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, as a chance encounter "over a beer."
ABC News reported earlier this year that Mueller has obtained evidence that calls that testimony into question. Lebanese-American businessman George Nader, a key witness given limited immunity by Mueller, told investigators that he set up the meeting in the Seychelles between Prince and Dmitriev, sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News.
Speaking anonymously with ABC, two of Prince's business associates said he lied to Congress about his relationship with Dimitriy Streshinskiy, a former Russian special forces soldier-turned-arms manufacturer. Prince told the House he has had "zero" business relationships with Russian nationals.
"According to a 2015 interim report from an internal investigation conducted for the company by an outside law firm, a man named 'Dimitry,' whom two sources later told ABC News was actually Streshinskiy, acted as Prince's partner in an effort to secure a possibly illegal private security contract with Azerbaijan," Meek reported on Monday.
After donating more than $200,000 to Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, Prince has been advising the White House "from the shadows" and occasionally offering up plans to privatize America's military operations overseas.
As Common Dreams reported last August, Prince--whose private security firm Blackwater was behind the massacre of more than a dozen Iraqi civilians in 2007--proposed turning America's war in Afghanistan over to a private "band of experienced sergeants."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
As part of his probe of possible collusion between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and the Russian government, Special Counsel Robert Mueller has obtained and is currently examining the phones and computer of notorious war profiteer and Blackwater founder Erik Prince, ABC News reported on Monday.
Citing multiple anonymous sources familiar with the matter, ABC's James Gordon Meek noted that Mueller is reviewing Prince's communications in an effort to determine whether he attempted "to establish a backchannel between the Trump administration and the Kremlin."
In a statement to ABC, Prince's spokesperson confirmed that Prince has given Mueller "total access to his phones and computer."
News that Mueller is intensifying his investigation of Prince--who is the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos--comes as reporting over the past several months has seriously called into question testimony the billionaire military contractor gave to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence last November.
As Meek wrote on Monday:
Prince testified before the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in November that he hadn't made the trip "to meet any Russian guy" and described his meeting with Kirill Dmitriev, the Putin-appointed head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, as a chance encounter "over a beer."
ABC News reported earlier this year that Mueller has obtained evidence that calls that testimony into question. Lebanese-American businessman George Nader, a key witness given limited immunity by Mueller, told investigators that he set up the meeting in the Seychelles between Prince and Dmitriev, sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News.
Speaking anonymously with ABC, two of Prince's business associates said he lied to Congress about his relationship with Dimitriy Streshinskiy, a former Russian special forces soldier-turned-arms manufacturer. Prince told the House he has had "zero" business relationships with Russian nationals.
"According to a 2015 interim report from an internal investigation conducted for the company by an outside law firm, a man named 'Dimitry,' whom two sources later told ABC News was actually Streshinskiy, acted as Prince's partner in an effort to secure a possibly illegal private security contract with Azerbaijan," Meek reported on Monday.
After donating more than $200,000 to Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, Prince has been advising the White House "from the shadows" and occasionally offering up plans to privatize America's military operations overseas.
As Common Dreams reported last August, Prince--whose private security firm Blackwater was behind the massacre of more than a dozen Iraqi civilians in 2007--proposed turning America's war in Afghanistan over to a private "band of experienced sergeants."
As part of his probe of possible collusion between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and the Russian government, Special Counsel Robert Mueller has obtained and is currently examining the phones and computer of notorious war profiteer and Blackwater founder Erik Prince, ABC News reported on Monday.
Citing multiple anonymous sources familiar with the matter, ABC's James Gordon Meek noted that Mueller is reviewing Prince's communications in an effort to determine whether he attempted "to establish a backchannel between the Trump administration and the Kremlin."
In a statement to ABC, Prince's spokesperson confirmed that Prince has given Mueller "total access to his phones and computer."
News that Mueller is intensifying his investigation of Prince--who is the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos--comes as reporting over the past several months has seriously called into question testimony the billionaire military contractor gave to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence last November.
As Meek wrote on Monday:
Prince testified before the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in November that he hadn't made the trip "to meet any Russian guy" and described his meeting with Kirill Dmitriev, the Putin-appointed head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, as a chance encounter "over a beer."
ABC News reported earlier this year that Mueller has obtained evidence that calls that testimony into question. Lebanese-American businessman George Nader, a key witness given limited immunity by Mueller, told investigators that he set up the meeting in the Seychelles between Prince and Dmitriev, sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News.
Speaking anonymously with ABC, two of Prince's business associates said he lied to Congress about his relationship with Dimitriy Streshinskiy, a former Russian special forces soldier-turned-arms manufacturer. Prince told the House he has had "zero" business relationships with Russian nationals.
"According to a 2015 interim report from an internal investigation conducted for the company by an outside law firm, a man named 'Dimitry,' whom two sources later told ABC News was actually Streshinskiy, acted as Prince's partner in an effort to secure a possibly illegal private security contract with Azerbaijan," Meek reported on Monday.
After donating more than $200,000 to Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, Prince has been advising the White House "from the shadows" and occasionally offering up plans to privatize America's military operations overseas.
As Common Dreams reported last August, Prince--whose private security firm Blackwater was behind the massacre of more than a dozen Iraqi civilians in 2007--proposed turning America's war in Afghanistan over to a private "band of experienced sergeants."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.