Why The Emirates and Bahrain Are Recognizing Israel? Seth Abramson Outlines Red Sea Meeting in 2015 To Coopt Trump

Today it was announced that Israel and Bahrain have agreed to diplomatic ties.  This follows a similar recent arrangement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.  

I'm sure these deals are happening now, shortly before the election to spruce up Trump's diplomatic victories.  But Seth Abramson has outline a well documented story of how Trump  is being played by those countries rather than Trump arranging these deals.  

So here are a few quotes from Seth Abramson's book, Proof of Conspiracy which begins with this chapter summary:

"In late 2015, after Donald Trump has formally announced his candidacy for president, a geopolitical conspiracy emerges overseas whose key participants are the leaders of Russia, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt.  These six men decide that Trump is the antidote to their ills:  for Russia, U.S sanctions;  for Israel, the lack of Arab allies;  for Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt, perceived threats emanating from Iran.  The conspirators commit themselves to doing what is necessary to ensure that Trump is elected.  Trump's presidential campaign is aware of and benefits from this conspiracy both before and after the 2016 election." (p. 1)

Here's a bit more from page 2:

The story of the Red Sea Conspiracy begins with a man named George Nader.  As reported by Hearst in the Middle East Eye, toward the end of 2015 Nader - then an adviser to the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zaey al-Nahyan (know as "MBZ") - convened, with his patron's permission, a summit of some of the Middle East's most powerful leaders.4  Gathered on a boat in the Red Sea in the fall of 2015 were Mohammed bin Salman (known as "MBS:), deputy crown prince of Saudi Arabia, who would shortly become the heir apparent to the throne of the Saudi Kingdom;  MBZ himself, by 2015 the de facto ruler of the Unite Arab Emirates;  Abdel Fattah el Sisi, the president of Egypt;  Prince Salman bin Hamad, the crown prince of Bahrain; and King abdullah II of Jordan.  Nader, the improbable maestro of these rulers' clandestine get-together, intended the plan he posed to the men to include the nation of Libya, but no representative from that nation attended the gathering.5 (p.2) 

The intent of MBZ and MBS according to Abramson (and all the claims he makes are well footnoted with reports from various public sources) is to rearrange the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) by replacing Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar with Egypt, Jordan, and Libya,  This would eliminate its association with the Persian Gulf and

"remaking it as, instead, an alliance constituting 'an elite regional group of six countries, which would supplant  [the GCC and] . . .form the nucleus of [a coalition of] pro-U.S. and pro-Israeli states' in the Middle East.9" (p.3) 

 The intent is a Middle East force that would support the US and be a force against the influence of Turkey and Iran.  Libya and Jordan do not end up in this group.

The chapter, in fact the book, goes on to fill in lots of the details of how this took place and how the Trump administration was involved.  

"According to an opinion piece in the Washington Post, 'If you're the Saudis, the nice thing about Trump is that he lacks any subtlety whatsoever, so you don't have to wonder how to approach him.  He has said explicitly that the way to win his favor is to give him money.  He has established means for you do do so - buying Trump properties and staying in Trump hotels.' 39 (p.8)

"...Trump's financial history with the nations of the Red Sea Conspiracy, as well as the two nations the conspirators seek to improve relations with, Israel and Russia, is long and illustrious.  Trump has properties or other assets in two former Soviet republics, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel, and Egypt;  he therefore maintains financial ties to three of the four nations involved in the conspiracy and one that stands to directly benefit from its successes."41 (p.9)

Abrahams suggests this is a strong reason for Trump's resistance to releasing his income taxes.  

Part of chapter one is a biography of George Nader - who organized the "Red Sea Summit" and was a key witness in the Mueller investigation and was arrested in 2018 on child pornography charges and was convicted in 2020.

At the end of the chapter Abramson outlines the goals of the 

"Red Sea Conspiracy, variously referred to by its participants and in the media as the 'grand bargain' or the 'Middle East Marshall Plan."

The hope was to a) elect Trump who would then  b) drop sanctions against Russia who would then c) withdraw support for Iran and Syria.  Abramson then lists the post-bargain expectations:

1. Isolate US allies Turkey and Qatar (where news media Al Jazeera is based) from the US
2. Get US assistance against Iran and help Saudi Arabia and UAE become nuclear powers
3. Get US and Russia to do massive infrastructure development in Middle East and deflect from Israeli-Palestinian debate
4. Establish pro-Israeli, pro-US military alignments with Sunni Arabs 
5. Suppression of pro-democracy forces in and out of the US in the face of growing autocracy in Israel and US Arab allies - Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt

Lots of Trump's policies and actions - ignoring the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, scuttling the Iran nuclear deal, moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, the obsequious treatment of Putin, pulling out of Syria - are all consistent with this narrative.  

I have no connection with Abramson other than following him on Twitter and having read the first two books in his Proof series:  Proof of Collusion and Proof of Conspiracy.  Both were like in-depth Cliff-Notes on all the scandals surrounding the Trump presidency.  Detailed descriptions of the characters whose names - like George Nader - show up briefly in the headlines then are quickly forgotten as new names replace theirs.  The books also detail the complicated stories of connections and money that the news media only skim the surface of and most Americans are too distracted to study enough to comprehend.  

I would also note that Proof of Conspiracy has so many endnotes that the publisher left them out of the book and set up a website where readers can get to them.  Without the footnotes the book is 569 pages.  So, I've left the endnotes in the quotations and you can look them up at the link.

I wasn't planning on this post, but with both United Arab Emirates and Bahrain announcing diplomatic relations with Israel less than two months before the election, it seems important that Americans understand that Trump is the pawn here, not the chess master.  

I'd also note that Abramson's third book in the series, Proof of Corruption, just came out this week.  

Seth Abramson Outlines How Trump's Coronavirus Response Is Related to His Company's Business In China, Huge Loans He Owes China, And The Trade Deal

(THREAD) This thread summarizes the major-media investigative reporting on the TRUMP-CHINA SCANDAL, a bribery scandal involving Trump's hunt for dirt on Joe Biden in China, his debts to the Chinese government, and his decision to ignore life-saving COVID-19 intel. Please RETWEET. pic.twitter.com/lAe1oxRenV

— Seth Abramson (@🏠) (@SethAbramson) April 24, 2020

It's a long thread, but well worth reading.  Abramson has written two books on Trump - Proof of Collusion and Proof of Conspiracy.  He wrote both by stitching together thousands of news reports, pulling together details into a coherent story about Trump's corruption.

What's A Twitter Thread?
It's a group of Tweets linked together that allow the writer to present a longer story than a single tweet allows

The intro of this Twitter Thread goes over some of those stories to put Trump's current actions with China and the Coronavirus into context.

I guess Trump is trying to demonstrate the maxim that if you commit big enough crimes you don't get caught.




Basically, Abramson outlines when Trump learned of the Coronavirus (in November while working on a trade deal with China), that Trump (or his companies) owes China tens of millions in loans that are coming due tsoon, and how all of this adds up to a conflict of interest and using the office of the presidency for personal gain of such a magnitude that it boggles the mind.

And all his antics at the so-called press conferences are simply diversions to not only shore up his base, but also to divert attention from the most serious, but more complicated abuse of office that's going on.

Abramson's background is in law and journalism.  The story is so stupefyingly huge that Trump might just get away with it, because people aren't ready to take the time to put the pieces together.  That's why we need people like Abramson.  Like everything else he does, it's so outrageous that it seems like has to be made up.

I'll give you some of the tweets in this long thread - here's where you can just read it straight through yourself.   

16/ You can read all about Trump's conflicts of interest in China here—mind you, just a *few* of the ones we know about, as most are hidden within Trump's tax returns. The most obvious piece is scores of valuable trademarks timed to Trump policy decisions. https://t.co/LksWGDDTjb

— Seth Abramson (@🏠) (@SethAbramson) April 24, 2020

36/ But here's the rub: Trump receives intelligence on the novel coronavirus *as he's in the middle of trade negotiations* with the Chinese. And weeks after Trump learns of the virus, he makes the most stunning decision imaginable with respect to those negotiations—and the virus.

— Seth Abramson (@🏠) (@SethAbramson) April 24, 2020

38/ So at a time the Trump administration had received *and rejected* urgent U.S. intelligence on the coronavirus, it received from *China* a request for an exceptional, entirely unexplained "out" clause that would cover a pandemic. And what did Trump do? Nothing—he permitted it.

— Seth Abramson (@🏠) (@SethAbramson) April 24, 2020

42/ But it's more than this: Trump was being told by a cadre of Americans at the World Health Organization in December that there was a virus in China that could come to the U.S. and be devastating—further confirming the intel reports from 2 U.S. agencies. https://t.co/c2pupquEmM

— Seth Abramson (@🏠) (@SethAbramson) April 24, 2020

Buzzfeed Gets 500 of 18 Billion Pages From Mueller Investigation

From Buzzfeed:

"Beginning last April, BuzzFeed News has pursued five separate Freedom of Information Act lawsuits to pry loose all the subpoenas and search warrants that Mueller’s team executed, as well as all the emails, memos, letters, talking points, legal opinions, and interview transcripts it generated. In short, we asked for all the communications of any kind that passed through the special counsel’s office. We also requested all of the documents that would reveal the discussions among Attorney General Bill Barr, former deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein, and other high-ranking officials about whether to charge President Donald Trump with obstruction.

Justice Department lawyers said the volume of records at issue could total 18 billion pages and could take centuries to produce. . .

Today, in response to a court order, the Justice Department has released the first installment of documents: 500 pages of summaries of FBI interviews with witnesses, available here for the first time. Another installment will be released every month for at least the next eight years."

They ask readers to look through the documents and send tips to one of their reporters, Jason Leopold.

So I browsed a little.   Thought I'd skip toward the end.  But scrolling down I landed in the middle.  There was an email from Steve Bannon to Jared Kushner warning him off of Paul Manafort a few days before the 2016 election:

"We need to avoid this guy like the plague
They are going to try and say the russians worked with wiki leaks to give this victory to us
Paul is a nice guy but can't let word get out he is advising us.
Get Outlook for IOS."

This is on page 238.  But when I went back and read the rest of the Buzzfeed article, they'd already highlighted this email and several others in the range of pages I was looking at.


But here's one on page 286, that is ironically interesting.  It's an email from Sergei Millian, the head of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce to Catherine Belton, a reporter for the Financial Times.  She had sent him questions and he was answering them one by one.

Sorry, It was hard getting clear copies.

This is Sept 2016.  This Russian-American promotor of business between the US and Russia is telling the reporter that Obama built favorable business climate.  Was this what he really thought or was this a way to make him not seem a Trump supporter?

And here he warns that policies such as 'using trade as a threat'  are the instruments of "politically weak minds."  Again, are these his real thoughts or his Chamber of Commerce pitch?I Or is this prescient jab at Trump?

I picked up my handy guide to all the players in the Mueller and Impeachment investigations, Seth Abramson's Proof of Conspiracy.  The index gives me "Millian, Sergei, 36-37."

There we learn that Millian, "a Kremlin-linked Russian national, Soviet-born businessman Sergei Millian - who will shortly "offer to serve as a go-between for a Belarusian author with ties to the russian government and the Trump campaign" - contacts George Papadopoulos and says he has "inside knowledge and direct access to the top hierarchy in Russian politics,"  Later he contacts him via Facebook "telling him he wants to 'share with [him] a disruptive technology that might be instrumental in your political work for the campaign."

[I'd note that in an earlier page to Belton, he denied being Russian.  Is this an error in Abramson's source?  He was from Belarus, and would have been born into the Soviet Union, not Russia.]

Abramson also says that "Millian is later revealed to be a key source - if an 'unwitting' one - for much of the dossier complied by former M16 Russia desk chief Christopher Steele in 2016 an published in January 2017 by Buzzfeed News.


There's a lot in just the 500 pages.  And Buzzfeed says after this first 500 page document

"Another installment will be released every month for at least the next eight years."

Here's the link to the documents.


I'd note that emptywheel says this is just the DOJ releasing documents just before and pertinent to the Donald Stone trial and that it will be a way to hide other information.  I didn't quite understand how it puts other info out of reach of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The Proof of Conspiracy Challenge

 The author's note says:

"The 3,350 endnotes for Proof of Conspiracy, comprising 4,300 individual citations, run over 250 pages of this book.  For this reason - and to ensure that this key element of the text is both link-enabled and searchable - it has been published for free online rather than in the pages of this book. You can find it at www.read.macmillan.com/proofofconspricacynotes." [It seems that url doesn't actually work, but I've linked it to the actual site.]

Here's the beginning of the first article cited in the endnotes of Seth Abramson's Proof of Conspiracy. 

"EXCLUSIVE: The secret yacht summit that realigned the Middle East:  Arab leaders from UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Jordan plotted to counter Turkey and Iran, and replace the GCC and Arab League

George Nader, the Lebanese-American businessman and convicted paedophile, who is co-operating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Donald Trump’s campaign funding, organised a secret summit of Arab leaders on a yacht in the Red Sea in late 2015, Middle East Eye can reveal. 

Nader proposed to the leaders gathered on the yacht that they should set up an elite regional group of six countries, which would supplant both the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the moribund Arab League.

Nader said this group of states could become a force in the region “that the US government could depend on” to counter the influence of Turkey and Iran, according to two sources briefed on the meeting.

Nader brought together Mohammed bin Salman, who was then deputy crown prince of Saudi Arabia; Mohammed bin Zayed, crown prince of Abu Dhabi; Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, president of Egypt; Prince Salman, crown prince of Bahrain; and King Abdullah of Jordan onto the yacht."

Below are the endnotes for the Introduction.  (Unfortunately, I couldn't get the links to transfer when I pasted this in.  I've put links in for the first endnote. You can go to the online footnotes  at https://static.macmillan.com/static/macmillan/proofofconspiracy/endnotes.pdf for live links for all the endnotes in the book.

But there are 250 pages of endnotes.  Instead, you could just read Abramson's book which ties the information from all those sources together in a readable way.  I realize a 566 page book sounds formidable, but it's really doable.  And if you want to be able to understand how bad things really are, to be able to write convincing emails to your Congressional representatives, and to challenge your ignorant friends, and to convince people why they shouldn't reelect Trump if he's still in office by then, well this is critical.

And 566 pages is doable.  Here's your challenge:

Option 1:  One chapter a day = eleven days of about 56 pages a day.
Option 2:  One chapter every two days = 22 days
Option 3:  Twenty pages a day = just under a month
Option 4:  Read three random chapters in one week
Option 5:  Create your own plan

Take an hour or so a day to go someplace quiet and read.  Outside at a park.  A coffee shop.  A nook in the library.  Take back your life from the internet.

I'm sure there are other good books that cover the same territory, but this is the best one I know about.  And after climate change, this is the most important issue we face.  And with Trump in the White House, headway on climate change is way too slow.

So, locate a copy.  If you're library doesn't have one, ask them to order a bunch.  Check your local bookstores.  (The Anchorage Barnes and Nobel had three as of yesterday.)   Go online to order.

I'm going to try to blog my way through this book because I think it's that important for people to know the depth of corruption our Republican Senate is tolerating.

Why all the endnotes?  Just to make the point that this book is not opinion.  It's based on reports of things that happened.  I know that people can pad the endnotes, but Abramson is a smart guy with good credentials, and he's offering you a seriously researched book.

NOTES
INTRODUCTION: THE RED SEA CONSPRACY AND THE GRAND BARGAIN

1. “David Hearst,” Middle East Eye.net (website), accessed June 26, 2019. https:// www.middleeasteye.net/users/david-hearst; David Hearst, “Exclusive: The Secret Yacht Summit That Realigned the Middle East,” Middle East Eye, March 19, 2018. https://www.middleeasteye.net/fr/news/george-nader-yacht- how-mbs-salman-red-sea-summit-mbz-sisi-plotted-qatar-turkey-jordan-saudi- gcc-arab-league-867425259
2. David Hearst, “Exclusive: The Secret Yacht Summit That Realigned the Middle East,” Middle East Eye, March 19, 2018. https://www.middleeasteye. net/fr/news/george-nader-yacht-how-mbs-salman-red-sea-summit-mbz-sisi- plotted-qatar-turkey-jordan-saudi-gcc-arab-league-867425259
3. “Contributor: David Hearst,” HuffPost, accessed June 26, 2019. https://www.huffpost.com/author/davidhearst129-926
4. David Hearst, “Exclusive: The Secret Yacht Summit That Realigned the Middle East,” Middle East Eye, March 19, 2018. https://www.middleeasteye. net/fr/news/george-nader-yacht-how-mbs-salman-red-sea-summit-mbz-sisi- plotted-qatar-turkey-jordan-saudi-gcc-arab-league-867425259
5. David Hearst, “Exclusive: The Secret Yacht Summit That Realigned the Middle East,” Middle East Eye, March 19, 2018. https://www.middleeasteye. net/fr/news/george-nader-yacht-how-mbs-salman-red-sea-summit-mbz-sisi- plotted-qatar-turkey-jordan-saudi-gcc-arab-league-867425259
6. Dexter Filkins, “A Saudi Prince’s Quest to Remake the Middle East,” New Yorker, April 2, 2018. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/09/a- saudi-princes-quest-to-remake-the-middle-east
7. Max Kutner, “Who is George Nader? Mueller Investigating WhetherMagazine Editor Helped UAE Buy White House Influence,” Newsweek, March 6, 2018. https://www.newsweek.com/who-george-nader-bannon- mbz-mueller-middle-east-791556; Creede Newton, “Mueller probe: Who is George Nader, convicted paedophile?,” Al Jazeera, April 6, 2018. https://

584 | endnotes

www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/mueller-probe-george-nader-convicted- paedophile-180404110222649.html; Desmond Butler, Tom LoBianco andBradley Klapper, “Mueller Probe Witness Secretly Backed UAE Agenda in Congress,” Associated Press, March 26, 2018. https://www.apnews. com/b4946f7bf1fe4328b0c81506434aa082; Mark Mazzetti, David D.Kirkpatrick, and Maggie Haberman, “Mueller’s Focus on Adviser toEmirates Suggests Broader Investigation,” New York Times, March 3, 2018.https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/03/us/politics/george-nader-mueller- investigation-united-arab-emirates.html

8. David Hearst, “Exclusive: The Secret Yacht Summit That Realigned the Middle East,” Middle East Eye, March 19, 2018. https://www.middleeasteye. net/fr/news/george-nader-yacht-how-mbs-salman-red-sea-summit-mbz-sisi- plotted-qatar-turkey-jordan-saudi-gcc-arab-league-867425259
9. David Hearst, “Exclusive: The Secret Yacht Summit That Realigned the Middle East,” Middle East Eye, March 19, 2018. https://www.middleeasteye. net/fr/news/george-nader-yacht-how-mbs-salman-red-sea-summit-mbz-sisi- plotted-qatar-turkey-jordan-saudi-gcc-arab-league-867425259
10. David Hearst, “Exclusive: The Secret Yacht Summit That Realigned the Middle East,” Middle East Eye, March 19, 2018. https://www.middleeasteye. net/fr/news/george-nader-yacht-how-mbs-salman-red-sea-summit-mbz-sisi- plotted-qatar-turkey-jordan-saudi-gcc-arab-league-867425259
11. Nader Habibi, “How Turkey and Saudi Arabia Became Frenemies—and Why the Khashoggi Case Could Change That,” The Conversation, October 17, 2018. https://theconversation.com/how-turkey-and-saudi-arabia-became- frenemies-and-why-the-khashoggi-case-could-change-that-105021
12. Nader Habibi, “How Turkey and Saudi Arabia Became Frenemies—and Why the Khashoggi Case Could Change That,” The Conversation, October 17, 2018. https://theconversation.com/how-turkey-and-saudi-arabia-became- frenemies-and-why-the-khashoggi-case-could-change-that-105021
13. Nader Habibi, “How Turkey and Saudi Arabia Became Frenemies—and Why the Khashoggi Case Could Change That,” The Conversation, October 17, 2018. https://theconversation.com/how-turkey-and-saudi-arabia-became- frenemies-and-why-the-khashoggi-case-could-change-that-105021
14. Meliha Benli Altunisik, “Bitter Frenemies: The Not-Quite-AllianceBetween Saudi Arabia and Turkey,” Foreign Affairs, May 15, 2012. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/turkey/2012-05-15/bitter-frenemies?cid=soc-twitter-in-snapshots-bitter_frenemies-051612
15. Nader Habibi, “How Turkey and Saudi Arabia Became Frenemies—and Why the Khashoggi Case Could Change That,” The Conversation, October 17, 2018. https://theconversation.com/how-turkey-and-saudi-arabia-became- frenemies-and-why-the-khashoggi-case-could-change-that-105021
16. Ismail Numan Telci, “Middle Eastern Supporters of Turkey’s FailedCoup,” editorial, Al Jazeera, July 14, 2017. https://www.aljazeera.com/

endnotes | 585

indepth/opinion/2017/07/middle-eastern-supporters-turkey-failed- coup-170714110836313.html; Mehmet Solmaz, “Why Saudi Arabia and
the UAE are targeting Turkey,” editorial, Middle East Eye, December 27, 2017. https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/why-saudi-arabia-and-uae- are-targeting-turkey; Haisam Hassanein, “A Break in Saudi and Turkish Relations Could Intensify MBS-Bibi Bromance,” editorial, Jerusalem Post, December 25, 2018. https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/A-break-in-Saudi-and- Turkish-relations-could-intensify-MbS-Bibi-bromance-575385

17. Nader Habibi, “How Turkey and Saudi Arabia Became Frenemies—and Why the Khashoggi Case Could Change That,” The Conversation, October 17, 2018. https://theconversation.com/how-turkey-and-saudi-arabia-became- frenemies-and-why-the-khashoggi-case-could-change-that-105021; Benny Avni, “Turkey Loses U.N. Security Council Seat in Huge Upset,” Newsweek, October 16, 2014. https://www.newsweek.com/venezuela-malaysia-angola- new-zealand-win-un-council-seats-277962
18. David Hearst, “Exclusive: The Secret Yacht Summit That Realigned the Middle East,” Middle East Eye, March 19, 2018. https://www.middleeasteye. net/fr/news/george-nader-yacht-how-mbs-salman-red-sea-summit-mbz-sisi- plotted-qatar-turkey-jordan-saudi-gcc-arab-league-867425259
19. David Hearst, “Exclusive: The Secret Yacht Summit That Realigned the Middle East,” Middle East Eye, March 19, 2018. https://www.middleeasteye. net/fr/news/george-nader-yacht-how-mbs-salman-red-sea-summit-mbz-sisi- plotted-qatar-turkey-jordan-saudi-gcc-arab-league-867425259
20. Mark Mazzetti and Ben Hubbard, “Rise of Saudi Prince Shatters Decadeof Royal Tradition,” New York Times, October 15, 2016. https://www.nytimes. com/2016/10/16/world/rise-of-saudi-prince-shatters-decades-of-royal- tradition.html
21. Mark Mazzetti and Ben Hubbard, “Rise of Saudi Prince Shatters Decadeof Royal Tradition,” New York Times, October 15, 2016. https://www.nytimes. com/2016/10/16/world/rise-of-saudi-prince-shatters-decades-of-royal- tradition.html
22. Mark Mazzetti and Ben Hubbard, “Rise of Saudi Prince Shatters Decadeof Royal Tradition,” New York Times, October 15, 2016. https://www.nytimes. com/2016/10/16/world/rise-of-saudi-prince-shatters-decades-of-royal- tradition.html
23. Mark Mazzetti, David D. Kirkpatrick, and Maggie Haberman, “Mueller’sFocus on Adviser to Emirates Suggests Broader Investigation,” New York Times, March 3, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/03/us/politics/ george-nader-mueller-investigation-united-arab-emirates.html
24. Noah Browning and John Irish, “Saudi Arabia Announces 34-State Islamic Military Alliance Against Terrorism,” Reuters, December 14, 2015. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-security-idUSKBN0TX2PG20151215

586 | endnotes

25. Gulf State Analytics, “The Saudi-Led Sunni Alliance: A Dangerous Stunt?”International Policy Digest, January 25, 2016. https://intpolicydigest. org/2016/01/25/the-saudi-led-sunni-alliance-a-dangerous-stunt/
26. “Iran Leading State Sponsor of Terrorism With ‘Near-Global Reach’: US,”NDTV (India), September 20, 2018. https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/ iran-leading-state-sponsor-of-terrorism-with-near-global-reach-us-1919238; Carol Morello, “Terrorism is Down Worldwide, but State DepartmentSays Iran Maintains ‘Near-Global Reach’,” Washington Post, September 19, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/terrorism- is-down-worldwide-but-state-department-says-iran-maintains-near-global- reach/2018/09/19/fc3a85b1-dbac-4496-a295-b78599cd6720_story.html
27. Mark Mazzetti, David D. Kirkpatrick, and Maggie Haberman, “Mueller’sFocus on Adviser to Emirates Suggests Broader Investigation,” New York Times, March 3, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/03/us/politics/ george-nader-mueller-investigation-united-arab-emirates.html
28. Umar Farooq, Nabih Bulos, and Tracy Wilkinson, “Turkey and the U.S.Used to be Close Allies. Today, They Can’t Even Agree on a Phone Call,”Los Angeles Times, January 25, 2018. https://www.latimes.com/world/ middleeast/la-fg-turkey-syria-patriotism-20180125-story.html
29. Holly Fletcher, “State Sponsor: Syria,” Council on Foreign Relations, February 1, 2008. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/state-sponsor-syria
30. Umar Farooq, Nabih Bulos, and Tracy Wilkinson, “Turkey and the U.S.Used to be Close Allies. Today, They Can’t Even Agree on a Phone Call,”Los Angeles Times, January 25, 2018. https://www.latimes.com/world/ middleeast/la-fg-turkey-syria-patriotism-20180125-story.html
31. Tom Perry and Orhan Coskun, “U.S.-Led Coalition Helps to Build NewSyrian Force, Angering Turkey,” Reuters, January 14, 2018. https://www. reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-sdf/u-s-led-coalition-helps-to- build-new-syrian-force-angering-turkey-idUSKBN1F30OA
32. Umar Farooq, Nabih Bulos, and Tracy Wilkinson, “Turkey and the U.S.Used to be Close Allies. Today, They Can’t Even Agree on a Phone Call,”Los Angeles Times, January 25, 2018. https://www.latimes.com/world/ middleeast/la-fg-turkey-syria-patriotism-20180125-story.html
33. Umar Farooq, Nabih Bulos, and Tracy Wilkinson, “Turkey and the U.S.Used to be Close Allies. Today, They Can’t Even Agree on a Phone Call,”Los Angeles Times, January 25, 2018. https://www.latimes.com/world/ middleeast/la-fg-turkey-syria-patriotism-20180125-story.html
34. Umar Farooq, Nabih Bulos, and Tracy Wilkinson, “Turkey and the U.S.Used to be Close Allies. Today, They Can’t Even Agree on a Phone Call,”Los Angeles Times, January 25, 2018. https://www.latimes.com/world/ middleeast/la-fg-turkey-syria-patriotism-20180125-story.html
35. Umar Farooq, Nabih Bulos, and Tracy Wilkinson, “Turkey and the U.S.Used to be Close Allies. Today, They Can’t Even Agree on a Phone Call,”

endnotes | 587Los Angeles Times, January 25, 2018. https://www.latimes.com/world/
middleeast/la-fg-turkey-syria-patriotism-20180125-story.html

36. Umar Farooq, Nabih Bulos, and Tracy Wilkinson, “Turkey and the U.S.Used to be Close Allies. Today, They Can’t Even Agree on a Phone Call,”Los Angeles Times, January 25, 2018. https://www.latimes.com/world/ middleeast/la-fg-turkey-syria-patriotism-20180125-story.html
37. Paul Waldman, “Saudi Arabia is Putting Money in Trump’s Pocket. Is That Shaping U.S. Policy?” editorial, Washington Post, October 16, 2018. https:// www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/10/16/saudi-arabia-is- putting-money-in-trumps-pocket-is-that-shaping-u-s-policy/
38. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “For the record, I have no financialinterests in Saudi Arabia (or Russia, for that matter). Any suggestion
    that I have is just more FAKE NEWS (of which there is plenty)!,”
    Twitter, October 16, 2018 6:15 a.m. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/ status/1052186219696803841
39. Paul Waldman, “Saudi Arabia is Putting Money in Trump’s Pocket. Is That Shaping U.S. Policy?” editorial, Washington Post, October 16, 2018. https:// www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/10/16/saudi-arabia-is- putting-money-in-trumps-pocket-is-that-shaping-u-s-policy/
40. Paul Waldman, “Saudi Arabia is Putting Money in Trump’s Pocket. Is That Shaping U.S. Policy?” editorial, Washington Post, October 16, 2018. https:// www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/10/16/saudi-arabia-is- putting-money-in-trumps-pocket-is-that-shaping-u-s-policy/
41. Michael Keller, Blacki Migliozzi, Caleb Melby, and Mira Rojanasakul,“Tracking Trump’s Web of Conflicts,” Bloomberg, December 22, 2017.https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/tracking-trumps-web-of-conflicts/
42. “Donald Trump: I Will Release Tax Returns,” Meet the Press, NBCNews, video, January 24, 2016. https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/ video/donald-trump-i-will-release-tax-returns-607836227723; Betsy Klein,Donna Borak, and Lauren Fox, “Trump Repeats Claim He Won’t Release His Taxes While He’s Under Audit,” CNN, April 10, 2019. https://www. cnn.com/2019/04/10/politics/donald-trump-taxes-release-audit/index.html;Donna Borak and Marshall Cohen, “Fact-Checking Trump’s Claims He’sUnder Audit,” CNN, April 4, 2019. https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/04/ politics/trump-audit-fact-check/index.html
43. David A. Fahrenthold and Jonathan O’Connell, “’I Like Them Very Much:’Trump Has Long-Standing Business Ties with Saudis, Who Have BoostedHis Hotels Since He Took Office,” Washington Post, October 11, 2018. https:// www.washingtonpost.com/politics/i-like-them-very-much-trump-has-long- standing-business-ties-with-saudis-who-have-boosted-his-hotels-since-he-took-office/2018/10/11/0870df24-cd67-11e8-a360-85875bac0b1f_story.html
44. “Trump and Saudi Arabia: Deep Business Ties Spark New Scrutiny,” CBS News, October 15, 2018. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-and-saudi-

588 | endnotesarabia-deep-business-ties-spark-new-scrutiny/

45. “Trump and Saudi Arabia: Deep Business Ties Spark New Scrutiny,” CBS News, October 15, 2018. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-and-saudi- arabia-deep-business-ties-spark-new-scrutiny/
46. NowThis (@nowthisnews), “Trump on Saudi Arabia then: ‘I deal withthe Saudis.’ Trump on Saudi Arabia now: ‘I don’t make deals with Saudi Arabia.’,” Twitter, November 21, 2018 6:53 p.m. https://twitter.com/ nowthisnews/status/1065437964795166720
47. David A. Fahrenthold and Jonathan O’Connell, “’I Like Them Very Much:’ Trump Has Long-Standing Business Ties with Saudis, Who Have Boosted His Hotels Since He Took Office,” Washington Post, October 11, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/i-like-them-very-much- trump-has-long-standing-business-ties-with-saudis-who-have-boosted-his-hotels-since-he-took-office/2018/10/11/0870df24-cd67-11e8-a360-85875bac0b1f_story.html; Bernard Condon, Stephen Braun, and TamiAbdollah, “’I Love the Saudis’: Trump Business Ties to Kingdom Run Deep,” Associated Press, October 12, 2018. https://www.apnews.com/cafffbc8448e49329e04ef7941c2b85a; Jake Thomas, “A Saudi Prince Helped Save Trump From Bankruptcy Twice In A 4-Year Period,”
    The Intellectualist, March 17, 2018. https://mavenroundtable.io/ theintellectualist/news/a-saudi-prince-helped-save-trump-from-bankruptcy- twice-in-a-4-year-period-S-mR63f8gE6eqlu2FTHx1A/
48. Bernard Condon, Stephen Braun, and Tami Abdollah, “’I Love the Saudis’: Trump Business Ties to Kingdom Run Deep,” Associated Press, October12, 2018. https://www.apnews.com/cafffbc8448e49329e04ef7941c2b85a;Jake Thomas, “A Saudi Prince Helped Save Trump From Bankruptcy Twice In A 4-Year Period,” The Intellectualist, March 17, 2018.https://mavenroundtable.io/theintellectualist/news/a-saudi-prince- helped-save-trump-from-bankruptcy-twice-in-a-4-year-period-S- mR63f8gE6eqlu2FTHx1A/; Peter Truell, A Saudi Prince Fond of High- Profile Investing,” New York Times, April 12, 1995. https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/12/business/a-saudi-prince-fond-of-high-profile-investing.html
49. Bernard Condon, Stephen Braun, and Tami Abdollah, “’I Love the Saudis’: Trump Business Ties to Kingdom Run Deep,” Associated Press, October12, 2018. https://www.apnews.com/cafffbc8448e49329e04ef7941c2b85a;David A. Fahrenthold and Jonathan O’Connell, “’I Like Them Very Much:’Trump Has Long-Standing Business Ties with Saudis, Who Have BoostedHis Hotels Since He Took Office,” Washington Post, October 11, 2018.https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/i-like-them-very-much-trump-has- long-standing-business-ties-with-saudis-who-have-boosted-his-hotels-since-he-took-office/2018/10/11/0870df24-cd67-11e8-a360-85875bac0b1f_story.html; “Trump and Saudi Arabia: Deep Business Ties Spark New Scrutiny,” CBS News, October 15, 2018. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-and- saudi-arabia-deep-business-ties-spark-new-scrutiny/

endnotes | 589

50. Bernard Condon, Stephen Braun, and Tami Abdollah, “’I Love the Saudis’: Trump Business Ties to Kingdom Run Deep,” Associated Press, October12, 2018. https://www.apnews.com/cafffbc8448e49329e04ef7941c2b85a
51. Bernard Condon, Stephen Braun, and Tami Abdollah, “’I Love the Saudis’: Trump Business Ties to Kingdom Run Deep,” Associated Press, October12, 2018. https://www.apnews.com/cafffbc8448e49329e04ef7941c2b85a;
52. NowThis (@nowthisnews), “Trump on Saudi Arabia then: ‘I deal withthe Saudis.’ Trump on Saudi Arabia now: ‘I don’t make deals with Saudi Arabia.’,” Twitter, November 21, 2018 6:53 p.m. https://twitter. com/nowthisnews/status/1065437964795166720; Dan Mangan, “TrumpClaims He has ‘No Financial Interests in Saudi Arabia’—But He MakesLots of Money From It,” CNBC, October 16, 2018. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/16/trump-says-no-financial-interests-in-saudi-arabia-but-makes-money.html
53. Alana Abramson, “Saudi Lobbying in the U.S. Has Tripled Since TrumpTook Office,” Time, October 18, 2018. http://time.com/5426499/jamal-khashoggi-saudi-influence-lobbying/
54. NowThis (@nowthisnews), “Trump on Saudi Arabia then: ‘I deal withthe Saudis.’ Trump on Saudi Arabia now: ‘I don’t make deals with Saudi Arabia.’,” Twitter, November 21, 2018 6:53 p.m. https://twitter.com/ nowthisnews/status/1065437964795166720
55. David D. Kirkpatrick, “Who Is Behind Trump’s Links to Arab Princes?A Billionaire Friend,” New York Times, June 13, 2018. https://www.nytimes. com/2018/06/13/world/middleeast/trump-tom-barrack-saudi.html
56. Profile of George Nader, The Daily Star (Lebanon), 2000. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/GetArticleBody.aspx?id=104987&username; Max Kutner, “Who Is George Nader? Mueller Investigating Whether Magazine Editor HelpedUAE Buy White House Influence,” Newsweek, March 6, 2018. https://www. newsweek.com/who-george-nader-bannon-mbz-mueller-middle-east-791556
57. Profile of George Nader, The Daily Star (Lebanon), 2000. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/GetArticleBody.aspx?id=104987&username; Max Kutner, “Who Is George Nader? Mueller Investigating Whether Magazine EditorHelped UAE Buy White House Influence,” Newsweek, March 6, 2018.https://www.newsweek.com/who-george-nader-bannon-mbz-mueller-middle- east-791556
58. Profile of George Nader, The Daily Star (Lebanon), 2000. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/GetArticleBody.aspx?id=104987&username; Max Kutner, “Who Is George Nader? Mueller Investigating Whether Magazine EditorHelped UAE Buy White House Influence,” Newsweek, March 6, 2018.https://www.newsweek.com/who-george-nader-bannon-mbz-mueller-middle- east-791556
59. Profile of George Nader, The Daily Star (Lebanon), 2000. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/GetArticleBody.aspx?id=104987&username; Max Kutner, “Who Is

590 | endnotes

George Nader? Mueller Investigating Whether Magazine Editor HelpedUAE Buy White House Influence,” Newsweek, March 6, 2018. https://www. newsweek.com/who-george-nader-bannon-mbz-mueller-middle-east-791556

60. Profile of George Nader, The Daily Star (Lebanon), 2000. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/GetArticleBody.aspx?id=104987&username; Max Kutner, “Who Is George Nader? Mueller Investigating Whether Magazine EditorHelped UAE Buy White House Influence,” Newsweek, March 6, 2018.https://www.newsweek.com/who-george-nader-bannon-mbz-mueller-middle- east-791556; Natasha Bertrand, “Why Was George Nader Allowed Into the White House?” The Atlantic, March 8, 2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/ politics/archive/2018/03/an-operative-with-trump-ties-was-once-indicted- on-an-obscenity-charge/555233/; George A. Nader, “At Home With the Ayatollah and His Men,” editorial, Washington Post, May 3, 1987. https:// www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1987/05/03/at-home-with-the- ayatollah-and-his-men/5ebe707d-e36e-417e-9848-9c6be661c087/
61. Natasha Bertrand, “Why Was George Nader Allowed Into the White House?” The Atlantic, March 8, 2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/ politics/archive/2018/03/an-operative-with-trump-ties-was-once-indicted- on-an-obscenity-charge/555233/; George A. Nader, “At Home With the Ayatollah and His Men,” editorial, Washington Post, May 3, 1987. https:// www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1987/05/03/at-home-with-the- ayatollah-and-his-men/5ebe707d-e36e-417e-9848-9c6be661c087/
62. Profile of George Nader, The Daily Star (Lebanon), 2000. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/GetArticleBody.aspx?id=104987&username; Max Kutner, “Who Is George Nader? Mueller Investigating Whether Magazine EditorHelped UAE Buy White House Influence,” Newsweek, March 6, 2018.https://www.newsweek.com/who-george-nader-bannon-mbz-mueller-middle- east-791556; Interview with President William J. Clinton, entered into Congressional Record 142, pt. 14, Thursday, February 1, 1996. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-1996-02-01/html/CREC-1996-02-01-pt1-PgE133-3.htm
63. Profile of George Nader, The Daily Star (Lebanon), 2000. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/GetArticleBody.aspx?id=104987&username; Max Kutner, “Who Is George Nader? Mueller Investigating Whether Magazine Editor HelpedUAE Buy White House Influence,” Newsweek, March 6, 2018. https://www. newsweek.com/who-george-nader-bannon-mbz-mueller-middle-east-791556
64. Josh Gerstein, “Mueller Witness was Convicted on Child Porn Charge,”Politico, March 16, 2018. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/16/george- nader-child-porn-467776
65. Josh Gerstein, “Mueller Witness was Convicted on Child Porn Charge,”Politico, March 16, 2018. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/16/george- nader-child-porn-467776; Natasha Bertrand, “Why Was George Nader Allowed Into the White House?” The Atlantic, March 8, 2018. https://www. theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/an-operative-with-trump-ties-was- once-indicted-on-an-obscenity-charge/555233/

endnotes | 591

66. Josh Gerstein, “Mueller Witness was Convicted on Child Porn Charge,”Politico, March 16, 2018. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/16/george- nader-child-porn-467776; Natasha Bertrand, “Why Was George Nader Allowed Into the White House?” The Atlantic, March 8, 2018. https://www. theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/an-operative-with-trump-ties-was- once-indicted-on-an-obscenity-charge/555233/; United States v. Nader, 621 F.Supp. 1076 (D.D.C. 1985). Justia. https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/ district-courts/FSupp/621/1076/1368341/
67. Natasha Bertrand, “Why Was George Nader Allowed Into the White House?” The Atlantic, March 8, 2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/ archive/2018/03/an-operative-with-trump-ties-was-once-indicted-on-an- obscenity-charge/555233/
68. Ian Schwartz, “Craig Unger: Untold Story of Trump, Soviet/RussiaPartnership; Russian Mafia Laundered Money Via Real Estate,” Real Clear Politics, August 16, 2018. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/ video/2018/08/16/craig_unger_untold_story_of_trump_russia_partnership_ laundered_money_via_his_real_estate.html
69. Profile of George Nader, The Daily Star (Lebanon), 2000. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/GetArticleBody.aspx?id=104987&username; Max Kutner, “Who Is George Nader? Mueller Investigating Whether Magazine EditorHelped UAE Buy White House Influence,” Newsweek, March 6, 2018.https://www.newsweek.com/who-george-nader-bannon-mbz-mueller-middle- east-791556
70. Chemi Shalev, “The Countless Israeli Connections to Mueller’s Probeof Trump and Russia,” editorial, Haaretz, May 26, 2018. https://www. haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-trump-russia-mueller-probe-the-israel- connections-1.6116639
71. Profile of George Nader, The Daily Star (Lebanon), 2000. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/GetArticleBody.aspx?id=104987&username; Max Kutner, “Who Is George Nader? Mueller Investigating Whether Magazine EditorHelped UAE Buy White House Influence,” Newsweek, March 6, 2018.https://www.newsweek.com/who-george-nader-bannon-mbz-mueller-middle- east-791556
72. Profile of George Nader, The Daily Star (Lebanon), 2000. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/GetArticleBody.aspx?id=104987&username; Max Kutner, “Who Is George Nader? Mueller Investigating Whether Magazine EditorHelped UAE Buy White House Influence,” Newsweek, March 6, 2018.https://www.newsweek.com/who-george-nader-bannon-mbz-mueller-middle- east-791556
73. Profile of George Nader, The Daily Star (Lebanon), 2000. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/GetArticleBody.aspx?id=104987&username; Max Kutner, “Who Is George Nader? Mueller Investigating Whether Magazine Editor HelpedUAE Buy White House Influence,” Newsweek, March 6, 2018. https://www. newsweek.com/who-george-nader-bannon-mbz-mueller-middle-east-791556

592 | endnotes

74. Profile of George Nader, The Daily Star (Lebanon), 2000. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/GetArticleBody.aspx?id=104987&username; Max Kutner, “Who Is George Nader? Mueller Investigating Whether Magazine EditorHelped UAE Buy White House Influence,” Newsweek, March 6, 2018.https://www.newsweek.com/who-george-nader-bannon-mbz-mueller-middle- east-791556
75. Mark Mazzetti, David D. Kirkpatrick, and Maggie Haberman, “Mueller’sFocus on Adviser to Emirates Suggests Broader Investigation,” New York Times, March 3, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/03/us/politics/ george-nader-mueller-investigation-united-arab-emirates.html
76. David D. Kirkpatrick and Mark Mazzetti, “How 2 Gulf Monarchies Soughtto Influence the White House,” New York Times, March 21, 2018. https:// www.nytimes.com/2018/03/21/us/politics/george-nader-elliott-broidy-uae-saudi-arabia-white-house-influence.html; Josh Gerstein, “Mueller Witnesswas Convicted on Child Porn Charge,” Politico, March 16, 2018. https:// www.politico.com/story/2018/03/16/george-nader-child-porn-467776
77. David D. Kirkpatrick and Mark Mazzetti, “How 2 Gulf Monarchies Soughtto Influence the White House,” New York Times, March 21, 2018. https:// www.nytimes.com/2018/03/21/us/politics/george-nader-elliott-broidy-uae-saudi-arabia-white-house-influence.html
78. 18 U.S. Code § 2252. Certain activities relating to material involving the sexual exploitation of minors. http://trac.syr.edu/laws/18/18USC02252.html;Josh Gerstein, “Mueller Witness was Convicted on Child Porn Charge,”Politico, March 16, 2018. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/16/george- nader-child-porn-467776
79. Josh Gerstein, “Mueller Witness was Convicted on Child Porn Charge,”Politico, March 16, 2018. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/16/george- nader-child-porn-467776
80. Josh Gerstein, “Mueller Witness was Convicted on Child Porn Charge,”Politico, March 16, 2018. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/16/george- nader-child-porn-467776
81. Josh Gerstein, “Mueller Witness was Convicted on Child Porn Charge,”Politico, March 16, 2018. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/16/george- nader-child-porn-467776
82. Josh Gerstein, “Mueller Witness was Convicted on Child Porn Charge,”Politico, March 16, 2018. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/16/george- nader-child-porn-467776
83. Mark Mazzetti, David D. Kirkpatrick, and Maggie Haberman, “Mueller’sFocus on Adviser to Emirates Suggests Broader Investigation,” New
    York Times, March 3, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/03/us/ politics/george-nader-mueller-investigation-united-arab-emirates.html; Natasha Bertrand, “Why Was George Nader Allowed Into the White House?” The Atlantic, March 8, 2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/

endnotes | 593archive/2018/03/an-operative-with-trump-ties-was-once-indicted-on-an-
obscenity-charge/555233/

84. Mark Mazzetti, David D. Kirkpatrick, and Maggie Haberman, “Mueller’sFocus on Adviser to Emirates Suggests Broader Investigation,” New York Times, March 3, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/03/us/politics/ george-nader-mueller-investigation-united-arab-emirates.html; “Frederic C.Hof,” Palestine: Information with Provenance (database), UCC PalestineSolidarity Campaign, accessed June 26, 2019. http://cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/php/authors.php?auid=20352
85. Mark Mazzetti, David D. Kirkpatrick, and Maggie Haberman, “Mueller’sFocus on Adviser to Emirates Suggests Broader Investigation,” New York Times, March 3, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/03/us/politics/ george-nader-mueller-investigation-united-arab-emirates.html;
86. Mark Mazzetti, David D. Kirkpatrick, and Maggie Haberman, “Mueller’sFocus on Adviser to Emirates Suggests Broader Investigation,” New York Times, March 3, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/03/us/politics/ george-nader-mueller-investigation-united-arab-emirates.html
87. Mark Mazzetti, David D. Kirkpatrick, and Maggie Haberman, “Mueller’sFocus on Adviser to Emirates Suggests Broader Investigation,” New York Times, March 3, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/03/us/politics/ george-nader-mueller-investigation-united-arab-emirates.html
88. Laura Rozen, “The Dealmaker: Mueller Witness Helped Broker $4.2 Billion Iraq-Russia Arms Deal,” Al-Monitor, March 8, 2018. https://www. al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/03/george-nader-mueller-investigation- russia-iraq-arms-deal.html
89. Natasha Bertrand, “Why Was George Nader Allowed Into the White House?” The Atlantic, March 8, 2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/ archive/2018/03/an-operative-with-trump-ties-was-once-indicted-on-an- obscenity-charge/555233/
90. Adam Levine, Marshall Cohen, and Erica Orden, “Former Key MuellerWitness George Nader Arrested on Child Pornography Charges,” CNN,June 4, 2019. https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/03/politics/george-nader- mueller-witness-child-pornography-charges/index.html; Rachel Maddow,“Child Porn Charges for Donald Trump-Tied Mueller Witness Raise Questions,” MSNBC, video, published June 3, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIQdNgMAfrk; Pilar Melendez, “George Nader, Witness in Mueller Probe, Denied Release on Child-Porn Charges,” Daily Beast, June 4, 2019. https://www.thedailybeast.com/george-nader-witness-in-mueller- probe-denied-release-on-child-porn-charges; Mark Mazzetti, David D.Kirkpatrick, Ben Protess, and Sharon LaFraniere, “Witness in MuellerInquiry Who Advises U.A.E. Ruler Also Has Ties to Russia,” New York Times, April 4, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/us/politics/ george-nader-russia-uae-special-counsel-investigation.html
91. Adam Entous, “Donald Trump’s New World Order,” New Yorker, June 11,

594 | endnotes2018. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/06/18/donald-trumps-
new-world-order

92. Adam Entous, “Donald Trump’s New World Order,” New Yorker, June 11, 2018. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/06/18/donald-trumps- new-world-order
93. Adam Entous, “Donald Trump’s New World Order,” New Yorker, June 11, 2018. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/06/18/donald-trumps- new-world-order
94. 18 U.S. Code § 371. Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud UnitedStates. Legal Information Institute. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/ text/18/371

What Are You Going To Do About It?

Who are these people, what do you know about them,  and why should you know?

George Nader Photo CNN	Erik Prinz Photo Bloomberg
Elliott Broidy Photo CNN	Paul Manafort Photo Guardian
Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (MBZ) (l) Mohammed bin Salman (MBS)  Photo Al Jazeera

Have you hear about "The Grand Bargain" Trump plans for the Middle East?  Seth Abramson's book comes out September 3 (it's still September 2 in Alaska, but it's the 3rd already in NY).  This Twitter Thread of 20 Tweets will chill you, because it isn't a Netflix series, it's how Trump got elected and the international machinations behind his election - what he got from them and what they want from him.  And are getting.  This won't take too much of your time, though it's probably not something you want to know, because then you'll either feel a.  helpless, b. depressed, or c. required to fight.  I hope you pick c.  How can you fight?

• Send the book to your Congressional Reps.
• Copy key passages and post them on social media.
• Suggest the book to your book club.
• Copy pages and post them on bulletin boards and bus stops.
• Give copies of the book, or of chapters, to your Republican friends and challenge them to refute the facts in the book.
• Apply for Canadian citizenship

Know that if Trump is reelected, the United States as we've known it is over.

I've written about this book recently.  Abramson is offering excerpts from the book this time.  Think of it as a preview  of the book (sorry, I'm of the era that knows what's now called  'trailers" - something that comes after - as 'previews' - something that comes before).  As I understand it, he's picked parts from the overview so you get a sense of details but also of the bigger picture in twenty tweets (280 characters per tweet).


Yes, I know Seth Abramson is doing his best to promote his book.  But I've read his previous book - Proof of Collusion.  It's the best guide I've seen to who is who in the Trump swamp. Think of it as a program guide at the theater or baseball game.   He's pulled together everything available on all the players and what they did.

 I expect this book will be the same with more stories.  This is different from getting dribbles daily that are hard to connect.  Abramson connects everything for you.  As you can see in the Twitter feed below. So I don't mind him pushing his book, and I don't feel any doubts about making people aware of it.  This is what all Americans should know about how our president got elected and what he owes Russia, Saudi Arabia, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and others.  These twenty tweets will get you started down this rabbit hole.

(THREAD) Now that Amazon lets readers preview the first 56 pages of the 600-page book PROOF OF CONSPIRACY—which officially launches in under 3 hours—I thought I'd post some key early excerpts. I hope you'll read on and retweet. The purchase link is below: https://t.co/YBrqfTtZ4Q

— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) September 3, 2019

[UPDATE Sept. 4, 2019:  I tried to put the whole thread up, but you have to click on the link at the bottom to find out more details of the men pictured above.]