Schiff to Send Criminal Referral to The DOJ Regarding Erik Prince

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) Official Portrait 2017. Photo By U.S. House of Reps., Office of Photography.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) is prepared to send a criminal referral to the Department Justice for Erik Prince the founder of Blackwater and Trump Campaign ally, alleging that Prince lied to the Intelligence Committee Panel in 2017 regarding Russian 2016 presidential election interference.

Schiff explains that during Prince’s testimony before the house panel in 2017, he testified that a meeting between he and Russian Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive officer of Russia’s soverign wealth fund, happened by chance.

But as Schiff explains to Robert Costa of the Washington Post, according to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Report, the meeting had been planned prior to Prince traveling to Seychelles.

We know from the Mueller report that that was not a chance meeting. We know there were communications after he returned. In very material ways I think the evidence strongly suggests that he willingly misled our committee, and the Justice Department needs to consider whether there’s a prosecutable case.

Adam Schiff interview Washington Post.

According to the Mueller Report the meeting between Prince, the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, was discussed between George Nader and Prince in early January 2017, just days before Prince “booked a ticket to the Seychelles on January 7th, 2017.” (pg. 152 PDF pg. 160, volume 1)

The day after Nader and Prince discussed the meeting with Dmitriev, Nader sent Prince copies of Dmitriev’s bio and included “positive quotes about Donald Trump.”

The Seychelles meeting took place on January 11th, 2017, prior to the meeting Dmitriev “sought assurance,” from Nader, that the meeting would be “worth while.”

Nader wrote to Dmitriev, “This guy [Prince] is designated by Steve [Bannon] to meet you! I know him and he is very very well connected and trusted by the New Team. His sister is now a Minister of Education.” (pg. 153 PDF pg. 161, volume 1)

Prince, Nader and Dmitriev met inside Nader’s villa, the meeting lasted about 45 minutes, Prince is said to have told Dmitriev that while Bannon was “not conventional,” he was “effective,” Prince added that he “provided policy papers to Bannon.”

Dmitriev and Prince met for a second time after Prince learned about a Russian aircraft carrier that had sailed to Libya. According to the Report, Prince explained to Dmitriev, “that the United States could not accept any Russian involvement in Libya because it would make the situation there much worse. (pg. 154 PDF pg. 162, volume 1)

The quotes Mueller included in the report are based on texts messages, but the report notes, “neither one [Bannon or Prince] was able to produce any of the messages they exchanged in the time period surrounding the Seychelles meeting. Prince’s phone contained no text messages prior to March 2017, though provider records indicate that he and Bannon exchanged dozens of messages.” (pg. 156 PDF pg. 164). Bannon was missing the same time frame of messages on his phone.

Schiff made the announcement during a Washington Post Live event.

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About Tiff 2519 Articles
Member of the Free Press who is politically homeless and a political junkie.