MI5 refused to investigate ‘Russian spy’s’ links to Tories, says whistleblower

MI5 repeatedly refused to investigate evidence that an alleged Russian spy was attempting to cultivate influence with senior Conservative politicians
and channel illegal Russian funds into the party, a Tory member has alleged in a new complaint lodged with the investigatory powers tribunal (IPT).

Sergei Cristo, a Conservative Party activist and a former journalist with the BBC World Service, has lodged a complaint with the investigatory powers tribunal,
filing the case after corresponding with the chair of parliament’s intelligence and security committee, Conservative MP Julian Lewis,
who recommended he take the information to the authorities.

The committee’s Russia report claimed in 2020 that the security services had turned a blind eye to “credible evidence” of Russian interference
and Cristo’s allegations offer potentially explosive new evidence that confirms its findings.

Labour MP Ben Bradshaw said “allegations that the security services ignored evidence from a Conservative whistleblower exposing Russian infiltration at the highest levels of the party are truly shocking”
and claimed the “Conservative party’s Russia problem” was an ongoing threat to Britain’s national security.

Cristo says that it was reading the Russia report that made him “suddenly aware that maybe the story I had was more significant than I thought”
and, at Lewis’s suggestion, he wrote to Cressida Dick, then commissioner of the Met police.

He received a response from the counter-terrorism command (SO15) who said it was not a matter for the Met and advised him to take it to the IPT
– which oversees the security services
– which he has now done.

The allegations centre around the formation of a group called
Conservative Friends of Russia in 2012, and its relationship with a Russian diplomat, #Sergey #Nalobin.

In August of that year, the Russian ambassador, #Alexander #Yakovenko, hosted a lavish launch party for the group in the gardens of his residence in Kensington
with guests who included the former minister of culture, media and sport, #John #Whittingdale,
and Boris Johnson’s now wife, #Carrie #Symonds.

The Russian government also funded an all-expenses-paid trip to Moscow
for a handpicked group of members including the future CEO of Vote Leave, #Matthew #Elliott.

Cristo says his suspicions about Nalobin, who was the political first secretary at the embassy, had been aroused two years earlier
when he was approached by the diplomat and they met at the Carlton Club.

When Nalobin learned that Cristo was a volunteer with the treasurers’ department of the Conservative campaign headquarters (CCHQ), he said he could
“make introductions to Russian companies who would donate money to the Conservative party”.

“I knew straight away that what he was suggesting was illegal under UK law,” Cristo wrote in a letter to Lewis last year.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/21/mi5-refused-to-investigate-russian-spys-links-to-tories-says-whistleblower?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

@skykiss

Mark Paoletta: Flacking for the Thomases

#Mark #Paoletta is one of the most aggressive defenders of U.S. Supreme Court Justice #Clarence #Thomas

He has assailed Senators and reporters who raise concerns about the serious ethical issues raised by the actions of Thomas and his wife, Ginni. 

When Paoletta worked in the George H.W. Bush administration he worked on the confirmation of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court.

#Leonard #Leo also worked on that confirmation battle. 

In 1991, Anita Hill testified under oath that Thomas had engaged in gross sexual overtures toward her when she worked with him in the Reagan administration.

Thomas denied her claims, and his GOP allies attacked her character. 

Since then, Paoletta has repeatedly defended Thomas, and since at least 2016 he has been part of the PR effort to buttress Thomas.   

In 2022, for example, the Federalist, a far right-wing blog site funded by #Dick #Uihlein, published a piece by Mark Paoletta attacking an investigation by Jane Mayer in the New Yorker about #Ginni Thomas’ close ties to right-wing groups, including some that file briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court. 

The Federalist’s piece resulted in a correction of how it tried to defend the Thomases with a comparison that effectively mischaracterized the recusal practices of another federal judge and her spouse. 

Paoletta has penned other pieces defending Thomas in that blog, such as
calling Anita Hill a liar.

This past July the Washington Post revealedthat Leo steered at least $1.8M into a PR and online astroturf campaign to attack a 2016 HBO film about the Clarence Thomas’ nomination.

Paoletta was the face of the campaign and, it turns out, was paid $300,000 by Leo’s Judicial Education Project, according to other disclosures. 

When asked by the Post, Paoletta confirmed, “my good friend Leonard Leo’s group provided funding for this work,” including the Thomas film.

Paoletta also represented Ginni Thomas before the January 6th committee after the Washington Post reported that she repeatedly texted Trump’s Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, to stop the Electoral College votes from being counted after the 2020 election and urged numerous state legislators to overturn Biden’s election too. 

Paoletta also provided a statement to the Washington Post on Ginni’s behalf, after it was revealed that her group,
“Crowdsourcers for Culture and Liberty,” received $600,000 in anonymous contributions funneled through Capital Research Center (CRC) to engage in culture war battles.

Around the time of this contribution, CRC signed onto a brief petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case on emission regulations.

In 2021, during the Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmation Paoletta was also listed as the contact, along with Judicial Crisis Network’s (JCN) #Carrie #Severino, on a memoir about Thomas.

JCN spent $1.5 million on an ad buy ostensibly about KBJ but that was mostly a promo of a vanity biopic about Thomas.

The ad buy was tied to Leo’s for-profit PR firm CRC Advisors.

That ad campaign touting Thomas came as news was breaking about Ginni’s role in repeatedly texting Meadows to try to stop Americans’ votes for Biden from being counted.   

That JCN ad led True North to examine all the funders of that video where Thomas claimed to love hanging out in his RV at Walmart more than going to the beach,
and one of those funders was the long-time benefactors of the Thomases’ luxury lifestyle: #Harlan #Crow.

That painting,
which was called just five guys discussing the law by the artist,
includes Paoletta with Crow, Leonard Leo, Clarence Thomas, and another litigator, #Bo #Rutledge.

Paoletta is the one sitting between Leo and Thomas.

Ansev Demirhan, a researcher with True North, is the one who found that painting that has now been seen around the world.

https://truenorthresearch.org/2023/11/who-is-mark-paoletta-he-is-one-of-the-biggest-defenders-of-clarence-and-ginni-thomas-in-the-scandals-their-actions-have-created/