In reviewing files for a big project I came across something new. Exhibit DX-563 of the Sussmann trial contains a report prepared by the Chicago field office on October 3, 2016, just before confidential human sources would tell the FBI about David Dagon being the author of the Alfa Bank allegation white paper.
By October 3rd, the FBI had destroyed the white paper, finding technical inconsistencies to such an extent that FBI agents mocked the analysis as “absurd” and “worthless” in messages between each other.
Their report also contained something quite intriguing:
The FBI obtained information from a “sensitive” source who knew that Stuart Bruseth had emailed 4 individuals with the Trump server allegations. Who could this source be? How did the FBI get this just 2 weeks after the allegations were delivered? How could the source not know the date of the emails but know that 4 people were emailed?
I’ve heard….rumors…of an anonymous “letter” being sent to David Dagon. It’s too soon and too much of a leap to make the connection to Bruseth (particularly because letters are not synonymous with emails, and Bruseth didn’t sent the emails anonymously), but there appears to be an untold chapter or two to the Alfa Bank story.
Which piece is the chicken and which is the egg, and which of our known characters have connections to Bruseth?
Bruseth was the Director of Communications for Letterone. That’s very interesting because the same Russian oligarchs founded and owned both Alfa Bank and Letterone. In fact, they would ask Bruseth to communicate with journalists running stories in the wake of the allegations and throughout the ensuing litigation:
Hat tip to Walkafyre for having this page of the Mikhail Fridman transcript saved.
Bruseth continued to work for Letterone until October 2021, shortly after the indictment of Michael Sussmann. Presumably, he departed out of fears that his own involvement would be disclosed.
Who are the 4 individuals he emails his claims to? Who is this mysterious source who connected the dots for the FBI early into the investigation?
The FBI ended their report with some tantalizing questions:
I recall this scheme required a “consciousness of guilt” element to justify the sudden cessation of the Alfa Bank comms. So, might this exchange constitute the hook into Alfa that might explain a defensive reaction as reported in the press. The peculiar inability to assign dates to this occurrence seems weird.
Thanks again. Keep up the great work.