April 2, 2017

DONALD'S PRAYER GOES UNANSWERED:

White House pulled out of meet and greet with 'conservatives' favorite Russian' over suspected mob ties (Michael Isikoff, 4/02/17, Yahoo News)

The White House abruptly canceled a scheduled meeting in February between President Trump and a high-level Russian central banker after a national security aide discovered the official had been named by Spanish police as a suspected "godfather" of an organized crime and money-laundering ring, according to an administration official and four other sources familiar with the event.

The event had been planned as a meet and greet with President Trump and Alexander Torshin, the deputy governor of the Bank of Russia and a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, in a waiting room at the Washington Hilton before the National Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 2. Torshin, a top official in his country's central bank, headed a Russian delegation to the annual event and was among a small number of guests who had been invited by Prayer Breakfast leaders to meet with Trump before it began.

But while reviewing the list of guests, a White House national security aide responsible for European affairs noticed Torshin's name and flagged him as a figure who had "baggage," a reference to his suspected ties to organized crime, an administration official told Yahoo News. 

Posted by at April 2, 2017 10:04 AM

  

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