Igor Sechin’s Fever Dream
Igor Sechin has played his hand well, as one of Putin’s most notable accomplices, he is the metaphorical pilot fish leading the Russian President to a grand feast featuring the honor and wealth of the United States.
I began putting notes together for this article in 2016, well before Donald Trump Jr. incrementally revealed secret meetings at Trump Tower arranged by publicist Rob Goldstone. It was clear to me then, and even clearer now, that Russian oligarchs loyal to Vladimir Putin were trading national intelligence and hacking capabilities with the Trump family in order to influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. If successful, the culmination of their effort would place Donald Trump at the helm of the world’s most powerful country. Once in power, Trump would be expected to reciprocate.
The removal of US sanctions against Igor Sechin would be first and foremost. As one of Putin’s closest advisors and leader of the Siloviki faction, a lobbying group of former security services agents, Sechin had been directly involved in the destabilization of Ukraine and the illegal annexation of Sevastopol and Crimea. His close association with Putin and the immense wealth, derived from his role as CEO, President, and Chairman of the Management Board for Russia’s oil giant Rosneft, made him one of the first Russian oligarchs sanctioned by the United States. His…
