Russiagate target Kilimnik speaks out on 'spy' claims, Trump-Russia conspiracy theories

Pushback with Aaron Mate

Pushback with Aaron Maté

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4.7 • 594 Ratings

🗓️ 30 May 2021

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the last year, US government, intelligence, and Congressional bodies have accused former Paul Manafort aide Konstantin Kilimnik of being a "Russian intelligence officer" or "Russian influence agent" who passed secret Trump campaign polling data to Russia in 2016. The FBI has even issued a $250,000 reward for Kilimnik's arrest on a lowly witness tampering charge -- more than double the amount for six murderers on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. In exclusive audio excerpts, Konstantin Kilimnik talks to Aaron Maté about the explosive -- and evidence-free -- US government claims about him. Despite his supposed central role in the Trump-Russia saga, Kilimnik says that no US government investigator has ever contacted him. He believes it's his Russian passport, not any actual evidence, that put him in the US intelligence crosshairs. To make the Russiagate narrative work, Kilimnik says, "they needed a f-----g Russian. I happen to be that f------g Russian." Guest: Konstantin Kilimnik. Ukrainian-Russian political consultant and former aide to Paul Manafort. Wanted by the FBI on a $250,000 bounty for a witness tampering indictment in the Mueller investigation. Neither the FBI or Mueller probe ever contacted him. Read more: https://mate.substack.com/p/accused-russian-spy-kilimnik-refutes

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Pushback. I'm Erin Mate.
0:06.0	This is a Russiagate story. So if you're tired of Russiagate, if you moved on, totally
0:12.0	understand this story is not for you. But if you are still interested, then we have a pretty big exclusive today.
0:18.0	And that is an interview that you won't get anywhere else with
0:22.9	Constantine Kalimnik who really is the last Russian standing when it comes to
0:28.4	Russia gate because by now after more than four years all the many
0:33.2	conspiracy theories about Trump and Russia colluding have collapsed the
0:37.3	P-tape, Michael Cohen
0:39.2	visiting Prague to meet with Russian hackers, Trump and Russia secretly communicating via a server
0:49.0	set up by a Russian bank. All these things are done by now. They're dead. But there is an ongoing effort to keep
0:56.2	the Trump-Russia conspiracy theory alive by invoking this man, Constantine Kalymnik, and accusing
1:03.1	him of being a Russian spy who secretly passed polling data to Russia from the Trump campaign
1:09.5	in 2016.
1:11.6	So we're going to hear Constantine Kalymnik respond to these allegations today in his own words.
1:17.2	I've already published an article based on this interview with him that I did at Real Clear
1:21.9	Investigations.
1:22.8	But here at the Gray Zone, we have the exclusive audio from that interview and we'll hear pieces of that audio.
1:30.0	Yeah, here's a problem. I mean, I wish I knew what they were talking about. I wish they gave at least
1:36.5	one example of this kind of activity so that I could at least see where they're driving with it.
1:43.9	I mean, first of all, you know, they're driving with it i mean first of all you know i have no relationship
1:48.0	whatsoever to any security services being russian or ukrainian or american or you know any of that
1:55.7	kind uh i mean i have worked in politics for most of my life and I just have not been approached
	...

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