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Sergei Millian
Born
Siarhei Kukuts

(1978-10-22) October 22, 1978 (age 46)[1]
Belarus
NationalityBelarus, United States[2]
Other namesSergio Millian, Sergey Kukuts, and Sarhei Kukuts[3]
EducationMinsk State Linguistic University[4]
OccupationBusinessman
Websitesergeimillian.com

Sergei Millian (born Siarhei Kukuts; October 22, 1978) is a Belarusian-American businessman and former president of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce. He has claimed association with Donald Trump and members of Trump's 2016 election campaign, and he was alleged to have been a source for the Steele dossier. Millian has denied being a source. In November 2021, after the indictment of Steele's primary subsource Igor Danchenko for allegedly lying to the FBI about the sources he used in compiling claims for the dossier, The Washington Post corrected and removed large portions of their previous articles that had identified Millian as a source.[5]

Life in America

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In 2001, Millian moved to the United States,[6] and in May 2006, he formed the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce in Atlanta.[7][8][9][10] In January 2016, Millian stated that the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce has about 200 businesses and most of them are in the United States.[11]

Millian has also worked as a translator and interpreter, including for clients such as the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[12] He has claimed to have "high-level contacts in the Russian government" but denied that he was affiliated with Russian intelligence services.[13]

In 2007, Millian met Donald Trump and Jorge Pérez at a horse racing event in Miami,[14] and he has claimed that Donald Trump then introduced him to Michael Cohen.[15] Millian claims that he was subsequently contracted to market Trump Hollywood properties by a brokerage company hired by the Trump Organization and The Related Group.[15][16] He also claimed to be the "exclusive broker" for Trump Organization properties in the former Soviet Union.[16] Trump Hollywood has stated that they have no record of any signed agreement with Millian;[16] Michael Cohen has also denied meeting Millian and said that Millian had no substantive relationship with Trump or his company.[13]

Trump 2016 presidential campaign

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See also: Topical timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections

During Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, Millian began months-long outreach to Trump's onetime foreign policy advisor, George Papadopoulos.[13] In an August 2016 Facebook message, he offered to supply Papadopoulos with a "disruptive technology that might be instrumental in [his] political work for the campaign."[17] Papadopolous told investigators for the Mueller report that he had no memory of the matter.[17] Millian also offered Papadopoulos a consulting contract to work simultaneously for Trump and an unidentified Russian, which Papadopoulos declined.[13]

Alleged connection to the Steele dossier

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Allegations that Millian was a source

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Millian was reportedly identified as Sources D and E in the Steele dossier and later as "Person 1" in the Inspector General's report.[18][19][20][21][14][22] As an alleged source, Millian was said to have shared key information with a compatriot (later identified as Steele's primary subsource, Russian analyst Igor Danchenko), who then shared it with Christopher Steele. Millian has denied being a source for any material in the dossier,[22][23][24] and he has reportedly refused to cooperate with investigators for the Mueller report.[25] According to Christopher Steele, Danchenko told him he met with Millian in 2016 on three different occasions at restaurants in Washington DC, New York City, and Charleston, South Carolina.[26][27] However, Danchenko told the FBI that he never met Millian, but only spoke on the telephone with someone who he believed was Millian.[28][29] Danchenko was indicted by John Durham in November 2021 (and later acquitted[30]) for allegedly having fabricated this telephone conversation with Millian,[28][29] and The Washington Post later corrected and removed large portions of their previous articles that had identified Millian as a key source of the Steele dossier.[5]

In October 2022, judge Anthony Trenga cast doubt on Millian and two 2020 emails he wrote denying he talked to Danchenko: The "emails lack the necessary 'guarantees of trustworthiness' as the government does not offer direct evidence that Millian actually wrote the emails, and, even if he did, Millian possessed opportunity and motive to fabricate and/or misrepresent his thoughts."[31]

Claims allegedly made by Millian in the dossier

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Source E (in September 2022, reported to have been Bernd Kuhlen, a German citizen who does not speak Russian[32]) and Source D were reported as the sources behind multiple allegations in the Steele dossier,[7][14][33] including the alleged prostitution ("pee tape") incident at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Moscow.[34][26] According to the founders of Fusion GPS, seven Russian sources told Steele about this incident.[34] According to the dossier, these included Sources D and E and others in Steele's "alphabet list of assets".[35] Media reports in November 2021, however, suggest that the dossier's claims about prostitutes in Moscow did not originate from Millian, but from Charles Dolan Jr., who was "a longtime participant in Democratic Party politics".[36]

Source E was also alleged to have admitted to "a well-developed conspiracy of cooperation between [the Trump campaign] and the Russian leadership...managed for Trump by former campaign chairman Paul Manafort",[14] that included "moles in the Democratic Party"[7] and coordinated cyber-attacks such as the 2016 Democratic National Committee email leak.[7][35] This was alleged to have the objectives of swinging supporters of Bernie Sanders away from Hillary Clinton and toward Donald Trump, weakening Clinton and bolstering Trump.[37][38][39][40] In return for this assistance, Source E alleged that the Trump team had agreed to "sideline Russian intervention in Ukraine as a campaign issue and to raise US/NATO defense commitments in the Baltic and Eastern Europe to deflect attention away from Ukraine."[35] Source E was also alleged to have said that the Trump camp became angry and resentful toward Putin when they realized he not only was aiming to weaken Clinton and bolster Trump, but was attempting to "undermine the US government and democratic system more generally".[37][38]

Some of the claims in the dossier allegedly made by Source E became part of the FBI's foreign intelligence surveillance warrants on Carter Page.[38]

Work for the FBI

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Millian was a confidential human source for the FBI field office in Atlanta from September 2007 to March 2011.[41][42]

FBI counterintelligence investigation

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In August 2016, the FBI opened a counterintelligence case on Millian to determine if he had been "directed to engage in activities related to Russian Government efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election." In January 2019, the case was ultimately closed.[43][44]

Awards

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In January 2015, Millian received the Silver Archer Award in the category of "Persona," considered to be the most prestigious, for his efforts to attract investments to Russia, which were estimated to be around $500 million (~$628 million in 2023).[45][46][47]

References

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  1. ^ "Sergei Millian". Archived from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021. Mr. Sergei Millian was born in the Republic of Belarus on October 22, 1978
  2. ^ "Sergei Millian Official Website". Sergei Millian.
  3. ^ Senate Intelligence Committee (August 18, 2020). "REPORT116-XX. REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE UNITED STATES SENATE ON RUSSIAN ACTIVE MEASURES CAMPAIGNS AND INTERFERENCE IN THE 2016 U.S. ELECTION VOLUME 5: COUNTERINTELLIGENCE THREATS AND VULNERABILITIES" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
  4. ^ Corn, David (January 19, 2017). "Investigators on the Trump-Russia Beat Should Talk to This Man". Mother Jones. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Farhi, Paul (November 12, 2021). "The Washington Post corrects, removes parts of two stories regarding the Steele dossier". Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 12, 2021. The Washington Post on Friday took the unusual step of correcting and removing large portions of two articles, published in March 2017 and February 2019, that had identified a Belarusan American businessman as a key source of the 'Steele dossier,' a collection of largely unverified reports that claimed the Russian government had compromising information about then-candidate Donald Trump. The newspaper's executive editor, Sally Buzbee, said The Post could no longer stand by the accuracy of those elements of the story. It had identified businessman Sergei Millian as 'Source D,' the unnamed figure who passed on the most salacious allegation in the dossier to its principal author, former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele. The story's headline was amended, sections identifying Millian as the source were removed, and an accompanying video summarizing the article was eliminated. An editor's note explaining the changes was added. Other stories that made the same assertion were corrected as well.
  6. ^ "Trump's secret informant fears for his life". February 2, 2017. Archived from the original on May 28, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2020. Millian moved to the United States in 2001.
  7. ^ a b c d Bertrand, Natasha (November 17, 2017). "Kushner received emails from Sergei Millian — an alleged dossier source who was in touch with George Papadopoulos". Business Insider. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
  8. ^ Miller, Leigh (February 12, 2006). "Russian-American Chamber of Commerce Formed in Atlanta". Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2020. A Russian-American Chamber of Commerce has been formed in Atlanta to encourage business ties between Russia and the former Soviet republics and Georgia and to bring investment to the state.
  9. ^ Say, May (August 25, 2016). "When It Comes To Business, Relations Between Russia And The U.S. Are Surprisingly Strong". Archived from the original on May 28, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2020. Sergei Millian, president of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce – established in 2006 in Atlanta – estimates there are more than 10,000 such businesses in our two countries, employing up to 3 million people.
  10. ^ "Georgia Corporations Division: Russian-American Chamber of Commerce". Retrieved May 23, 2018. Date of Formation / Registration Date: 5/24/2006
  11. ^ Злодорев, Дмитрий (Zlodorev, Dmitry) (6 January 2016). "Президент РАТП: связи РФ и Вашингтона могут улучшиться после выборов" [RAPP President: Ties between Russia and Washington May Improve After Elections]. RIA Novosti (in Russian). Retrieved 23 June 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ Maremont, Mark (January 24, 2017). "Key Claims in Trump Dossier Said to Come From Head of Russian-American Business Group". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on March 23, 2017. Retrieved May 29, 2020. In the dossier, the source believed to be Mr. Millian is referred to at various times as both Source D and Source E and is cited as somebody "speaking in confidence to a compatriot" or "speaking in confidence to a trusted associate."
  13. ^ a b c d "Belarus-born businessman sought proximity to Trump's world in 2016". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-11-13.
  14. ^ a b c d Helderman, Rosalind S.; Hamburger, Tom (March 29, 2017). "Who is 'Source D'? The man said to be behind the Trump-Russia dossier's most salacious claim". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 29, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2019. The allegations by Millian — whose role was first reported by the Wall Street Journal and has been confirmed by The Washington Post — were central to the dossier compiled by the former spy, Christopher Steele.
  15. ^ a b Belton, Catherine (October 31, 2016). "The shadowy Russian emigre touting Trump". Financial Times. Archived from the original on February 27, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2020. The chamber of commerce removed from its website earlier this year an April 2009 newsletter, where Mr Millian said the chamber had "signed formal agreements" with the Trump Organisation, Mr Perez's Related Group and one other company to "jointly service the Russian clients' commercial, residential and industrial real-estate needs".
  16. ^ a b c Mosk, Matthew (February 20, 2018). "Where in the world is Sergei Millian? Congress's Trump-Russia investigators hunt for mystery man". Archived from the original on March 17, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2020. Millian has not always been silent. He granted an interview to ABC News in July of 2016, during the presidential campaign. He described meeting Trump in 2008 during a marketing meeting to help bring attention to the Trump-branded development in Hollywood, Florida.
  17. ^ a b Kim, Soo Rin (April 21, 2019). "Russia-linked figures in Mueller's probe come in from the cold after report's release". Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2020. The Mueller report indicated that Millian in August 2016 sent a Facebook message to Papadopoulos offering to share with him "a disruptive technology that might be instrumental in your political work for the campaign."
  18. ^ Bertrand, Natasha (December 11, 2019). "Watchdog report a 'roadmap' for Russian spooks, intel vets say". Politico. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  19. ^ Office of the Inspector General U.S. Department of Justice (December 9, 2019). "Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane Investigation" (PDF). justice.gov. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  20. ^ Maremont, Mark (January 24, 2017). "Key Claims in Trump Dossier Said to Come From Head of Russian-American Business Group". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on March 23, 2017. Retrieved May 29, 2020. In the dossier, the source believed to be Mr. Millian is referred to at various times as both Source D and Source E and is cited as somebody "speaking in confidence to a compatriot" or "speaking in confidence to a trusted associate."
  21. ^ Ross, Brian; Mosk, Matthew (January 30, 2017). "US-Russia Businessman Said to Be Source of Key Trump Dossier Claims". Archived from the original on January 25, 2017. Retrieved May 29, 2020. The source of the most salacious allegations in the uncorroborated dossier about President Trump and the Russians is a onetime Russian government translator, according to a person familiar with the raw intelligence provided to the FBI.
  22. ^ a b Bertrand, Natasha (February 11, 2017). "The timeline of Trump's ties with Russia lines up with allegations of conspiracy and misconduct". Business Insider. Archived from the original on May 28, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2020. Source E," according to recent reports by the Wall Street Journal and ABC, is Sergei Millian. Millian, who attended several black-tie events at Trump's inauguration last month, denies this.
  23. ^ Helderman, Rosalind; Hamburger, Tom (February 7, 2019). "Sergei Millian, identified as an unwitting source for the Steele dossier, sought proximity to Trump's world in 2016". Archived from the original on February 7, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2020. On Facebook and in literature for his Russian chamber of commerce, he posted a photo of himself with Trump, snapped at a horse track in Miami in 2007 after he said "mutual associates" introduced them.
  24. ^ "Durham probe offers fresh support for man who has long denied being 'Steele dossier' source". ABC News. Retrieved 2021-11-13.
  25. ^ "The key unanswered questions from the Mueller report". The Guardian. 2019-04-19. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
  26. ^ a b Wood, Paul (August 12, 2020). "Was the 'pee tape' a lie all along?". The Spectator. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  27. ^ Wood, Paul. "Was the 'pee tape' a lie all along? | The Spectator". www.spectator.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-11-13.
  28. ^ a b "Russian National Indicted for Making False Statements to the FBI". November 4, 2021. Archived from the original on November 4, 2021. The March 16, 2017, May 18, 2017, Oct. 24, 2017, and Nov. 16, 2017, counts involve statements made by Danchenko on those dates to FBI agents regarding information he purportedly had received from an anonymous caller who he believed to be a particular individual [Sergei Millian], when in truth and in fact he knew that was untrue. The information purportedly conveyed by the anonymous caller included the allegation that there were communications ongoing between the Trump campaign and Russian officials and that the caller had indicated the Kremlin might be of help in getting Trump elected.
  29. ^ a b "USA v Igor Y. Danchenko". November 4, 2021. Archived from the original on November 4, 2021. DANCHENKO's January 24, 2017 and January 25, 2017 statements claiming that he spoke with an individual that he believed to be Chamber President-1 [Sergei Millian] and arranged to meet him in New York, were knowingly and intentionally false. In truth and in fact, and as reflected in contemporaneous communications, DANCHENKO did not receive such a call from Chamber President-l, and did not agree to meet Chamber President-1 in New York.
  30. ^ Jester, Julia (October 18, 2022). "Analyst who provided Trump-Russia dossier information is acquitted of lying to FBI". NBC News. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  31. ^ Savage, Charlie; Goldman, Adam (October 9, 2022). "Judge Narrows Trial of Analyst Who Reported Salacious Claims About Trump". The New York Times. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  32. ^ "USA vs. Danchenko" (PDF). p. 8. Retrieved September 13, 2022. The Government has interviewed and expects to call at trial the then-general manager of the Ritz-Carlton Moscow, Bernd Kuhlen, a German citizen who does not speak Russian (and whom the Steele Reports describe as "Source E," a senior (western) member of staff at the hotel.")
  33. ^ Isikoff, Michael; Corn, David (March 17, 2018). "Russian Roulette: the real story behind the Steele dossier on Donald Trump". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  34. ^ a b Ewing, Philip (November 22, 2019). "In 'Crime In Progress,' Fusion GPS Chiefs Tell The Inside Story Of The Steele Dossier". NPR. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  35. ^ a b c Blum, Howard (March 30, 2017). "How Ex-Spy Christopher Steele Compiled His Explosive Trump-Russia Dossier". Vanity Fair. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  36. ^ "Igor Danchenko arrested, charged with lying to FBI about information in Steele dossier". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-11-13.
  37. ^ a b Weindling, Jacob (January 11, 2017). "The 31 Most Explosive Allegations against Trump from the Leaked Intelligence Document". Paste. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  38. ^ a b c Office of the Inspector General U.S. Department of Justice (December 9, 2019). "Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane Investigation" (PDF). justice.gov. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  39. ^ Yglesias, Matthew; Prokop, Andrew (February 2, 2018). "The Steele dossier on Trump and Russia, explained". Vox. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
  40. ^ Garossino, Sandy (January 14, 2017). "Trump's Ill-Gotten Victory: Intel dossier says Putin helped Sanders, Stein". National Observer. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  41. ^ "USA v Danchenko" (PDF). p. 99. Retrieved April 18, 2023. Mr. Millian, at one time, had been a source. [...] I believe [the information that Millian] provided was the Atlanta -- the Atlanta field office. [...] I believe [Millian's status as a confidential human source] was closed because he moved out of the area of responsibility for the Atlanta field office.
  42. ^ "Report on Matters Related to Intelligence Activities and Investigations Arising Out of the 2016 Presidential Campaigns" (PDF). p. 185. Retrieved May 15, 2023. From September 2007 to March 2011, Sergei Millian served as an FBI CHS.
  43. ^ "USA vs Danchenko" (PDF). October 11, 2022. They did investigate Papadopoulos. They did investigate Manafort. They did investigate Carter Page, and they did investigate Sergei Millian, and that was in the August of 2016.
  44. ^ "Report on Matters Related to Intelligence Activities and Investigations Arising Out of the 2016 Presidential Campaigns" (PDF). p. 185. Retrieved May 17, 2023. On January 17, 2019, the FBI closed its case on Millian, noting that "the investigation found no confirmation that [Millian] was directed to engage in activities related to Russian Government efforts to interfere with the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election."
  45. ^ "Russian America projects get Silver Archer awards in US". January 31, 2015. Archived from the original on April 8, 2021. The prize in the most prestigious category "Persona" was given to Sergey Millian, the president of Russian-American Chamber of Commerce, who has organized the cooperation between Russian and US businessmen and helped to attract investment to Russia's economy estimated at $500 million.
  46. ^ Swan, Betsy; Quinn, Allison; Nemtsova, Anna (August 22, 2018). "Exclusive: This Is Accused Russian Spy Maria Butina's Secret Money Man in Moscow, Sources Say". Archived from the original on May 28, 2020. One [Silver Archer] award winner was Sergei Millian, an American citizen born in Belarus who founded the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce.
  47. ^ "Bridges that are not afraid of sanctions". Archived from the original on May 28, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2023. "Silver Archer" continues the series of interviews with Partners. Introducing Sergey Millian, President of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce in the USA
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