A Russian oligarch with ties to Vladimir Putin is finally admitting to have interfered in the United States’ elections, and is promising he still is and will continue to do so.
“Gentlemen, we have interfered, are interfering and will interfere. Carefully, precisely, surgically and in our own way, as we know how to do,” boasted Yevgeny Prigozhin, nicknamed “Putin’s chef” for his lucrative Kremlin catering contracts, the Associated Press reports.
Prigozhin’s statement came “from the press service of his catering company…on the eve of U.S. midterm elections in response to a request for comment.”
The U.S. Dept. of Justice has not commented, but in February of 2018 announced that Prigozhin was part of a large grand jury indictment via Robert Mueller.
“The Department of Justice announced that a grand jury in the District of Columbia … returned an indictment presented by the Special Counsel’s Office,” the DOJ’s statement reads. “The indictment charges thirteen Russian nationals and three Russian companies for committing federal crimes while seeking to interfere in the United States political system, including the 2016 Presidential election. The defendants allegedly conducted what they called ‘information warfare against the United States,’ with the stated goal of ‘spread[ing] distrust towards the candidates and the political system in general.'”
That statement specifically names “Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin,” alleging he “funded the conspiracy through companies known as Concord Management and Consulting LLC, Concord Catering, and many subsidiaries and affiliates. The conspiracy was part of a larger operation called ‘Project Lakhta.’ Project Lakhta included multiple components, some involving domestic audiences within the Russian Federation and others targeting foreign audiences in multiple countries.”
Calling him the “Russian who orchestrates Putin’s private army,” The Daily Beast adds that Prigozhin “did not specify which election the Russians have intervened in, but he is well aware that there has been intense focus, and several indictments, surrounding Russia’s alleged efforts in the election of Trump, when there was reason to believe that Kremlin wanted the former reality TV star to be victorious.”
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Prigozhin, according to Reuters, “has been formally accused of sponsoring Russia-based ‘troll farms’ that seek to influence U.S. politics.”
Last week CNN reported Prigozhin has been growing his influence inside the Kremlin by leveraging his “brutal” Wagner Group mercenaries “who are operating in Ukraine.”
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