Thanks to Peter Schweizer, we have a foundational base of information about Skolkovo, "Russia's Silicon Valley," but there is so much more to learn about this dangerous, time-bomb of a legacy of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. That foundational base of information is his report, "From Russia, With Money: Hillary Clinton, The Russian Reset, and Cronyism."
But there is something much worse than the cronyism that Schweizer shows us. Knowingly or unknowingly, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton presided over the modernization and advance of Russian military, including nuclear, and intelligence capabilities. They did this through their "reset" with Russian which included massive technology transfers from the US and wider West through the establishment of the Kremlin's Skolkovo "Silicon Valley" project.The Schweizer headline points to Clinton corruption. The worst implications for the American people in the report, however, point to treason. As Schweizer writes, "Skolkovo’s link to the Russian military-intelligence apparatus is not in dispute." Then what explains the Obama/Clinton administration decision to create it? Gross stupidity or more American betrayal, or some mixture thereof. I don't see any other possibilities to explain this unreckoned national security disaster, and I don't think they're stupid.
Such are the fruits of "Russian influence" that cry out for Congressional inquiry -- better, a Special Prosecutor.
American Betrayal readers will know what I mean when I describe Skolkovo as Russian Lend Lease on steroids. Instead of shipping the stuff over, we got our tech companies to "invest" and set up shop there.
It also reminds me of a more sophisticated and massive version of the Bill Clinton administration operation to modernize Chinese military capabilities in exchange for campaign cash. (See Year of the Rat.)
From the Schweizer report:
Skolkovo’s link to the Russian military-intelligence apparatus is not in dispute.
In 2011, when Russian spy Anna Chapman was deported from the U.S. on espionage charges, she returned to Russia and quickly emerged at—of all places—Skolkovo. Chapman was steered to the research center, and the director of Skolkovo suggested she “apply for a $1 million research grant for some projects with the Young Guards,” a pro-Putin youth group.157
Another point of inquiry for hearings into Russian influence. Why were the Russian illegals around New York rolled up and returned to Russia so quickly? Bill Gertz has reported that Chapman had become too close to Hillary Clinton. Perhaps Sen. Schumer would like to discover whether his machine was similarly compromised.
The U.S. Army Foreign Military Studies Program at Fort Leavenworth issued a report in 2013 (written in 2012) about the security implications of Skolkovo. The report declared that the purpose of Skolkovo was to serve as a “vehicle for worldwide technology transfer to Russia in the areas of information technology, biomedicine, energy, satellite and space technology, and nuclear technology.”
Shouldn't someone at least ask why the Obama/Clinton White House thought this was a good idea? How "Russian influence" affected this completely unexamined national security disaster?
Of course, technology can have multiple uses—both civilian and military. And the report noted that “the Skolkovo Foundation has, in fact, been involved in defense-related activities since December 2011, when it approved the first weapons-related project—the development of a hypersonic cruise missile engine.
Is anybody home?
The project is a response to the U.S. Department of Defense’s Advanced Hypersonic Weapon, part of the Prompt Global Strike program.
And this Russian "project" in response to our hypersonic program was made possible by the 44th president of the United States, and implemented by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Sophisticated physical security, consisting of cameras, thermal imaging, and alarms, also suggests that not all of the center’s efforts are civilian in nature.”158 Because of the way Skolkovo operates, “the government’s operation of Skolkovo and investment positions in companies will likely provide its military awareness of and access to technologies.”159
I think that's a safe bet.
The report further noted that “Skolkovo is arguably an overt alternative to clandestine industrial espionage—with the additional distinction that it can achieve such a transfer on a much larger scale and more efficiently.”160
Who needs to send spies here when we deliver the goods there?
In short, the FBI and the U.S. Army have raised serious concerns about these activities serving to subsidize and enhance the military technological capabilities of the Russian government.
Many Skolkovo research projects incorporate “dual-use” technologies, meaning they have both civilian and military application. The Skolkovo Foundation admits as much in its own publications. For example, Skolkovo officials cite successes in a creating a device called an Atlant, a hybrid airship that is being developed in the Skolkovo Aeronautical Center. In its own publication Made in Skolkovo, the foundation notes, “Particularly noteworthy is Atlant’s ability to deliver military cargoes. The introduction of this unique vehicle if fully consistent with the concept of creating a mobile army and opens up new possibilities for mobile use of the means of radar surveillance, air and missile defense, and delivery of airborne troops.”161
Thanks for that, Barack and Hillary.
Other Skolkovo entities are open about their military research purposes. Radio Vision is a Skolkovo partner based in Russia doing work on communications equipment for the armed services and Russian internal security.
In a report on its own website, the company notes its active participation in “Interpolitex 2015,” a Homeland Security Exhibition in Moscow sponsored by the Russian state security services. The company notes that among its “key partners and customers” are “military-industrial complex enterprises.”162
Cybersecurity experts also expressed deep reservations as early as 2010 that U.S. companies working at Skolkovo “may…inadvertently be harming global cybersecurity.”163 And indeed, Skolkovo happens to be the site of the Russian Security Service (FSB)’s security centers 16 and 18, which are in charge of information warfare for the Russian government.
If Russia did hack the DNC and Podesta emails, this would be almmost funny.
According to Newsweek, it is here that the Russian government runs information warfare operations against the Ukrainian government. As Vitaliy Naida, head of the Internal Security (SBU) department for the Ukrainian government told Newsweek, “It starts with the FSB’s security centres 16 and 18, operating out of Skolkovo, Russia. These centres are in charge of information warfare. They send out propaganda, false information via social media. Re-captioned images from Syria, war crimes from Serbia—they’re used to radicalize and then recruit Ukrainians.”164
Rusnano
The FBI warning to U.S. tech firms also expressed concerns about the activities of Russian venture capital firms.
And Clinton Foundation donors.
While the letter did not specifically name Rusnano, many observers saw the warning as a reference to the firm. Rusnano officials denied the characterization. “No, I’m not a spy,” said Dmitry Akhanov, the chief executive of Rusnano in the U.S.165 But it is important to remember that Rusnano investments come with strings attached, which often require manufacturing of technologies in Russia and the transference of those technologies to Moscow. It would be impossible to control the use of dual-use technologies by the Russian military.
Strings attached? Who negotiated that deal?
According to a study by the Swedish Defense Research Agency, the work of Rusnano will have a hugely beneficial effect on the Russian military: “It is possible that the biggest impact of nanotechnology in the short term will be as a driver of the modernization of the Russian Armed Forces.”166
Indeed, it was Vladimir Putin who made this very point, saying during a 2008 speech during a meeting of the State Council that breakthroughs in nanotechnology and information technology “could lead to revolutionary changes in weapons and defence.”167
The Russian government sees technologies developed in the civilian sector as “dual use,” meaning that they have military applications as well. “Innovative Russia 2020,” the Russian government’s innovation policy which was approved in December 2011, stated, “Priority will be given to exchange of knowledge and technology between the defense and civil sectors, development of dual-use technology, weapons development, modernization of military material, and improving methods to fight terrorism.”168
What did Barack and Hillary know about Skolkovo and when did they know it? That is, are they the stupidest team in US history or among the most treasonous? While Congress gets to the bottom of the Russian ambassador's meeting with Sen. Sessions, they might consider taking a little old look at this. They may discover it's still ticking.
UPDATE: A vote of confidence for this idea from a pal who is also Judicial Watch's Director of Research and Investigations:
