A Russian oligarch well known to the FBI for many years and closely aligned with Vladimir Putin says he told FBI agents early in the Russia probe that he strongly doubted the bureau’s theory that the Trump campaign, through Paul Manafort, was colluding with Moscow to hijack the 2016 election.

Oleg Deripaska told investigative reporter John Solomon in a Hill TV interview that he was a legal research client of Christopher Steele, the former British spy who compiled the infamous anti-Trump dossier funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign. And he confirmed he was an occasional friendly cooperator with the FBI and its fired deputy director, Andrew McCabe.

Solomon said Deripaska is “breaking his silence,” and what he has to say could impact former special counsel Robert Mueller’s July 17 testimony before Congress.

Deripaska, a former disaffected business client of Manafort, said he told the FBI agents in September 2016 that if anyone had tried to contact Manafort to influence the election, he would know about it.

“I told them straightforward, I just don’t believe that he would represent any Russian interest,” he said. “And knowing what he’s doing on Ukraine for the last, what, seven or eight years.”

Not just any Russian

Solomon explained the significance of Deripaska’s claims, noting he “wasn’t just any Russian,” having been closely aligned with Putin and helpful to the FBI since 2009.

Most importantly, Solomon said, Deripaska’s interview with the FBI was never provided by Mueller’s team to Manafort’s lawyers, even though it was potential evidence of innocence, according to Manafort defense lawyer Kevin Downing.

Initially investigated for collusion, Manafort instead was convicted on tax and lobbying violations unrelated to the Russia case.

Solomon noted the Brady rule that bars hiding exculpatory information from a defendant.

Lawyer: Mueller didn’t have a case

Downing told Solomon the revelations by The Hill show that the Mueller team’s claim that it had a legitimate basis to include Manafort in the collusion probe is “false.”

The lawyer said further that the revelations may also show the special counsel “had no legitimate basis” at all “to investigate potential collusion between the Trump presidential campaign and the Russian government.”

Deripaska said his legal team hired Steele in 2012 to do research for a lawsuit involving a business rival. The Russian businessman was unaware, however, that Steele also was working for the FBI on projects such as a special program to recruit Russian oligarchs to provide intelligence on Putin and Russian organized crime.

He said Steele invited him to a September 2015 meeting with Justice Department officials.

Deripaska later, he said, was shocked to learn that Steele eventually went to work for the Clinton campaign through Fusion GPS and the FBI, and spread allegations of the now-disproven Russia-Trump collusion.

SEE VIDEO: http://www.wnd.com/2019/07/russian-oligarchs-story-could-spell-trouble-for-mueller/

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