There are several peculiar aspects to a meeting chaired by much-reported “whistleblower” Eric Ciaramella on September 7, 2016 in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. All seven invitees signed in between 1:14-1:17 PM for a scheduled 1:30 PM start. Based on the attendee expertise, the meeting’s topic was likely Ukraine.
- The meeting appears to have involved at least three employees of the National Security Agency, the intelligence organization responsible for gathering and analyzing electronic surveillance. This meeting occurred over a month before the first FBI-initiated, Trump-Russia collusion hoax FISA warrant was issued.
- The presence of one attendee, the Executive Director of a Soros-funded entity, raises suspicions as to the intended courses of action arising from the meeting, given Eric Ciaramella’s previous meetings with Soros-connected individuals.
- It appears that three attendees may have signed-in under names other than their own. The names seem to be altered in roughly the same fashion, in such a way suggesting a deliberate intent to deceive. Based on the type of alteration, it gives the impression that the individuals were either instructed to do so or the logs were changed. As yet, none of those, whose names appear to be altered, have responded to a request for verification.
Criminal or unethical intent of the meeting invitees is in no way assumed or implied, but investigating Ciaramella’s perhaps operational activities while a member of the otherwise think tank-like National Security Council is worthwhile.
According to White House visitor logs, the names of those at Ciaramella’s meeting are listed as: Michael D. Jarvis, Natalia O. Lassowsky, Bailey S. Holladay, Stefanie L. Stagg, Thomas W. Pucci, Donald M. Camp and Jessica M. Gray.
Based on available public information, the professional roles of the attendees have been analyzed.
Michael D. Jarvis became Executive Director of the Soros-funded Transparency and Accountability Initiative in June 2016. He was previously with the World Bank Group working on corporate responsibility issues, anti-corruption, private sector roles in development, and multi-stakeholder governance. Jarvis is a specialist in the oil, gas and mining sectors. George Soros is said to have “extensive business interests in Ukraine,” a country with large oil and gas industries.
Natalia O. Lassowsky is believed to be of Ukrainian extraction and was an employee of the National Security Agency, with whom she holds a patent.
Bailey S. Holladay is a U.S. Air Force-trained, likely Russian, linguist and presumably an analyst for the National Security Agency, based on her published associates and areas of expertise.
Stafanie L. Stagg is a name that appears in the Washington DC area, but her affiliation is yet undetermined, presumed to have been with the National Security Agency or an intelligence-related organization in some way dealing with Ukraine, based on the nature of Ciaramella’s meeting. A request for verification has not been answered.
Thomas W. Pucci is believed to be one of the altered names and, at the time, a member of the Operations Directorate of the National Security Agency and a relative of a former high-ranking National Security Agency official.
Donald M. Camp is believed to be one of the altered names and was a high-ranking military officer at the height of the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Jessica M. Gray is believed to be one of the altered names and has been a director of a university Russia-Eurasia program.
Ciaramella’s September 7, 2016 Soros-connected meeting follows two of his previous Soros-connected meetings, according to White House visitor logs.
On December 9, 2015, Ciaramella held a meeting in Room 236 of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building with Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of the Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Action Center, which was 59%-funded by Barack Obama’s State Department and the International Renaissance Foundation, a George Soros organization.
Also attending that meeting was Catherine Newcombe, attorney in the Criminal Division, Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, with the U.S. Department of Justice, where, among other duties, she oversaw the Department’s legal assistance programs to Ukraine.
On March 16, 2016, Eric Ciaramella chaired a meeting of the following interconnected individuals and groups in Room 230B of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
- Gina Lentine, Program Associate, Europe & Eurasia at Freedom House (many claim is Soros-funded), where she was responsiblefor media support and civil society programming in Ukraine. Prior to that, Lentine was Program Coordinator, Eurasia Program for Soros’ Open Society Foundations, where she monitored civil society and NGO development in Ukraine.
- Alim Aliiev, a Ukrainian and program director of Crimean House, was co-founder of the Crimean Tatar Cultural Center in Lviv, which was funded bythe Soros-funded International Renaissance Foundation).
- Maria Dahle, based in Norway, is Director of Human Rights House, which is Soros affiliated and funded.
- Florian Irminger, from Switzerland, was Head of Advocacy at Human Rights House. He was also Treasurer for the Centre for Civil and Political Rights, which had a partnership with Soros’ Open Society Foundation and ran the joint “Conference on Corruption and its Impact on Human Rights in the Post-Soviet World” in Bern, Switzerland, 26-27 November 2014. On October 31, 2019 Irminger received a Soros Open Societies Foundation New Executives Fund grant ($25,000 to $250,000).
- Zoryan Kis, a Project Coordinator at Freedom House in Ukraine and receiveda $113,000 Soros grant to support LGBT activities.
- Tetiana Pechonchyk is chairperson of the ZMINA Human Rights Centre in Ukraine. ZMINA is funded bythe Soros-funded International Renaissance Foundation and Freedom House (listed on the ZMINA web site). Pechonchyk is connected to the Human Rights House.
- Matthew Schaaf is Freedom House’s Project Director Ukraine and writesfor the Soros-funded Open Democracy.
- Olga SKRYPNYK is a member of the Crimean Human Rights Group and ZMINA, the latter being funded by Soros and Freedom House.
It is no secret that George Soros operates through Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to influence national policies throughout the world.
It may be that Eric Ciaramella was acting as a coordinator of some Soros-linked efforts in the Ukraine in parallel with U.S. government activities, in particular through the State Department’s U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
But a Ciaramella meeting with the employees of the National Security Agency could have ominous implications, especially if any later efforts in Ukraine are linked to the interests of George Soros or interference in the 2016 election.
Lawrence Sellin, Ph.D. is a retired US Army Reserve colonel, an IT command and control and cyber security subject matter expert and a veteran of Afghanistan, Iraq and a humanitarian mission to West Africa.
He receives email at [email protected].
