Russia Claims To Have Prevented Mitt Romney From Becoming Secretary Of State, According To Steele Memo

According to a second Christopher Steele dossier, Russian officials made sure that Mitt Romney did not become Secretary of State under Donald Trump.

RUSSIANS PREVENTED MITT ROMNEY FROM BECOMING SECRETARY OF STATE

As reported by The New Yorker, the former British spy wrote a second dossier using “a senior Russian official” as his source. The source shared that some higher-ups within Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that they successfully prevented Romney from becoming the head of the State Department.

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The memo claimed that Russia used “unspecified channels” to request that president Trump choose a Secretary of State based on their desire to remove sanctions surrounding the Ukraine. The Russians also reportedly wanted accommodations for them in regards to Syria, where Vladimir Putin has backed president Bashar al-Assad in a long civil war.

This new information is believed to have been discussed by Steele when interviewed by Robert Mueller in Nov. 2016. While the memo was not released to the public, subsequent events seem to support it.

Romney was allegedly being considered for the position and even met with Trump during his transition period before being sworn into office, but the president chose Rex Tillerson instead. Tillerson was the CEO of ExxonMobil, and has always had good long-standing business relationships with Russia. In 2011, he even brokered a deal between ExxonMobil and Russian gas conglomerate Rosneft.

Romney, who announced a run for Senate in Utah last month, held a tough stance on Russia during his own 2012 presidential campaign, saying the country was the single greatest threat to the U.S. During a debate with former president Barack Obama, he was chided for his aggressive views on Russia.