Real Characters Episodes 8 Spying on your friends

                Theo works for in the White House.  He had quit his job in New York to work for Donald Trump as he thinks he’s the first president since Theo has been a cognizant being that is doing right by America.  He’d be lying if he said it was a breezy three years working in the White House.  Besides the fact that things are always going on there, he severely underestimated how corrupt the DOJ, FBI, CIA and media were until they exposed themselves with their reaction to President Trump’s election.  After work, he decides he wants to get a drink.  He calls his friend at the DOJ, Denise, and asks if she wants to meet him for a drink.  Theo had gone to the same church as Denise growing up.  They weren’t really close then but they certainly knew each other as they were both Greek and involved in the Greek community so talked at Greek events.  Denise readily agreed as she had had a rough day too.

                When they met up, they hugged and put their cheeks together and kissed the air as is typical with Greek Americans.  In Greece, you would alternate cheeks and do it twice but that tradition hadn’t made it across Europe and the Atlantic to America.  Denise said, “You know, I’m here because I need a drink after the firestorm at work but the firestorm is caused by the people you work for so basically I’m just walking into the same thing I’m trying to drink to forget.”

                Theo smiled because he knows what she’s getting but plays dumb and says, “I don’t work for the state department.  Besides that just means you drink more.  If it makes you feel better, I’ll pay since I dragged you here.”

                “No, because if you pay, you may get the wrong idea.” She said with a smile.

                Theo smiled, “I’m just going to ignore that implication.”

                “So, are we going to talk about things that happened on October 11, 2016?”

                “When Christopher Steele, the impeccable source that did such great work on FIFA so gets lifetime credibility, meets with Kathleen Kavalec at the state department?” Theo says sarcastically. 

                “Oh come on, give her her proper title; ‘Deputy Assistant Secretary of State’ not just some State department member.”

                “I don’t even know what that title means.  It’s very long. I mean is there an Assistant Secretary of State too?”

                “Just shut up.  It sounds better.  State department member makes her seem low level like me or you.”

                “Fine, given that she just blew the FBI’s case right out of the water, Ms Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kavalec is a personal hero of mine.”

                “Yea, she basically exposed Christopher Steele as a liar.”

                “Wait, you’re admitting this?”

                Denise smiled, “Oh you didn’t think I came here without a way to ruin your thunder did you?” as she took a sip of her drink maintaining eye contact with Theo.

                “You think Steele is a liar even though the FBI put it in the October 21 FISA, 10 days after Steele met with Kavalec, that the FBI is unaware of any derogatory information pertaining to Source #1”

                “Well, yea because 10 days before that he told Kavalec that Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen went to Prague to meet with two Russians to talk about payment to hack the DNC servers.”

                “Before I would just point out that Cohen has never been to Prague but my new hero Kavelec said something else in her handwritten notes.”

                “Yea when FBI director Christopher Wray redacted her typed notes, he forgot to redact the handwritten ones.  Now they’re all over the internet.”

                “I mean we know Cohen’s never been to Prague because he betrayed Trump and still said he’d never been to Prague, they checked his passport and there was no Prague stamp, the Washington Post sent people to Prague for a few months with his picture asking around at hotels and restaurants and nobody recognized him and Mueller himself had said he hadn’t been there in his report.”

                “Why are you talking about old shit?”

                “You’re right, I’m sorry.  Let’s go back to the infamous Steele Dossier.  This part is interesting” as Theo holds up his hands pretending to be reading from a piece of paper that’s not there.  “10/19/16, eight days after he told Kavalec about Cohen going to Prague to meet with Russians, he says that the Kremlin is unsure of identities and locations of the PA officials with whom Cohen met secretly in August.’  Hmmm how did he know it was in Prague eight days ago and seems to have forgotten when he writes the dossier? 

                Denise said, “Yea, unfortunately Kavalec kept those notes to herself….oh wait no, she sent them to the FBI”

                “Yea and then on 10/20/16, still part of the dossier, Steele all of a sudden remembers that they wanted to do it operationally in a soft EU country because it’s too compromising to do it in Moscow.”

                “Yea, he still doesn’t seem to remember the name of the country is ‘Czech Republic’ it’s just a lesser known EU country.”

                Theo switched his voice from sarcastic to normal and said, “How was this dude a spy?  James Bond movies have lied to us.  These MI6 agents are retarded.  Unless he tells the whole thing to Kavalec because she’s not paying him but leaks it out slowly day by day to the FBI to rack up the bill.”

                Denise is still using a sarcastic voice, “Yea and our FBI is so much better.  Let’s classify these memos like two and half years after they were written.  You know just as the new Attorney General and the Inspector General are investigating the origins of the FISA warrant.  Then mark, ‘don’t’ declassify until 2041’ as if that’s their decision.  Not suspicious at all.”

                Theo follows her lead and goes back to sarcasm, “No, why would that be suspicious?”

                Leah got serious and said, “I don’t think you’re theory is right though.”

                “Ah here we go”

                Denise said, “Just listen please.”

                “Okay”

                “We know that Kavalec met with Steele so she heard the information from the horse’s mouth.  We know that.”

                “Right”

                “The dossier is very similar to what?”

                “The 2007 article “How Ex-Soviets help lobbyists try to woo Washington” by Glenn Simpson and Mary Jacoby

                “I don’t think that’s the correct title but close enough.”

                “Yea, the Manafort information is like word for word from that article”

                “Right, so what if the dossier wasn’t written by Steele?  What if it was always from Glenn Simpson and they just used Steele’s name so that the FBI wouldn’t vet it.”

                “The FBI should still have vetted it because of the Kavalec memo”

                “Fine, but Simpson didn’t know about that.  At least we don’t have any evidence he did.”

                “So, the FBI is lying about who the source was?  That actually makes sense because Simpson’s wife, Mary Jacoby who co-authored that article posted on Facebook that Glenn needs to get the recognition he deserves for writing the dossier.”

                “Yes, or the FBI legitimately didn’t know that Steele didn’t write it.  But yea, that’s what I’m thinking.  Don’t know for sure.”

                Theo pondered this for a second and then said, “I still like my idea but I don’t see any holes in yours.  Both are possible.”

                “Yea, now that Senator Graham is saying that the FBI only vetted the information with media reports. Not realizing that Steele was the one that told the media.  He will get fired for that later but the FBI is not having a good week.”

                “I do like Graham.”

                “But honestly speaking.  How could the FBI have vetted it?”

                “Are you kidding?  Did you see the memo?  Kavalec, for the first time that I know about, we got the names of those Russians that Cohen supposedly met in Prague.  Kalugin and Bondarev.  Steele told Kavalec that they traveled to the US.  She was checking his information in real time.  She confirmed Kalugin came to Dulles at 4/4/16 and departed on 8/18/16.  Bondarev came to the US in 8/29/16 and stayed till late September.  Between these two things there’s a redacted portion.  Funny how they don’t redact the things that checked out.  They, however, forgot to redact when Steele told Kavalec that they were being paid through the Russian Consulate in Miami.  Kavalec then writes, “It’s important to note there is no Russian Consulate in Miami.”

                “What do you think that redaction is?”

                “Well, it comes right after the handwritten note about Cohen going to Prague.  She’s checking travel histories of two people.  I wonder if she’s checking the travel history of a third person.  Maybe, I don’t know, Michael Cohen?”

                “Yea, I don’t know for sure but it does make sense.”

                Denise and Theo changed topics and had a couple more drinks.  Denise did let Theo pay for the drinks and he walked her to the Metro.  They live in separate directions so they say good bye with the same European kiss they said hello with and went home. 

                Shortly after she returned home, a man knocked on her door.  Denise went to the door and looked through the key hole but didn’t recognize the person.  She said, “I’m not interested.”

                “I’m not a solicitor”

                “Still not interested”

                “Please look through the keyhole again”

                When Denise did she saw a badge.  She opened the door and said, “Can I help you officer.”

                “I’m Agent Rodriguez” holding out his hand

                Denise shook his hand and said, “Nice to meet you, I’m…”

                “I know who you are.”

                “Okay” she says suspiciously

                “May I come in?”

                “Sure” says Denise as she steps back and holds the door open.  Agent Rodriguez sits down and Denise says, “Do you want something?  Coffee, tea?”

                “No thanks”

                “Okay” as Denise sits down.  “What’s this about?”

                “Where did you go after work today?”

                “I met a friend for drinks.”

                “This friend, are you aware he works at the White House?”

                “I am”

                “And how did you get acquainted with said friend?”
                “We grew up together.  I’ve known him most of my life.  We went to the same church as kids.”

                Agent Rodriguez nodded his head and said, “So, you don’t think he’s trying to get close to you out of recognizance for the President?”

                “No, I do not”

                “Someone in your position should be a little careful what you say to government officials”

                “Wouldn’t he have to be just as worried?”

                Agent Rodriguez gave no reaction.  He rose and said, “Just watch what you say.  You never know who’s listening.”

                “Is that a threat?”

                Agent Rodriguez says, “No, just a warning.  Enjoy your night.  You’re a little wobbly, maybe you shouldn’t drink so much.  Drunk mouths tend to be quite loquacious.”

                Denise was stunned by the comment.  She walked to the door and opened it trying to maintain some sense of control even though the agent was already on his way out.  She said, “Good night Agent Rodriguez.”

                Agent Rodriguez left and Denise closed the door letting out a sigh.  She grabbed a beer from her fridge and took a long sip.  She was trying to make sense of the visit.  Was she bugged?  Was Theo?  What if it was just the bar?  Maybe it was chance as specifics of their conversation wasn’t mentioned by Agent Rodriguez.  She was scared and feeling very alone.  She contemplated calling Theo but decided against it.  She didn’t get much sleep that night.

 

                George Papadopoulos landed in DC and called his friend Theo.  Theo answers the phone and says, “George, how are you?”

                “I’m alright, I’m in town from LA”

                “Nice, I just got back from meeting up with a friend”

                “Well, I’m a little tired but what about dinner tomorrow.”

                “Sounds good.”

 

                Papadopoulos and Theo met at a restaurant near Dupont Circle.  They found a table and sit down.  Papadopoulos says in Greek, “We should talk in Greek.  There’s always someone listening in Washington.”

                Theo responded back in Greek, “That’s fine.”

 

                Meanwhile, Denise is working late.  She is still a little rattled by the visit from Agent Rodriguez.  She doesn’t know whether or not to report it thinking that it may have come from her office.  She decides she’s just going to avoid Theo until after Trump is no longer president.  After all, they weren’t close before.  If she turns down his invitations, he’ll just stop asking.  She’s approached by a high level official and says, “Hey Denise.”

                “Umm, Good evening sir.”

                “You’re of Greek descent right?”

                “Yes” She says hesitantly

                “I need a favor”

                “Alright”

                “George Papadopoulos is meeting with your friend Theo at a restaurant.  I want you to invite yourself to the dinner and translate what they’re saying.”

                “You want me to spy on them?”

                “We have evidence that that’s what Theo is doing with you.”

                Denise’s eyes go up as she thinks back at her correspondence with Theo and decides that she doesn’t think it’s true.  This is just a ploy to get her angry at Theo so she agrees.  She, however, is going to agree because a higher up asked her.  She just wished they were straight up about it.  She shrugs her shoulders and says, “Alright, I’ll see what I can do.  I’ll call him to meet up see if he invites me.”

                Denise calls Theo and is surprised that he picks up.  She says, “Hey, I’ve had a rough week.  Can we meet up again?”

                Theo hesitates and says, “Hold on a second” and puts the phone on mute.  He tells George, “Hey, my friend wants to join us.  Do you mind?  She’s Greek too so we can still speak in Greek”

                “Yea I don’t care” says George

                Theo takes the phone off mute and says, “Yea Denise” and tells her the restaurant they’re eating. 

                The restaurant is only ten minutes from where Denise is working.  She arrives and sits down.  She recognizes George Papadopoulos and George greets her in Greek.  She responds back in Greek and sits down.

                Theo says, “George’s English isn’t too good so we’re going to have to speak in Greek.”

                Denise glares at him.  She knows that Theo just lied to her.  For the first time, she wonders if Theo really is a spy.  Theo says, “We we were just talking about Andrew Weissman”

                Denise rolls her eyes and says, “Come on, the Mueller report is over.  Why are we still on this?”

                Theo says, “Well, there was a FOIA request for his calendar.”

                Denise becomes interested and says, “I guess it’s interesting”

                “Well on June 13, 2017, there’s a 2PM meeting Weissman has in Cyprus with a MLAT”

                “What would that be?”

                “It’s a mutual legal advise thing.”

                “And why is that interesting?”

                George says, “Well, I was in Cyprus on June 9.  A guy named Tawil gave me $ 10,000 dollars in Israel, which I took to Cyprus.  Then this investigator comes to Cyprus.  Usually I stay at the Hilton but this time, I meet with Tawil in a village in the middle of nowhere and Tawil paid the cab in cash.”

                “So what?”

                George says, “I think it’s easier to wire tap a rural area.  Not as much outside noise.”

                Denise says, “And why would somebody want to wire tap you?”

                George and Theo look at each other and Theo frowns.  George says, “Do you know the answer to that?”

                Denise glares at Theo and says, “What makes you think that I work for the DOJ but I don’t know who George Papadopoulos is?”

                Theo says, “I’m sorry.”

                George says, “So you know what happened a month later?”

                Denise says, “Actually it was the end of July, so it was close to two months.”

                George says, “Right, so what happened?”

                Denise says, “You were arrested at Dulles on your way back from Greece.”

                Theo said, “Right, on your way back to Chicago.  Why would they get you in Dulles and not in Chicago when your trip was done?”

                George says, “They didn’t want to wait.”

                Theo said, “No that’s not it.  They gave you $ 10,000, the minimum amount you need to declare, but you declare it in your first stop in the US and that was Dulles.”

                George said, “No I know that.  And they did it without a warrant.  I should have asked.”

                Denise said, “No, that’s not the problem”

                George said, “What do you mean?”

                Denise said, “There’s no 4^th amendment protection at ports of entry.  They can search you without probable cause.  They probably had the warrant ready.  They just needed to find the money.  You left it in Greece though”

                George said, “You seem to know a lot about this.”

                “I work for the DOJ.  Yes, I know all about it.  They legally searched you.  They were going to get a warrant by the time you got to Chicago.”

                Theo said, “Or just arrest him there.  I mean they arrested you for probable cause anyway, which is rare for a federal agent since they don’t patrol.”

                Denise said, “Unless they found something in his luggage that wasn’t supposed to be there.”

                Theo said, “So they were always going to get you on probable cause.  They just had to change it from not declaring the money to lying to the FBI several months earlier.”

                George said, “Well, I knew I was set up.  This is just details.”

                Denise said, “The devil’s in the details but now that I’ve enlightened you on your little theory.  Let me attack it a little bit.”

                George said, “I’m listening”

                “Andy Weissman was in Cyprus in early June investigating money laundering by Manafort.  There was evidence Manafort laundered his Ukraine money through Cyprus.  So, that MLAT meeting may not have had anything to do with you George.”

                George thought about this for a second and said, “I don’t know it’s still a little coincidental that it was within four days of each other.  I mean why was I invited to go to Cyprus.  It’s like they knew they’d be there anyway so might as well kill two birds with one stone.”

                Theo said, “Why would Tawil give him $ 10,000 cash if it wasn’t a set up.”

                Denise said, “No, that part I agree with.  You were set up.  I’m just saying Weissman may not have been part of it.”
                George said, “I’ll accept that.”

                George glared at Theo and said, “Let’s relax, talk about non-political things.  I’m sure you guys deal with too much of that at work.”

                Denise and Theo both agreed and both realized what he was saying. He wasn’t comfortable discussing things with Denise there. 

                When she returned home, Denise called the high ranking officer and relayed the conversation leaving out what she added.  Her initial thought was that if she added to what they already knew, that George was set up, they’d trust her.  It had the opposite effect though as George clammed up when he realized she was knowledgeable and worked at the DOJ.  Denise did mention that George got suspicious and the official said, “You did well.  Thank you.”

                “Your welcome sir.”

                On her way to work, Agent Rodriguez sat down next to Denise.  He said, “You met with Theo so quickly after I told you not to.”

                Denise looked around and said, “I was ordered to.” Thinking that Agent Rodriguez may not work in her office after all.  But if he didn’t work for the DOJ then who does he work for? 

                Agent Rodriguez seemed genuinely surprised by this then he composed himself and said, “Why would they use you as a surveillance asset?”

                “I speak Greek and so does Theo and George Papadopoulos”

                “The Bureau has other people who speak Greek.”

                “Look, I don’t know who you are but I’m beginning to feel very uncomfortable with these lines of questioning”

                “Relax, we’re in a public place, there’s nothing I can do here.”

                Denise remembered that the first time she saw him it was at her house.  A 5’9” stocky muscular man approached them and said, “Is this man bothering you miss?”

                Denise said, “Yes, he is as a matter of fact.”

                “Agent Rodriguez, you may want to leave the girl alone.”

                Both Denise and Agent Rodriguez turned their head in disbelief at this man who oozed law enforcement.  The man took out a badge and said, “Secret Service, Agent Rodriguez, you know that the CIA is not allowed to conduct operations domestically.  Well, this is Washington DC, which is in America.  Yea I think that qualifies as domestic.”

                Agent Rodriguez got up and said, “You’re right, my apologize miss.  We just happened to be on the train together.  No operation here, right Denise?”

                Denise was too stunned to speak.  What was the CIA doing monitoring her.  The Secret Service agent said, “I guess, I wasn’t clear.  You’re under arrest for illegally spying on an American citizen without domestic attached.”

                The secret service agent cuffed Agent Rodriguez and got off at the next stop and took him to get processed.  Denise went to work shaken up.  She called Theo from work and said, “Did you know anything about this?”

                “Denise, you never call me.  I knew something was up.  I reported you.  I knew you wouldn’t volunteer to spy on me so I needed to find out where it came from.”

                “I’m so sorry.”

                “Don’t be, I would have done the same thing.  Just remember that you have help.  You’re not alone in this dirty business we’re in.”

                “The Agent Rodriguez thing was before I spied on you though.”

                “I didn’t know that.  Will you testify to that?  The secret service agent needs a statement.”

                “Yea, sure.”

                The same higher up came to Denise’s desk and Denise ended the conversation with.  She said, “Yes sir.”

                “I know what happened with the other agent.  I’m sorry about that.  I want you to cooperate fully with the Secret Service.  As you know the charges, he acted without the FBI’s consent so obviously we had nothing to do with that.”

                Denise didn’t fully believe this but said, “Okay, it just scared me a little bit.”

                “That’s understandable.  I’m sorry I asked you to spy on your friend.  It won’t happen again.”

                “Thank you sir.”

                The higher up seemed surprised by Denise’s reaction.  He walked away and Denise went back to work.  She was a little more cautious but decided that she wasn’t going to write off Theo.  She knew she wasn’t breaking the law talking to him.  If she got fired for it, she’d go back to working the private sector.  Politics was becoming uglier and uglier by the day.