Russian lawyer from Trump Tower meeting kicked off Twitter

Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer whose 2016 meeting with Trump campaign members was a major point in ‘Russiagate’ conspiracy theory, has been suspended from Twitter for reasons unknown.

Veselnitskaya’s account was greyed-out on Monday, with the only explanation given that Twitter suspends accounts that violate the rules. Which rules she might have broken was left unsaid.

Sputnik radio host Lee Stranahan seemed convinced Veselnitskaya was banned over her criticism of Bill Browder, an oligarch wanted for tax fraud in Russia and one of the leading advocates of anti-Russian sanctions in the West. The Magnitsky Act of 2012 was named after Browder’s accountant.

On Friday, a pair of self-proclaimed (and anonymous) data scientists claimed they had discovered a “bot network” of accounts supporting Veselnitskaya on Twitter.

Browder retweeted the thread with their claims, calling it “great analysis.”

Veselnitskaya’s ban is just the latest in a string of purges the social media networks have been undertaking in response to demands by the US political establishment to crack down on “fake news”, “hate speech” and “Russian meddling.”

Much of the crackdown has been driven by journalist-activists at openly partisan outlets, denouncing their political opponents as hateful.

Even though the final report by special counsel Robert Mueller failed to find any evidence of conspiracy or even cooperation between President Donald Trump’s campaign and the Russian government, mainstream media and Democrats have not given up on their “Russian meddling” claims – including the meeting Veselnitskaya had in June 2016 at Trump Tower.

Breathlessly reported as the Kremlin’s attempt to give “dirt” on Hillary Clinton to Donald Trump Jr. and other campaign officials, Veselnitskaya’s meeting amounted to lobbying against the Magnitsky Act for Fusion GPS – the same firm hired by the Clinton campaign to assemble the so-called Steele Dossier accusing Trump of Russian ties.

Browder has a history of leveraging his connections in London and Washington to silence his critics in the West, including anyone who challenges his version of events about Magnitsky’s death, or the tax evasion case involving his Russian company, Hermitage Capital.

Twitter does not comment on individual suspensions. RT has reached out to Veselnitskaya for comment. As of Monday evening, her account remained suspended.

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