In a stunning tweetstorm this evening, columnist and reporter Seth Abramson (Huffington Post, Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times, Washington Post) laid out all the details on the Russia-Trump connection. And folks, if true this is impeachment territory, and imprisonment territory, for the highest officials in the United States.

x (MEGA-THREAD) The plot to sell America's foreign policy for foreign oil _and_ steal an election in the bargain began at the Mayflower Hotel. pic.twitter.com/XkoFpmMAeJ — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 24, 2017

x 2) The timing was intentional: Manafort, hired in March, was slated to become the campaign's key player as soon as Trump became the nominee. — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 24, 2017

x 4) The speech, arranged by Jared Kushner in mid-March, was to be hosted by the Center for the National Interest, a conservative think tank. pic.twitter.com/yXj3J7DpQJ — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 24, 2017

Note that the Center for the National Interest will be abbreviated “CNI” often in this thread.

x 6) The speech was slated to be at the National Press Club, an august venue with a _long_ history of staging secure events with large crowds. pic.twitter.com/cuq5492nkO — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 24, 2017

x 8) So Manafort moved the event to the Mayflower Hotel: a smaller, less secure site. The decision confirmed the campaign's excuses were lies. pic.twitter.com/EtgLxhMXYh — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 24, 2017

x 10) The latter was important because Manafort wanted Trump to hold an intimate, 24-person cocktail hour in the Mayflower's VIP Senate Room. — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 24, 2017

x 12) Another VIP at the event was Iran-Contra figure Bud McFarlane, one of America's chief advocates for a bargain with Russia on oil access. pic.twitter.com/hj6TJhLujN — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 24, 2017

x 14) The _biggest oil deal in Russia's history_ occurred in December of 2016. It involved the coordination of entities from three countries. — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 24, 2017

x 16) The #Russiagate scandal involves claims Trump was given 0.5% of Rosneft and aid in getting elected in exchange for lifting US sanctions. pic.twitter.com/epnrPl9ngo — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 24, 2017

x 18) WSJ wrote in April 2016 that Trump met separately with the ambassadors at the Mayflower and was effusive. Quote: https://t.co/ZDUKoGnuJ3 — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 24, 2017

x 20) The ambassadors at the Mayflower: RUSSIA! ITALY! SINGAPORE! And the Philippines--which is routinely cited as a Rosneft expansion target. pic.twitter.com/lkziVxMM6l — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 24, 2017

x 22) In his speech Trump called for a Russian detente: "We desire to live peacefully and in friendship with Russia...we are not bound... pic.twitter.com/LY1s6ZdE4k — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 24, 2017

x 24) is possible..[I hope to] make a deal under my administration thatÃ¢ÂÂs great for America but also good for Russia." https://t.co/z0OA6pmXbh — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 24, 2017

x 26) The only Kislyak meeting Sessions _never_ disclosed to Congress, _even after accusations of perjury_, was the meeting at the Mayflower. pic.twitter.com/D8mzXi2xNa — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 24, 2017

x 28) Heilbrunn on the VIP event: "At a reception in the Senate Room of the Mayflower, a number of politicians and Trump advisers, such as... — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 24, 2017

x 30) The VIP event _wasn't_ just a receiving line as Trump claimed. It was a "cocktail meet-and-greet"--a full event. https://t.co/qnbY6u56uw — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 24, 2017

x 32) The White House saying it has Ã¢ÂÂno recollectionÃ¢ÂÂ of any of the VIPs at Trump's _biggest-ever foreign policy event_ is also a red flag. pic.twitter.com/bTQsz5JJ2Z — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 24, 2017

x 34) Kislyak went on to _fail_ to disclose his meeting with Trump at the Mayflower, citing only a meeting at the RNC. https://t.co/4ft7A3WGii — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 24, 2017

x 36) We know Manafort set up the Mayflower event and was available for meetings at it--as was Kushner, who later met secretly with Kislyak. pic.twitter.com/nOnWyPZB4x — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 24, 2017

x 38) We know the White House lied about Mayflower. We know Sessions has. We know Kislyak has. And we know the Rosneft players were present. pic.twitter.com/9BIKLipInj — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 24, 2017

x 40) So other than the RNC and suspicious Trump Tower meetings in December, the Mayflower Speech should get the _most_ attention in Congress. pic.twitter.com/8mPUhCC4bp — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 24, 2017

Abramson doesn’t reveal much about his sources, but let’s just be aware that the intelligence community has long been rumored to have the goods on Trump. So yeah. Somebody’s leaking.

Daily Kos readers may also recall that according to the famous British spy dossier on the Russia connection, Carter Page was offered the brokerage commission on the sale of 19% of Rosneft if he could get US sanctions on Russia lifted. And apparently Trump himself wanted a piece of that action, to the tune of 0.5%; and whaddya know? Rosneft sold exactly 19.5% of its stock to person or persons unknown.

MAJOR UPDATE:

There has been discussion in the comments about the veracity of Seth Abramson’s reportage. Here is what I have been able to find so far doing a quick search:

1. Location of Trump's foreign policy speech was changed from NPC to Mayflower: True.

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/277308-trump-to-give-foreign-policy-speech-at-national-press-club

2. The space at the Mayflower was smaller than the NPC. False . True.

The NPC's main ballroom has a capacity of 525, while the Mayflower's Grand Ballroom can seat 1150. But according to a subsequent tweet by Abramson, Trump’s speech was actually held in the State Ballroom, which seats 400 in theater mode.

Thus the Trump campaign's stated reason for the move -- "overwhelming interest" -- makes sense. Both sites have reception rooms adjacent to the main ballroom.

http://www.press.org/services/event-facilities/main-level

http://www.themayflowerhotel.com/meetings-events/

3. There was a reception at the Mayflower before the speech. Ambassador Kislyak was at the reception, along with Trump, Sessions, and three other ambassadors: all True.

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/statement-regarding-president-trumps-april-27-2016-foreign-19715

4. CNI has Russian connections: misleading .

The CNI (FKA the Nixon Center) appears to be bipartisan and very much into realpolitik. Henry Kissinger is one of the directors. They are focused on foreign affairs, but seem to have no particular love for Putin.

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/what-does-putin-want-17938

5. Other ambassadors at the reception were from Italy, Singapore, and the Phillipines. True.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C7qDEvfV4AIf8N4.jpg

6. Italy and Singapore were key players in the Rosneft sale: partially true.

There appears to be no direct governmental involvement from either nation; however, an Italian bank was one of the key players in financing the deal, and a holding company in Singapore was the nominal buyer. (The ownership of that Singaporean company is impossible to trace.) But other nations were involved too: Qatar and Switzerland were also involved in financing the deal.

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN1582OH

I'm also adding a link to the Steele dossier on Trump's Russia ties:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3259984-Trump-Intelligence-Allegations.html

Regarding the most explosive allegation by Abrahamson, that Trump was personally involved in the Rosneft deal, I have found no confirmation (nor did I expect to). If Abramson has sources, he’s not telling us who they might be.