ex-KGB says Trump is a Russian Asset named "Krasnov"

The Daily Beast's article text.

A former Soviet intelligence officer has alleged that Donald Trump was recruited by the KGB in 1987 and given the codename “Krasnov.”

Alnur Mussayev, 71, a former head of intelligence in Kazakhstan and before that a Soviet KGB officer, made the explosive claim in a Facebook post on Thursday. He claimed that he served in the 6th Directorate of the KGB in Moscow, which was responsible for counter-intelligence support within the economy. One of its key objectives, he claimed, was “recruiting businessmen from capitalist countries.”

The allegation revives claims of Russian collusion or even of being a Russian asset which Trump has denounced as “the Russia hoax,” and which dogged his first term in the White House. Even before he was elected, the FBI had secretly opened an investigation into whether his campaign had illegal ties to Russia, which eventually morphed into the Robert Mueller inquiry—which ended without Trump being charged.

Mussayev wrote that in 1987 “our directorate recruited Donald Trump, a 40-year-old American businessman, under the pseudonym Krasnov.” He offered no corroborating evidence, but is a well-known former senior intelligence agent. The Daily Beast has reached out to him for comment.
In his Facebook post, he said that his department specialized in recruiting spies and intelligence sources from the West, asserting once again that Trump had been brought into the fold.

He made another shocking allegation in another comment, saying: “Today, the personal file of resident ‘Krasnov’ has been removed from the FSB. It is being privately managed by one of Putin’s close associates.”

The Russian family name “Krasnov” stems from the Russian word “krasota,” which means beautiful.

The Soviet Union and its KGB fell in 1991, and Mussayev returned to his native Kazakhstan—a former Soviet republic—from Moscow and then rose to run the new nation’s intelligence apparatus. The KGB’s most direct successor was the Russian FSB which kept its Moscow files.

The timing of his intervention is intriguing, coming as Trump seeks to meet Vladimir Putin—himself a former KGB operative—to discuss a possible deal to end the Ukraine war, in the teeth of opposition from the government in Kyiv.

Mussayev defected from Kazakhstan to Austria in 2007 after falling foul of Nursultan Nazarbayev, the dictatorial and pro-Russia leader of the central Asian country, who himself stepped aside amid protests in 2019. Mussayev stood trial in Vienna on charges of abducting and murdering two bankers in Kazakhstan, and was acquitted. His former deputy, who had also defected, was charged but found hanged in his prison cell before the trial began.
He added in the comments, “I hope I’ll survive a third assassination attempt,” a reference to apparent attempts on his life in exile. His Facebook account suggests that he was critical of Trump already, calling him “the old racist” and expressing hope that Kamala Harris would win the November election. The ex-KGB officer has also posted repeatedly to condemn Putin and express support for Ukraine.

Mussayev’s allegations are only the latest about Trump’s connections to Russia. Trump has long, and angrily, denied any improper ties to Moscow or collusion with President Vladimir Putin. The billionaire’s first visit to Moscow as a real estate developer in 1987 drew intense scrutiny and speculation that the trip was arranged by the KGB for dubious reasons—which Trump vehemently denied.

According to Politico, in 1985, the KGB updated a secret personality questionnaire distributed among the agency, advising case officers what to look for in a successful recruitment operation.

The document instructed agents to target “prominent figures in the West” with the goal of drawing them “into some form of collaboration with us… as an agent, or confidential or special or unofficial contact.”

Trump’s amicable relationship with Putin and his apparent willingness to capitulate to his demands fueled speculation that the Russian leader possesses compromising material—or kompromat—on him, whether of a sexual nature or related to financial misconduct.

Reports suggest that the KGB began monitoring Trump as early as 1977, following his marriage to Ivana Zelnickova, a Czech model, who allegedly noted his interest in politics to Czechoslovak authorities.

While investigations by U.S. intelligence agencies were unable to prove Trump colluded with Russia to sway the 2016 election, the Moscow Project, an initiative of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, identified at least 272 documented contacts and 38 meetings between the Trump campaign, transition team, and Russia-linked operatives.

The most explosive of all the claims was the so-called Steele dossier, which was published in full by Buzzfeed, which was then a news site, in January 2021, just before his first inauguration. Written by a former British spy, it alleged that the Russian government had worked to get Trump elected, sought to cultivate people in his orbit and quoted anonymous sources who alleged Trump had engaged in outrageous sexual activities in Moscow which were videoed for “kompromat” by the Kremlin. Those allegations, which came to be known as the “pee tape,” may have personally angered him most, prompting repeated public denials and furious invective against media outlets that carried reports of the tape.
Steele eventually clarified that he was reporting only rumors that he had heard in the course of investigating Trump, first for a conservative billionaire and then for Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Trump sued Steele unsuccessfully in Florida and in London over the dossier. A British judge ordered Trump to pay Steele’s costs, but he has not so far complied, it emerged last month.

The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and Russia’s Foreign Ministry for comment.
U.S. officials have also expressed concerns about Trump’s relationship with Putin.

Anthony Scaramucci, who briefly served as Trump’s White House communications director in 2017, said during an episode of “The Rest Is Politics: US” podcast with co-host Katty Kay on Friday that he thinks there is a mysterious “hold” on the president.

Scaramucci did not elaborate on what he believes that “hold” might be, adding only: “I don’t know why it’s like this. [H.R.] McMaster couldn’t figure it out, [James] Mattis couldn’t figure it out, [John] Kelly couldn’t figure it out.”

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Even Mueller found collusion with Russia.

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