“A Russian-born lobbyist who attended the controversial Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 received a series of suspicious payments totaling half a million dollars before and after the encounter,” BuzzFeed News reports.

“Documents show that Rinat Akhmetshin, a Soviet military officer turned Washington lobbyist, deposited large, round-number amounts of cash in the months preceding and following the meeting, where a Russian lawyer offered senior Trump campaign officials dirt on Hillary Clinton.”

“The lobbyist also received a large payment that bank investigators deemed suspicious from Denis Katsyv, whose company Prevezon Holdings was accused by the US Justice Department of laundering the proceeds of a $230 million Russian tax fraud.”

CNN: “In recent weeks, advisers for Kamala Harris, Joe Biden and Cory Booker, as well as other White House aspirants, have engaged in a fierce battle for operatives in the first-in-the-South primary state. They have courted potential hires with job offers and big titles—or in Biden’s case, a promise that the wait would be worth it—as they seek to build their broader network of influencers in the state.”

“Several sources who spoke to CNN say that top political talent in the state is being courted most heavily by three hopefuls: Booker, Harris and Biden. Biden’s political team has been making calls to South Carolina Democrats to get them on board, possibly to launch a campaign with a solid team in place.”