as Mr. Browder became a more central figure in the Prevezon litigation, and the question of whether he was, in fact, evading his taxes in Russia became an issue, we began to try to understand the Hermitage Fund and how it worked, and whether it paid taxes and who its clients were and its structure. So I conducted some research on these dozens of shell companies that were associated with the Hermitage Fund based in Cyprus.
Q Was one of those Giggs Enterprises Limited?
A I think so.
Q Zhoda Limited?
A Yep.
Q Peninsular Heights Limited?
A I think so.
Q And so once you conducted that research, it made its way, you understood, to Ms. Veselnitskaya. Did you understand at the time that it was potentially making its way from her to the upper ranks of the Kremlin?
A No.
Q But it is fair to say, however, that the negative viewpoints expressed in this memo regarding Mr. Browder and Mr. Magnitsky are consistent with the Kremlin's own viewpoints on these matters?
A They are consistent with the Kremlin's. They are not consistent with mine. Obviously, the Kremlin has very strong feelings on these things. I do not. I obviously think that Sergey Magnitsky was killed in prison by neglect, if not worse. And I think that William Browder's position that he holds now on Vladimir Putin is very similar to mine. And so --
Q Have you shared that opinion with Ms. Veselnitskaya?
UNCLASSIFIED, COMMITTEE SENSITIVE
