{"id":632,"date":"2018-03-17T20:27:45","date_gmt":"2018-03-18T00:27:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=632"},"modified":"2018-03-17T20:27:45","modified_gmt":"2018-03-18T00:27:45","slug":"data-firm-tied-to-trump-campaign-talked-business-with-russians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=632","title":{"rendered":"Data Firm Tied to Trump Campaign Talked Business With Russians"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By\u00a0DANNY HAKIM<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>MATTHEW ROSENBERG<\/span><\/a><\/span>

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Alexander Nix, chief executive of the data consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, told the British Parliament last month that his company had no connections to Russia.<\/span>\u00a0Credit<\/span>Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When the Russia question came up\u00a0during a hearing<\/a>\u00a0at the British Parliament last month, Alexander Nix did not hesitate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve never worked in Russia,\u201d said Mr. Nix, head of a data consulting firm that advised the Trump campaign on targeting voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as I\u2019m aware, we\u2019ve never worked for a Russian company,\u201d Mr. Nix added. \u201cWe\u2019ve never worked with a Russian organization in Russia or any other country, and we don\u2019t have any relationship with Russia or Russian individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Mr. Nix\u2019s business did have some dealings with Russian interests, according to company documents and interviews.<\/p>\n

Mr. Nix is a director of SCL Group, a British political and defense contractor, and chief executive of its American offshoot,\u00a0Cambridge Analytica<\/a>, which advised the Trump campaign. The firms\u2019 employees, who often overlap, had contact in 2014 and 2015 with executives from Lukoil, the Russian oil giant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Lukoil was interested in how data was used to target American voters, according to two former company insiders who said there were at least three meetings with Lukoil executives in London and Turkey. SCL and Lukoil denied that the talks were political in nature, and SCL also said there were no meetings in London.<\/p>\n

The contacts took place as Cambridge Analytica was building a roster of Republican political clients in the United States \u2014 and harvesting the Facebook profiles of over 50 million users to develop tools it said could analyze voters\u2019 behavior.<\/p>\n

Cambridge Analytica also included extensive questions about Russia\u2019s president, Vladimir V. Putin, in surveys it was carrying out in American focus groups in 2014. It is not clear what \u2014 or which client \u2014 prompted the line of questioning, which asked for views on topics ranging from Mr. Putin\u2019s popularity to Russian expansionism.<\/p>\n

On two promotional documents obtained by The New York Times, SCL said it did business in Russia. In both documents, the country is highlighted on world maps that specify the location of SCL clients, with one of the maps noting that the clients were for the firm\u2019s elections division. In a statement, SCL said an employee had done \u201ccommercial work\u201d about 25 years ago \u201cfor a private company in Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n

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President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, left, meeting with Vagit Alekperov. He is the head of Lukoil, an oil giant that was in talks with Cambridge Analytica employees.<\/span>\u00a0Credit<\/span>Mikhail Klimentyev\/RIA Novosti\/Kremlin, via Reuters<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cambridge Analytica has been a political flash point since its role in the Trump campaign attracted scrutiny after the election. While Mr. Nix\u2019s firm\u00a0turned over some records\u00a0<\/a>to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence during its investigation of Russian interference, Democrats on the committee want a fuller review. \u201cIt is imperative to interview a broader range of individuals employed by or linked to Cambridge Analytica,\u201d they said\u00a0in a report<\/a>\u00a0this month.<\/p>\n

Asked about the Russian oil company, a spokesman for SCL said that in 2014 the firm\u2019s commercial division \u201cdiscussed helping Lukoil Turkey better engage with its loyalty-card customers at gas stations.\u201d The spokesman said SCL was not ultimately hired.<\/p>\n

Arash Repac, chief executive of Lukoil Eurasia Petrol, offered a different explanation for the talks. He said that a meeting he attended with SCL in Turkey involved a promotional campaign with local soccer teams.<\/p>\n