Awkward crime-fighter....

Sessions’ awkward crime-fighting encounter

In Bulgaria to fight organized crime, Trump’s AG meets with the country’s prime minister, who himself has been linked to organized crime.

By JOSH MEYER

On a trip to Bulgaria to discuss organized crime and other transnational security issues, Attorney General Jeff Sessions met Tuesday with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, who has himself been dogged for more than a decade by U.S. allegations of significant mob ties.

Sessions is in Bulgaria for the E.U.-U.S. Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Meeting, to participate in plenary sessions on organized crime, cybercrime, counter-terrorism and border security, according to the Justice Department. Bulgaria assumed the European Union’s rotating presidency for the first time on Jan. 1, giving Borissov special responsibilities regarding EU-wide criminal justice matters.

The colorful prime minister and former karate champion has long cultivated a Batman-style identity as a crime-fighter in Bulgaria, and on occasion has played up his support for Washington and its anti-organized crime efforts. But Sessions may have felt especially awkward meeting with Borissov, given the attorney general’s leadership role in President Trump’s much-touted presidential initiative to crack down on transnational organized crime.

A Justice Department official declined to say whether Sessions had been briefed on Borissov’s background, saying the department “does not comment on internal briefings.” In a statement, the Justice Department said Sessions met with Borissov at the prime minister's office at the Council of Ministers in Sofia, and that the dialogue focused on the nations' “shared commitment to fighting international terrorism, cybersecurity, drug trafficking, and human trafficking.”

The Justice Department statement didn’t specifically mention organized crime, but said, “The Attorney General and Prime Minister also discussed other areas of law enforcement cooperation between the two countries, including extradition and mutual legal assistance.”

Sessions isn’t the first top U.S. official to meet with Borissov. President Barack Obama invited him to the White House in 2012, and former FBI Directors James Comey and Robert Mueller have met with him too.

The Justice Department official, who asked not to be identified, noted that Obama’s two secretaries of state, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton also met with Borissov. He also said Sessions met with Borissov because he “is the democratically elected head of Bulgaria,” and because of Bulgaria’s role in the EU.

But Borissov’s alleged connection to three dozen mob-related murders in the former Communist bloc country was enough to prompt Mueller to refuse a meeting with him in 2005, even though he was the country’s top law enforcement official at the time. Mueller did, ultimately, meet with Borissov after being pressured to do so by the Bush White House. When they met again in Sofia in 2011, Mueller appeared somewhat reluctant to smile during a photo-op with Borissov, who is known for widely sharing photos of him and other world security leaders.

Back in 2006, U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria John Beyrle warned in a secret U.S. diplomatic cable that Borissov was a political rising star, but also someone who had been “implicated in serious criminal activity and maintains close ties to Lukoil” – the Russian state-run energy company – “and the Russian embassy.”

Beyrle alleged that Borissov, then the mayor of Sofia, was involved in oil-siphoning scandals, illegal deals involving Lukoil and a major methamphetamine trafficking network. He said Borissov also used his former position as interior ministry chief "to arrange cover for criminal deals," and that his common-law wife, who managed a major Bulgarian bank, "has been accused of laundering money for organized criminal groups, as well as for Borissov's own illegal transactions.”

Since then, Borissov has done three separate stints as prime minister. He has denied any allegations of impropriety. Asked about reports of Borissov’s alleged ties to organized crime, a Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told POLITICO, “I’m not aware even of those rumors.”

In recent years, some EU officials have said Borissov appears to be committed to anti-crime efforts, especially as Bulgaria tries to rein in still-rampant corruption and organized crime in order to be admitted into the passport-free Schengen Area.

During the meetings Tuesday, Justice Department officials also pressed Bulgaria to extradite to the U.S. five Bulgarians charged with exporting aircraft parts to Syria’s national airline in violation of a U.S. embargo, the Justice Department official told POLITICO.

Bulgaria’s chief prosecutor said in April that there was a “minimal” chance of Bulgaria cooperating, because there were “not enough legal prerequisites” for the extradition, according to a Reuters report. The Justice official declined to comment on whether Bulgarian officials softened their position on the issue.