Trump-linked figures lead talks on $200m European pipeline contract | Donald Trump

Key members of Donald Trump’s campaign to overturn the 2020 presidential election are seeking a huge European pipeline deal, with the latest figures from the US president’s entourage mixing business and geopolitics.

Jesse Binnall, a lawyer who worked on lawsuits asserting Trump’s baseless claim that the vote was stolen from him, and Joe Flynn, who also sought to undermine Joe Biden’s victory, traveled to Bosnia this week to discuss the project.

Designed to reduce the Balkans’ reliance on Russian gas, the Southern Gas Interconnection pipeline would cost around $200m (£149m) to build.

Binnall told the Guardian that the company he and Flynn represented, AAFS Infrastructure and Energy, had not yet been awarded the $200 million contract. The meetings with Bosnian ministers “were exploratory as we evaluate the potential project,” he said.

“The Southern Interconnection is an important project with the potential to strengthen Bosnia and Herzegovina’s energy security and reduce regional dependence on Russian gas, and AAFS is excited about the opportunity to explore how U.S. private capital and expertise could contribute,” Binnall said.

While much of the rest of Europe has weaned itself off Russian gas following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Bosnia imports almost all of its supplies from Vladimir Putin’s regime. The 146-mile Southern Gas Interconnection pipeline would connect Bosnia to a liquefied natural gas terminal on Croatia’s Adriatic coast. This would allow Bosnia to import its energy from the United States and elsewhere, thereby reducing Moscow’s influence.

After Trump came to power last year, Bosnian authorities agreed to allow U.S. companies to build and operate the pipeline.

AAFS Infrastructure and Energy has no apparent history in the industry. Company records indicate it was founded two months ago in Wyoming.

Its website displays an eagle, a symbol of American power. Although she does not name any members of the company’s staff, she claims to have “decades of combined experience in energy, infrastructure, finance and international project development.”

Flynn and Binnall were in Sarajevo this week to meet with Bosnian leaders “to discuss how U.S. capital and resources can develop and operate the Southern Interconnection pipeline,” according to an X message from the U.S. Embassy, ​​whose diplomats support the venture.

Asked whether his and Flynn’s ties to Trump created a conflict of interest, Binnall said the embassy’s support was “consistent with its mission to support American businesses operating abroad.” He added: “AAFS is a private company that seeks opportunities through traditional diplomatic and commercial channels. »

A Virginia lawyer who enjoys diving with sharks, Binnall contributed to Trump’s efforts to discredit the 2020 US election. After Trump’s loss to Biden, Binnall pushed his false claims of election malfeasance into court filings and congressional testimony. He also defended Trump in cases related to his supporters’ assault on the Capitol.

Flynn’s brother, Michael Flynn, served as Trump’s national security adviser during his first term. In 2017, he was convicted of lying to the FBI about his dealings with Russia. Trump pardoned him in 2020.

The brothers now appear to be on opposing sides in the United States’ fight against Russia for influence in the Balkans.

While Joe Flynn seeks a contract for a pipeline to curb demand for Russian energy, Michael Flynn recently took up the cause of Milorad Dodik, the activist leader of the autonomous region of Bosnia called the Serbian Republic. Dodik is one of Putin’s most vocal allies in Europe.

Dodik’s lobbyists present him as a defender of Christian values. In October, Trump lifted U.S. sanctions on Dodik in 2022 for “significant corruption” and “divisive ethno-nationalist rhetoric.”

Trump’s own family has also been active in the former Yugoslavia of late.

As part of their global money-making campaign, Donald Jr. and Eric, Trump’s eldest sons and custodians of the family business, collaborated with his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, on a plan for a $500 million Trump Tower in Belgrade. Serbian protesters, as well as the prosecutor’s investigation into alleged illegal support for the project by members of the authoritarian regime, have thwarted this idea.

In a social media post, the Bosnian Foreign Ministry said a meeting between Minister Binnall and Flynn “reaffirmed the shared commitment to deepening cooperation, fostering investment and accelerating the implementation of these vital infrastructure projects.”