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Credit to Author: Garrett M. Graff| Date: Fri, 25 May 2018 21:15:37 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n Michael Caputo\u2019s favorite <\/span>novel is Mikhail Bulgakov\u2019s The Master and Margarita<\/a><\/em>, the story of the Devil\u2019s visit to Moscow in the 1930s and all the oddball characters who surround him. When the future Trump campaign official was living in Moscow in the 1990s, he moved to Patriarchs Pond, the novel\u2019s setting, and scratched his apartment\u2019s paint down to the color it was when Bulgakov wrote the novel in Stalin\u2019s Soviet Union, and then repainted each room in the color it would have been then.<\/p>\n Today, Caputo thinks the book\u2019s magical realism and interplay of greed, guilt, and politics captures the absurdity of our modern moment perfectly, and he has taken his own first-edition copy of the book into his closed-door testimonies before the House Intelligence Committee, the Senate Intelligence Committee, and, earlier this month, to meet with Special Counsel Robert Mueller\u2019s investigators. \u201cI figure that\u2019ll raise its resale value,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ll put it on eBay someday.\u201d<\/p>\n Among the odd stories surrounding the colorful cast of characters orbiting the Trump campaign and the Mueller investigation, political consultant Michael Caputo\u2014a one-time prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of PR dirty trickster Roger Stone and former aide to Paul Manafort\u2014likely doesn\u2019t even crack the top dozen. In fact, his most memorable claim to fame on the Trump campaign may be that he\u2019s the only person to have left the campaign under totally normal circumstances, resigning after an ill-advised tweet that celebrated the firing of Corey Lewandowski. (\u201cDing dong the witch is dead,\u201d he wrote, accompanying the post with a photo of a pair of legs crushed by a house.)<\/p>\n Caputo has attracted the attention of Congressional and Justice Department investigators, but he says he\u2019s also wrapped up in a burgeoning Russia-gate of his own, a brewing scandal driven by left-wing bloggers in possession of leaked documents he handed over to Senate investigators, an attempt to smear his latest Russian-linked business venture, a video website he describes as filling the gap \u201cbetween Netflix and YouTube.\u201d<\/p>\n He spoke to WIRED in an attempt to get ahead of looming rumors about the venture, Bond.PM<\/a>, which declares itself \u201cthe future of entertainment powered by Blockchain.\u201d Given his prominence in the Trump orbit and conservative circles, he says, \u201cI expect to get a couple kicks in the nuts.\u201d But he\u2019s here to tell you that claims that there\u2019s anything untoward about his new business are baseless\u2014and his critics are simply trying to discredit him because of general anti-Russia bias. \u201cI\u2019m about to be roasted,\u201d he says. \u201cThe reason the Senate is leaking is because I\u2019m in business with Russians.\u201d<\/p>\n Caputo\u2019s business interests in Russia stretch back to the 1990s, when he lived there working on behalf of the US Agency for International Development and later advised then-President Boris Yeltsin. He also helped run \u201cRock the Vote Russia.\u201d (\u201cWhen the Clinton administration asked me to go meddle in the Russian election, I jumped at the chance,\u201d he jokes.) Though he left Russia as Vladimir Putin took office, he has remained active in the region\u2019s politics and business, including consulting for Gazprom. But more than business, he says he\u2019s an aficionado of Russian art and culture, a child of the Cold War who fought Soviet Communism with the Contras and with his old boss, Jack Kemp.<\/p>\n Bond.PM\u2014for which Caputo is listed as chief marketing officer\u2014isn\u2019t some sort of Russian plot, he says. It\u2019s a startup that just happens to involve a lot of Russians.<\/p>\n The startup, which hasn\u2019t launched yet, says its streaming platform aims to \u201ctake the middlemen out of the game\u201d and connect video creators directly with an audience, allowing for crowd-investing and decentralized ownership enabled by smart contracts and its own cryptocurrency powered by the Ethereum blockchain. \u201cThis whole blockchain thing is so compelling to me\u2014I don\u2019t know where it\u2019s going, but it\u2019s such an interesting ride,\u201d Caputo says.<\/p>\n His role is hardly hidden in the new venture\u2014the flashy website is topped by a video featuring him. (\u201cWith the internet and blockchain, everything is changed,\u201d he says on the video. \u201cIt\u2019s the future of content.\u201d) Other leaders of the startup include a Russian TV executive and a one-time Moscow entertainment lawyer; the effort is backed by a Hong Kong investment banker and professor of the Russian Economic University.<\/p>\n While the public PowerPoint deck<\/a> for the company is innocuous\u2014and posted on Bond.PM\u2019s website\u2014Caputo says that the Senate Intelligence Committee leaked to liberal bloggers two non-public slides from the version he gave them that refer to the \u201cRoseanne Effect,\u201d the runaway popularity with Trump voters of the rebooted Roseanne<\/em> sitcom this year. \u201cRoseanne<\/em> may have a domino effect on Hollywood,\u201d the slides say, reaching the \u201cPro-Trump Middle America ignored by elites.\u201d<\/p>\n He says he uses the slides when pitching the venture to conservative investors, who are eager for an alternative to the liberal Los Angeles elite. Caputo raised $12 million for various pro-Trump SuperPACs in 2016 and says he\u2019s going after the same investors for his new project. \u201cI\u2019m taking this deck to Republican billionaires who support the president,\u201d he says, \u201cpeople who don\u2019t like the Oscars ceremony and can\u2019t stand the finger-wagging from Hollywood.\u201d<\/p>\n Bond.PM, he says, offers a real alternative: \u201cIt completely disrupts the Hollywood business model. It\u2019s the next step in disintermediating Hollywood.\u201d<\/p>\n But, he insists, <\/span>Bond.PM is not cozying up to the Kremlin. In fact, two of the filmmakers involved are decidedly not Putin fans: One of the company\u2019s founders, Den Tolmar, was nominated for an Academy Award for his 2016 documentary Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom<\/a><\/em>, about that country\u2019s revolution in 2014\u2014a revolution that deposed Manafort and Putin\u2019s preferred leader. Another Bond advisor, Cyril Tuschi, made a documentary<\/a> sympathetic to Putin\u2019s most famous critic, the tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.<\/p>\n The startup is aimed at letting fans support their favorite actors and directors without middlemen\u2014and potentially even own a chunk of movies or TV shows themselves. As Caputo and his partners see it, the current economic model leaves a vast chasm between the low-end and the high-end. \u201cIf you don\u2019t sell to Netflix or Amazon, you\u2019re screwed. YouTube doesn\u2019t make you any money anymore. There\u2019s a great big chasm between Netflix and YouTube. That whole middle ground is untouched,\u201d he says. \u201cWith blockchain and smart contracts, it\u2019s a no-brainer. It\u2019s an opportunity not just to make money, but also to transform the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n The platform is meant to help empower both new content, like Tolmar\u2019s documentaries, most recently Cries from Syria<\/a><\/em>\u2014which paints a sympathetic portrait of the victims of the Syrian civil war\u2014as well as those out of step with the Hollywood elite. He points to Kevin Spacey\u2019s banishment from House of Cards<\/em> following sexual assault allegations last year. If the actor wanted to reprise his role as the power-hungry Frank Underwood, he could turn directly to stalwart fans online. \u201cA franchise like that would find a home on Bond.PM. The gods of Hollywood have decided that the Kevin Spacey is never to be seen again\u2014but his fans didn\u2019t get a say in that,\u201d Caputo says. \u201cI understand he\u2019s accused of dire things\u2014and Kevin Spacey needs to make that right again. I believe in forgiveness. America loves a forgiveness story. America is the land of second chances. The gods of Hollywood will never give him a chance, but his fans would have the chance with Bond.PM.\u201d<\/p>\n And don\u2019t forget about Mel Gibson, who was ostricized for various outbursts deemed racist and anti-Semetic. He \u201cwas in Siberia for over a decade; he\u2019s an incredible creator,\u201d Caputo says. \u201cWe missed so much that he could have done. But if the gods of Hollywood were no longer in charge, if the fans were the deciders, it\u2019d be very, very different. On Bond.PM, they don\u2019t get to make that choice.\u201d<\/p>\n The site, he says, is nearly ready for launch, which will include an initial coin offering. \u201cOur ICO is imminent\u2014it\u2019ll be at the end of the month\u2014and we expect to have the platform up and creators uploading their videos and films in June,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Bond.PM is not the only Russian-linked effort underway in Caputo\u2019s life: He\u2019s also helping launch an avant-garde ballet with star Russian ballerina Diana Vishneva, Sleeping Beauty Dreams<\/a><\/em>, which will premiere in December in Miami before heading to New York and, then in 2019, a national tour. The ballet retells the classic fairy tale and includes what the production claims is \u201cthe first ever fusion of live contemporary dance of the ballet stars with 3D digital avatars projected on stage in real time.\u201d<\/p>\n Both efforts share a common origin, Caputo says. \u201cAll of my Russian friends are from the creative arena,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s a huge brain drain of the creative class out of Russia. They\u2019re gone\u2014they now all live in Miami, New York, Los Angeles, London.\u201d<\/p>\n The idea for the dance production grew out of a dinner party in Miami Beach, where he recalls he was sitting around with a group that included, in his words, the \u201cRussian Andy Warhol, the Russian Bill Graham, and the Russian Ian Schrager.\u201d The four of them, all dads with daughters, were drinking vodka and eating pickles. \u201cWe were all complaining about how we\u2019re spending so much money on Frozen<\/em> stuff and princesses,\u201d Caputo says.<\/p>\n The conversation then turned to how to make money on princesses, rather than spend it, and to Sleeping Beauty<\/em>, which has been continually reinvented by the Grimm Brothers, Tchaikovsky, and, most recently, Disney. Was there anything left to do with her? Then Rem Khass, the Russian Andy Warhol, asked a simple question: What was she dreaming for the hundred years that she was asleep?<\/em> \u201cWe all reacted the same way\u2014\u2018Oh my gosh,\u2019\u201d Caputo recalls. \u201cWe started getting really interested. The vast majority of the story took place in her head\u2014and no one ever told us that.\u201d<\/p>\n Caputo, 56, is <\/span>one of the colorful, ancillary characters who have floated in and out of the year-long Mueller investigation. Three decades ago, he worked as Roger Stone\u2019s driver and says he has known Paul Manafort almost as long. Along the way, he worked with Oliver North, supporting the Contras in Central America, first met Trump in 1988, and once entertained Vladimir Putin at a reception at his house in Russia. He got his start in public relations in the Army, and he says that the first Russian he ever saw was through binoculars at the Korean Demilitarized Zone. \u201cI think I\u2019m the only American who has worked for both the White House and the Kremlin,\u201d he says. \u201cI plead guilty to living an interesting life\u2014lock me up. But at the end of the day, I\u2019ve told the truth and I\u2019ve done nothing wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n He is, to put it mildly, unapologetic. \u201cIf those Twitter sleuths Louise Mensch and John Schindler are upset I\u2019m working with the premier Russian ballerina, they\u2019re going to have to deal with it,\u201d he says, referring to two of the amateur online gumshoes who have turned their Russia commentaries into mass followings. \u201cIf they\u2019re upset that I\u2019m working with an Academy-Award nominated Del Tolmar to change the industry, they\u2019re going to have to deal with it.\u201d<\/p>\n A longtime PR consultant, Caputo was hired by Trump in 2014 to help launch an astroturf effort<\/a> to aid Trump\u2019s ultimately unsuccessful purchase of the Buffalo Bills. He went to work for the Trump campaign in December 2015 to help in the New York primary then joined the national team in April 2016 as part of the group brought in by chairman Paul Manafort. He spent only a few weeks on the job before departing following his impolitic tweet.<\/p>\n Despite his short tenure, his contacts with the campaign\u2014and his manifold Russian connections\u2014have kept him on the radar screens of the various Trump investigators for 18 months, especially since the March 20, 2017, congressional hearing where then-FBI Director James Comey testified about Russia\u2019s interference in the election. Rep. Jackie Speier then called Caputo \u201cPutin\u2019s image consultant,\u201d a charge he vehemently objects to. \u201cI no more worked for Vladimir Putin than I did Rocky Balboa,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The investigators all grilled him on his ties to various campaign officials and Russian oligarchs. He says that while he was an \u201cobject of curiosity\u201d to congressional investigators, Mueller\u2019s team went at him hard. They \u201cdidn\u2019t ask me a single question they didn\u2019t know the answer to,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was a colonoscopy. It felt like a proctology exam. These guys are not gentle.\u201d (He prepared for this interview by relaxing in a Russian-style bathhouse in his hometown of Buffalo.)<\/p>\n None of his current work, he says, has raised the eyebrows of Mueller\u2019s team. When he spoke to Mueller\u2019s investigators, he says he tried to give them a copy of the Bond.PM PowerPoint too, but an investigator brushed it away, telling him, \u201cMr. Caputo, we don\u2019t care about your Russian dancing.\u201d (\u201cIt was such a drippy statement\u2014like \u2018we\u2019re in this for serious things,\u2019\u201d he says.)<\/p>\n Throughout the investigations, he has remained a regular guest on cable news, defending Trump and condemning the investigations regularly dismissed by the president as a \u201cwitch hunt.\u201d<\/p>\n Caputo says his own legal bills have topped $125,000, and that he had to cash in his childrens\u2019 college fund to pay them. However, a GoFundMe effort this spring to defray his legal bills ended up raising $330,000 from about 6,500 donors, and earlier this week, Caputo announced<\/a> he was opening up his legal defense fund to others who face mounting lawyers\u2019 fees for their own involvement in the probe.<\/p>\n In a closing statement this month to the Senate Intelligence Committee that boiled over with his frustration, he called for an \u201cinvestigation of the investigators,\u201d saying he wanted to know who was leading the push against Trump: \u201cI want to know [who] because God damn you to hell!\u201d<\/p>\n He sees his two new efforts, the ballet and the video website, as a chance to restart and reorient his life. \u201cI never want to be in politics again. This has been a terrible experience. Working for President Trump has been a terrible experience,\u201d he says. \u201cI never want to do another [campaign] again. It\u2019s an opportunity to change my life and my family\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n The whole inquisition, he says, has made him rethink his dismissal on TV last year of George Papadopoulos as a \u201ccoffee boy.\u201d He apologized<\/a> to Papadopoulos on Twitter this morning, lifting a sense of shame that Caputo says had led him to question whether he\u2019s worthy of marching in this weekend\u2019s Memorial Day parade in his hometown of East Aurora, New York. With the apology made, Caputo says, he has a clean conscience: \u201cNow I can have a hot dog and march.\u201d<\/p>\n Garrett M. Graff (@vermontgmg<\/a>) is a contributing editor for WIRED and the author of The Threat Matrix: Inside Robert Mueller's FBI<\/a>. He can be reached at garrett.graff@gmail.com.<\/p>\n