LOBBYING/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “A lobbyist who was once a Soviet counter-intelligence officer participated last year in a meeting with senior aides to U.S. President Donald Trump, including his son, and a Russian lawyer, NBC News reported on Friday [7-14-17], adding to allegations of possible connections between Moscow and the November election.
NBC News, which did not identify the Russian-American lobbyist, said some U.S. officials suspected him of having ongoing ties to Russian intelligence, something he denied to the network.
The Associated Press said the lobbyist, whom it identified as Rinat Akhmetshin, confirmed that he had attended the June 2016 meeting in New York’s Trump Tower. Despite intense media focus on the meeting, his presence had not been reported or disclosed until Friday.
Emails disclosed by Donald Trump Jr. this week showed him eager to attend the meeting with the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, after learning that she might have information damaging to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Last weekend’s revelation of the Trump Tower gathering would be the most tangible evidence of a connection between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia, a subject that has also prompted investigations by congressional committees and federal special counsel.”
-David Alexander, “Russian-American lobbyist met with Trump Jr., Russian lawyer: NBC News,” Reuters, July 14, 2017 04:47am