Ethan Riley
There have been several instances of people with close ties to former US President Donald Trump being linked to Russian officials. These include Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor, who failed to disclose meetings with Sergey Kislyak and Sergey Gorkov, the head of the Russian state-owned bank Vnesheconombank. Another instance involves Donald Trump Jr., who, along with Kushner and Paul Manafort, met with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya after being promised incriminating information about Hillary Clinton. Marc Kasowitz, Trump's personal lawyer, has also represented OJSC Sberbank, Russia's largest bank. Additionally, law firms such as Kirkland and Skadden Arps have been connected to the Trump administration through Boris Epshteyn, a personal lawyer for the president. These connections have raised questions about the potential influence of Russian interests on Trump and his associates.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of incident | April 2017 |
| Person involved | Jared Kushner, Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort |
| Russian officials involved | Sergey Kislyak, Sergey Gorkov, Natalia Veselnitskaya |
| Trump's lawyer | Marc Kasowitz |
| Law firms involved | Kirkland and Skadden Arps, Kirkland & Ellis, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison |
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What You'll Learn
Trump associates' links to Russian officials
Since Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, several suspicious links have been discovered between Trump associates and Russian officials. These links were discovered by the FBI, a special counsel investigation, and several United States congressional committees. The investigations resulted in many criminal charges and indictments.
Multiple European allies passed on information to the United States about contacts between the Trump campaign and Russians. U.S. intelligence agencies also intercepted conversations between Kremlin officials and Trump associates, with the Russians discussing how much to interfere in the election.
Several individuals connected to Trump have been implicated in these links to Russia. For example, Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor, failed to disclose meetings with Sergey Kislyak and Sergey Gorkov, the head of the Russian state-owned bank Vnesheconombank. Kushner also attended a meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, along with Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort, after being promised information about Hillary Clinton.
Another associate, Erik Prince, founder of the Blackwater security company, secretly met with an unidentified Russian close to Vladimir Putin in the Seychelles. The purpose of the meeting was to establish a back-channel link between Trump and Putin.
Trump himself has extensive ties to Russia, having travelled there extensively and conducted business dealings with Russian nationals. He has also repeatedly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin as a strong leader.
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Jared Kushner's meetings with sanctioned Russian bankers
Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law and a senior adviser, met with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to Washington, and Sergey Gorkov, the head of the Russian state-owned bank Vnesheconombank (VEB), in December 2016. VEB is one of several state-run Russian banks that have been under US sanctions since 2014 due to Russia's incursion into Ukraine. Kushner's meeting with Gorkov, in particular, has raised concerns and is being investigated by federal authorities.
Kushner's meeting with Gorkov lasted 30 minutes and was described by the Trump administration as diplomatic. However, Vnesheconombank stated that the meeting was business-related, connected to Kushner's management of Kushner Companies. White House spokeswoman Hope Hicks confirmed the meetings, stating that nothing of consequence was discussed. Kushner's lawyers attributed the omission of these meetings from his security clearance application as "an error".
The content of the Kushner-Gorkov meeting is of particular interest to investigators probing the Trump campaign's ties to Russia. As a US citizen, Kushner could face legal repercussions if he discussed lending money to the bank or helping it secure financing. These meetings also raise questions about the possibility of investing in Kushner Companies or Trump properties if sanctions were lifted.
Jared Kushner was also involved in a June 2016 meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, along with Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort. This meeting was arranged after being promised information about Hillary Clinton, with emails proposing the meeting mentioning "documents and information that would incriminate Hillary" as "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr Trump".
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Russian interference in the 2016 US election
In 2016, the Russian government interfered in the United States presidential election. The interference was carried out through a "hacking and disinformation campaign" with the goals of damaging the campaign of Hillary Clinton, boosting Donald Trump's campaign, and increasing political and social discord in the United States. The operation, code-named Project Lakhta, was ordered directly by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Internet Research Agency (IRA), a Kremlin-linked troll farm based in Saint Petersburg, played a key role in the interference. The IRA created thousands of social media accounts pretending to be Americans supporting Trump and opposing Clinton. They spread propaganda, fabricated articles, and disinformation from Russian government-controlled media, reaching millions of users between 2013 and 2017. By February 2016, internal IRA documents showed instructions to support Trump and Bernie Sanders and criticize other candidates. The IRA also organized pro-Trump and anti-Clinton rallies in the US.
Russian intelligence officials hacked into the computers of the Clinton campaign, the Democratic National Committee, state election boards, and several state secretaries. They stole documents, emails, and voter data, which were then released to the public in stages to create havoc within the Democratic Party. The stolen information was given to platforms like DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0, and reportedly to WikiLeaks.
Additionally, there were links between Trump associates and Russian officials. Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor, Jared Kushner, met with Sergey Gorkov, the head of the Russian state-owned bank Vnesheconombank, during the campaign. Kushner's lawyers called it a business-related meeting, but it raised concerns due to the bank's connection to Russian intelligence and its sanctions by the US. Donald Trump Jr. and Kushner also met with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya after being promised information incriminating Clinton.
In conclusion, Russian interference in the 2016 US election involved a coordinated effort by Russian government entities and individuals to influence public opinion, disrupt the Democratic Party, and support Donald Trump's candidacy through hacking, disinformation, and direct contacts with Trump associates.
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Trump's personal lawyer Marc Kasowitz
Marc Kasowitz is an American trial lawyer and partner at the New York-based law firm Kasowitz Benson Torres, which he co-founded in 1993. He has been a “go-to” lawyer for Donald Trump for decades, representing him in divorce proceedings, bankruptcy cases, Trump University lawsuits, and during the 2016 presidential campaign regarding sexual misconduct allegations. Kasowitz was retained to represent Trump personally in connection with investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections. He was also responsible for the dismissal of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who he believed posed a threat to Trump.
Kasowitz has a reputation for taking on tough, out-of-the-box cases and is known for his aggressive, creative, and strategic approach to litigation. He has represented numerous prominent companies and individuals, including cigarette manufacturer Liggett Group and Bill O'Reilly in allegations of sexual harassment. Kasowitz has also defended the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in a lawsuit filed by victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
In addition to his legal career, Kasowitz is known for his political donations, having contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican causes and Trump's presidential campaign. He has also established scholarships at his alma maters, Cornell Law School, and Hopkins School, demonstrating his commitment to education and giving back.
However, Kasowitz's career has not been without controversy. He has been criticised for his representation of Russian clients with close ties to Vladimir Putin, including the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and the state-owned bank Sberbank. In 2017, ProPublica reported that Kasowitz may be ineligible for federal security clearance due to his alcohol abuse, and his response to an email urging him to resign included profanity-laced threats.
Despite these controversies, Kasowitz has had notable achievements, including founding and managing his law firm, which has handled watershed cases in American legal history, such as the tobacco settlements. He counts among his inspirations his father, a scrap metal business owner who embodied hard work, focus, honesty, and fairness.
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Trump's links to Russian bank OJSC Sberbank
In 2010, the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Toronto received financing from Vnesheconombank (VEB), a Russian state-run investment bank. In 2013, Sberbank co-sponsored the Miss Universe contest, which was then co-owned by Trump, and the bank's chairman, Herman Gref, attended a Moscow luncheon for Trump. Following this, Trump and Aras Agalarov, a Russian oligarch developer, began working on a Moscow Trump Tower deal. Sberbank provided Agalarov's Crocus Group with about $1.6 billion in financing for several real estate projects, including the potential Trump Tower.
In 2015, Trump signed a letter of intent with IC Expert Investment Company to develop a Trump-branded tower in Moscow. IC Expert received a non-revolving line of credit from Sberbank for 10.6 billion rubles. Sberbank agreed to finance 70% of the project, its largest commercial real estate loan to date. However, the project fell through before any Russian financing was obtained.
In April 2017, it was reported that Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor, Jared Kushner, failed to disclose numerous meetings with foreign officials, including Sergey Gorkov, the head of the Russian state-owned bank Vnesheconombank. Kushner's lawyers called the omissions "an error".
In June 2016, Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort met with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya after being promised information about Hillary Clinton. In emails proposing the meeting, publicist Rob Goldstone promised "documents and information that would incriminate Hillary" as "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr Trump", to which Donald Trump Jr. responded, "if it's what you say I love it." However, Trump Jr. told The New York Times that the meeting was about the Magnitsky Act, and Scott S. Balber, formerly a lawyer for Donald Trump, obtained a memo from Veselnitskaya which showed that her focus was repealing the Magnitsky Act sanctions.
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Frequently asked questions
Trump's personal lawyer Marc Kasowitz has represented OJSC Sberbank, Russia's largest bank.
Yes, in 2016, Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort had a meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya after being promised information about Hillary Clinton.
The meeting was about the Magnitsky Act, which Veselnitskaya wanted to repeal. However, Trump Jr. claimed the meeting was about obtaining incriminating documents about Hillary Clinton.
Yes, Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor, failed to disclose meetings with Sergey Kislyak and Sergey Gorkov, the head of the Russian state-owned bank Vnesheconombank.
Kushner's lawyers called the omissions "an error". U.S. officials believe Kushner has important information regarding the FBI investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
