Mueller eyes foreign cash to Prez team
LAWYER’S SHOCKING LETTER
these two women,” Gleason’s filing says. “The extent of Mr. Cohen memorializing any of our communications is unknown.”
It’s unclear what, if anything, happened as a result of the conversation. Cohen was “sympathetic to these women,” Gleason told The News.
In September of 2013, Trump — who was sued earlier that year by Schneiderman over his Trump University — compared the then-AG to disgraced politicians Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer.
“Weiner is gone, Spitzer is gone — next will be lightweight A.G. Eric Schneiderman. Is he a crook? Wait and see, worse than Spitzer or Weiner.”
Trump’s lawyer in the Russia investigation, Rudy Giuliani, said he hasn’t spoken to his client about the report, but it was possible that Trump knew.
He told Business Insider the dirt may have made its way to Trump “because he was involved with that dispute over his school with Schneiderman that they realized was trumped up and that they were offended he was playing holier than thou when he turns out to be a pretty serious pervert.”
Gleason is seeking a protective order keeping all information about the two women confidential.
“I’m here to protect two women who came to my office with serious allegations against Mr. Schneiderman,” he said.
In a bit of a rebuke to Gleason, Judge Kimba Wood wrote he should file a formal brief regarding his request.
Schneiderman, who presented himself as a champion of the #MeToo movement, resigned on Monday after The New Yorker published a story detailing his alcohol-fueled alleged abuse of four different women beginning in 2015.
One of those women, Michelle Manning Barish, has been in contact with the special prosecutor investigating the Schneiderman case and will cooperate with the probe, a CNN producer tweeted Friday, citing a source close to Barish.
Barish could not be reached for comment.
The FBI seized reams of documents and other material from Cohen on April 9.
The feds are reportedly investigating him for bank fraud, wire fraud and campaign finance law violations.
Cohen argues that much of the material is subject to attorney-client privilege. Vance’s office declined to comment.
Schneiderman’s attorney, Isabelle Kirshner, did not respond to a request for comment. She has predicted an investigation into the claims would not lead to criminal charges. SPECIAL COUNSEL Robert Mueller is looking into foreign donations made to President Trump’s inauguration committee, according to a report Friday.
Mueller’s team has questioned several donors with personal or business ties to Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, ABC News reported.
Tom Barrack, a close Trump friend and real estate investor with deep ties to the Middle East, was interviewed by federal investigators working for Mueller last year, according to several reports.
Mueller (photo below) is probing Russian election interference and potential connections between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.
Barrack, who chaired Trump’s inauguration committee, was grilled about Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort and Manafort’s onetime deputy, Rick Gates, the Associated Press reported.
Gates pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy and lying in February, while Manafort, charged with bank fraud and other crimes, maintains his innocence.
Barrack was interviewed “months ago” and was asked a few questions about Gates’ work on Trump’s inaugural committee, one source told the news agency. A second source told the AP that the questions were on a variety on topics including financial dealings related to the Trump campaign, his transition and inauguration.
Investigators are also asking about specific donors, including Andrew Intrater, the CEO of investment firm Columbus Nova.
Intrater, who gave $250,000 to the inauguration, is a relative and close associate of Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. Both men attended Trump’s swearing-in ceremony.
Vekselberg, who has also been questioned by Mueller’s team, was linked to embattled Trump lawyer Michael Cohen earlier this week in documents released by an attorney representing porn star Stormy Daniels.
The documents allege that Veklesberg steered $500,000 to a consulting firm run by Cohen through Columbus Nova.
Cohen used the consulting firm to pay Daniels $130,000 just ahead of the 2016 election to keep quiet about an alleged affair she had with Trump a decade earlier.