Seychelles meeting back- channel overture?

WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller has gathered evidence that a secret meeting in the Seychelles just before the inauguration of Donald Trump was an effort to establish a back channel between the incoming administration and the Kremlin — apparently contradicting statements made to lawmakers by one of its participants, according to people familiar with the matter.

In January 2017, Erik Prince, the founder of the private security company Blackwater, met with a Russian official close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and later described the meeting to congressional investigators as a chance encounter that was not a planned discussion of U.S.-Russia relations.

But a witness cooperating with Mueller has told investigators the meeting was set up in advance so that a representative of the Trump transition could meet with an emissary from Moscow to discuss future relations between the countries, according to those who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

George Nader, a LebaneseAmerican businessman who helped organize the Seychelles meeting and attended, has testified before a grand jury gathering evidence as part of Mueller's investigation into Russian efforts to interfere with the 2016 election.

In another development, The New York Times reported that Mueller has learned of two conversations in recent months in which President Donald Trump asked key witnesses about matters they discussed with investigators, according to three people familiar with the encounters.

In one episode, the president told an aide that the White House counsel, Donald McGahn, should issue a statement denying a Times article in January. The article said McGahn told investigators that the president once asked him to fire Mueller. McGahn later had to remind the president that he had indeed asked him to see that Mueller was dismissed, the people said.