Russian-American lobbyist met with Trump Jr
July 15, (Reuters) - A lobbyist who was once a Soviet counter-intelligence officer participated last year in a meeting with senior aides to US President Donald Trump, including his son, and a Russian lawyer, NBC News reported, adding to allegations of possible connections between Moscow and the November election. NBC News, which did not identify the RussianAmerican lobbyist, said some US officials suspected him of still having 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. A source familiar with the participants of the meeting confirmed to Reuters that Akhmetshin was in the room. The meeting appears to be the most tangible evidence of a connection between Trump's election campaign and Russia, a subject that has prompted investigations by congressional committees and a federal special counsel.
Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and former campaign adviser Paul Manafort were also at the meeting, which Donald Trump Jr. agreed to attend because he believed he could get damaging information about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Trump Jr., the president's eldest son, did not mention Akhmetshin's presence when he released a series of emails about the meeting earlier this week.
Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, said the report about Akhmetshin “if accurate, adds another deeply disturbing fact about this secret meeting.” Akhmetshin was not available for comment.
The White House had no immediate com- ment about the NBC News report of a Russian-American lobbyist at the meeting.
A former Trump campaign adviser, Michael Caputo, told reporters after he testified to the House Intelligence Committee in closed session that he had no contact with Russians and never heard of anyone in the campaign “talking with Russians.” Accusations by US intelligence agencies that Moscow meddled in the election and colluded with the Trump campaign have dominated the Republican president's first months in office. Russia denies the allegations, and Trump says there was no collusion.
The agencies said earlier this year that Russia sought to help Trump win the election by hacking private emails from Democratic Party officials and disseminating false information online.
Akhmetshin has been accused in federal and state courts in the United States of engaging in hacking conspiracies, although the allegations were later withdrawn, according to court records.
US Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley described Akhmetshin in a letter to the Justice Department in March as “a former member of the Russian military intelligence services (GRU)” who was working to overturn the 2012 “Magnitsky Act” of Congress, which blacklists Russians for human rights abuses. The Kremlin has often complained about the act.
Congressional records show that Akhmetshin lobbied Congress last year for the Human Rights Accountability Global Initiative Foundation, a Washington-based advocacy group that says it is working to lift laws that prevent US residents from adopting Russian children. Those laws were put in place by Moscow in response to the Magnitsky Act.