A British music promoter who helped orchestrate the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer reached out to the Trump team about a possible second meeting, according to newly released documents.
The documents, released by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, indicate that Rob Goldstone reached out to Rhona Graff, President Trump’s longtime assistant, in November 2016 about a possible second meeting between members of the Trump transition team and Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer.
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Goldstone told investigators with the Senate Judiciary Committee he believed the request for a second meeting came from Aras Agalarov, a Russian billionaire with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Goldstone represented Agalarov’s son, Russian pop star Emin Agalarov.
The second meeting never occurred, and Goldstone told the committee he believed the request for a follow-up gathering was “ridiculous” and “one that I would fight everything in me not to have to request.”
Attached to the email Goldstone sent to Graff in November 2016 was a document marked “confidential” that laid out the reasons for a congressional investigation into the passing of the Magnitsky Act, a 2012 law that punished Russian human rights abusers.
Goldstone’s attempts to set up a second meeting came nearly six months after Veselnitskaya met with Trump Jr., then-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner at Trump Tower. Goldstone told Trump Jr. in a June 2016 email that the Russians had potentially damaging information on Hillary Clinton and “her dealings with Russia” that would be beneficial for then-candidate Trump.
[Also read: Donald Trump Jr. told senators he did not recall if he told his father about Trump Tower meeting]
In his interview with the Senate Judiciary Committee, Goldstone said he concluded Veselnitskaya was “well-connected potentially” and may have had “damaging” information on Clinton. The request for the first Trump Tower meeting, Goldstone said, came from Emin Agalarov.
Goldstone told Emin Agalarov he believed the meeting was a “bad idea,” but said his client told him, “I’m only asking you to get a meeting.”
The president’s eldest son said the June 2016 gathering was primarily about the issue of American adoptions of Russian children and the Magnitsky Act, and yielded no incriminating information about Clinton.
Goldstone also told Senate Judiciary Committee investigators he was expecting Veselnitskaya would have a “smoking gun,” but told Trump Jr. following the meeting it was “hugely embarrassing.”
The Trump Tower meeting has become one focus of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
The president has long maintained Mueller’s probe is a “witch hunt” and asserts there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia.
Several congressional committees, including the Senate Judiciary Committee, are conducting their own investigations into Russian meddling.
In addition to Goldstone’s emails released Wednesday, the committee released the transcript from his interview with investigators, as well as transcripts and documents from Donald Trump Jr. and three others who attended the Trump Tower meeting: Irakly Kaveladze, a businessman, Anatoli Samochornov, a translator, and Rinat Akhmetshin, a Russian-American lobbyist.
The documents involving Goldstone also show that one year before he organized the Trump Tower meeting, Goldstone reached out to Graff to ask if Trump would be able to attend a 60th birthday party for Aras Agalarov in Moscow.
Graff told Goldstone that due to the presidential campaign, his attendance was unlikely.
“I totally understand re Moscow—unless maybe he would welcome a meeting with President Putin which Emin would set up,” Goldstone replied, referencing Emin Agalarov.
Goldstone told Senate Judiciary Committee investigators that he was conveying Putin’s desire to meet with Trump after a meeting between the two fell through when Trump hosted the Miss Universe Pageant in Moscow in 2013.
The emails released by the committee also show that, days after his hiring, former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci reached out to Goldstone.
“I don’t officially start until the 15th, Rob,” Scaramucci emailed Goldstone on July 23, 2017. “But I just wanted to drop you a line to say if you ever need to pick my brains then my door is always open. Obviously there is still pressure on all sides, but if we remain consisted and united I don’t envisage any issues we can’t ride out.”
Scaramucci told CNBC the meeting did not have anything to do with Russians.
In the one year since Mueller took over the Russia probe, 19 people have been indicted, including Manafort and his business partner Rick Gates. Also indicted were 13 Russians and three Russian companies for their role in meddling in the 2016 election.
