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DISPATCH,
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REPORTS APRIL 30, 2019
TRUMP’S RUSSIA COVER-UP BY THE NUMBERS – 251 CONTACTS WITH RUSSIA-LINKED OPERATIVES
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Last Updated April 30, 2019
On April 18, 2019, a redacted copy of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s “Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election” (Mueller Report) was released to the public. The Mueller report builds on the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that there were two campaigns to elect Donald Trump— one run by Trump and one run by the Russian government. The Mueller report
clearly identified collusionbetween the Trump campaign and Russia, despite repeated denials from Trump and many of his senior advisers and close associates that there were any connections between the two campaigns.
A total of 251 contacts between Trump’s team and Russia-linked operatives have been identified, including at least 37 meetings. And we know that at least 33 high-ranking campaign officials and Trump advisers were aware of contacts with Russia-linked operatives during the campaign and transition, including Trump himself. None of these contacts were ever reported to the proper authorities. Instead,
the Trump team tried to cover up every single one of them.
Beyond the many lies the Trump team told to the American people, Mueller himself repeatedly remarked on how far the Trump team was willing to go to hide their Russian contacts,
stating, “the investigation established that several individuals affiliated with the Trump Campaign lied to the Office, and to Congress, about their interactions with Russian-affiliated individuals and related matters. Those lies materially impaired the investigation of Russian election interference.”
Below is a comprehensive chronological list of the contacts that have been discovered to date and some of the many lies Trump’s campaign, transition team, and White House told to hide them.
Extensive reporting, subsequent admissions, and special counsel Mueller’s indictments and report have revealed at least 251 contacts between the Trump team and Russia-linked operatives, despite repeated denials. Among these contacts were 37 meetings (which include Skype calls), which are highlighted below.
- July 22, 2015: British publicist Rob Goldstone emailed Trump’s executive assistant Rhona Graff, stating that Russian pop star Emin Agalrov wanted to invite Trump to a birthday celebration in Moscow for his father, Russian oligarch Aras Agalarov. Goldstone also stated that Emin wanted Trump to “write a small message of congratulations to his father.” Graff was Trump’s executive assistant at the Trump Organization, and the Mueller report and press reporting made it clear that Graff handled Trump’s communications while he was a candidate.
- July 24, 2015: Graff emailed Goldstone, stating that she would let Trump know about the invitation but that it was “highly unlikely” that he would be able to visit Moscow. Graff also stated that Trump would like to send a “congratulatory note.”
- July 24, 2015: Goldstone emailed Graff, saying “I totally understand re Moscow—unless maybe he would welcome a meeting with President Putin which Emin would set up.”
- September 2015: Sometime during or after September 2015, Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen “[reached] out to gauge Russia’s interest” in a meeting between Trump and Putin. The sentencing memo for Cohen does not specify the means by which Cohen reached out or specifically to whom he reached out.
- September 2015: Felix Sater, a Russian-born Trump business partner, contacted Cohen “on behalf of I.C. Expert Investment Company (I.C. Expert), a Russian real-estate development corporation controlled by Andrei Vladimirovich Rozov.”
- September 22, 2015: Cohen forwarded materials related to the Trump Tower Moscow deal to Georgian business executive Giorgi Rtskhiladze. The Mueller report indicates that Cohen “communicated” with Rtskhiladze during the fall of 2015 about the Trump Tower Moscow deal. This report only contains contacts between Cohen and Rtskhiladze that are explicitly listed in the Mueller report. The two men may have had more communications, and the contacts listed in this report represent a conservative estimate. Rtskhiladze has since disputed Mueller’s characterization of him, claiming the report has “glaring inaccuracies.”