begin quote from:
Soviet military vet was also at meeting with Trump Jr.
The new figure in the Trump-Russia controversy: Rinat Akhmetshin
Story highlights
- Akhmetshin is a US citizen, lobbyist and former Soviet military officer
- He has been a presence in the US for more than 20 years
Washington (CNN)The
saga surrounding a June 2016 meeting between senior Trump campaign
officials and a Russian lawyer took another turn Friday when it was
revealed that there were additional participants, including a
Russian-American lobbyist who served in the Soviet military and now
promotes Kremlin-aligned interests in Washington.
A US citizen, lobbyist and former Soviet military officer, Rinat Akhmetshin's presence
at the closed-door meeting in Trump Tower has drawn fresh scrutiny on
the purpose of the meeting, which was pitched to Donald Trump Jr. as an
opportunity to receive incriminating information from the Russian
government about Hillary Clinton.
According
to Trump Jr., the meeting quickly turned to the question of the Russian
ban on Americans adopting children from Russia, a retaliatory measure
Moscow put in place following the passage of the US Magnitsky Act, the
2012 law that blacklisted some Russians for alleged human rights
violations.
CNN has now confirmed
that at least eight people were in the room, including Trump Jr.;
Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner; Trump's then-campaign chairman Paul
Manafort; Akhmetshin; Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, publicist
Rob Goldstone, who helped set up the meeting; a translator; and a
representative of the prominent Russian family who initiated the
meeting. This information came from sources familiar with the details of
the meeting who did not provide all the attendees' names.
CNN
has reached out to Akhmetshin for comment. He is a registered lobbyist
for Veselnitskaya's organization, which has focused on lobbying
Washington to overturn the Magnitsky sanctions, according to lobbying
records.
Akhmetshin
has been a presence in the US for more than 20 years, and his history
has been a source of intrigue for months. Senate Judiciary Chairman
Chuck Grassley requested
more information about his immigration history in April as his
committee investigated a complaint that Akhmetshin, Veselnitskaya and
others engaged in undisclosed lobbying on behalf of the Kremlin to
weaken the Magnitsky Act.
Russian military service
Akhmetshin's
background and military service in the Soviet Union has contributed
substantially to the intrigue around his activities in the US.
Akhmetshin
was born in the Soviet Union. He moved to the United States in 1994 and
became a naturalized American citizen in 2009, according to a statement
he provided to Radio Free Europe.
In a civil lawsuit
not related to the Russia investigation, he was described as "a former
Soviet military counterintelligence officer." And in the complaint
filed with the DOJ by a Magnitsky ally about his alleged undisclosed
lobbying for the Kremlin, he was called "a former member of the Russian
military intelligence services (GRU)."
Steve LeVine, an editor for Axios who says he has known Akhmetshin since 1998, claims
that Akhmetshin "openly described his years as an officer in the Soviet
GRU, the military intelligence arm, serving in Afghanistan."
But
in recent interviews, Akhmetshin has denied that characterization of
his experience, saying it was more routine. He served in the Soviet Army
from 1986 to 1988 as a draftee, saying his unit was serving in the
Baltics and was "loosely part of counterintelligence," according to The Associated Press.
In an interview
with the Washington Post on Friday, Akhmetshin maintained that he never
worked for Russian military intelligence, or worked for the Russian
government. But he acknowledged that his military unit was involved in
"law enforcement issues" and "some counterintelligence matters."
He
told the Post: "I served as a soldier, for two years, like tens of
millions of Russian young men who were drafted. I am proud of my
military service. At no time have I ever worked for Russian government
or any of its agencies. I was not an intelligence officer. Never."
Axios'
LeVine reported he never got the impression that Akhmetshin was still
working for Russian intelligence. "Nothing I picked up in numerous
intense reporting experiences with Akhmetshin over the years -- in the
former USSR and the US -- suggested any current such relationships," he
said.
Akhmetshin insisted he was loyal to the US in a July 2016 statement to Radio Free Europe:
"I am an American citizen since 2009 who pays taxes, earned his
citizenship after living here since 1994, and swore an oath of loyalty
to the United States of America."
Lobbying in the United States
Much
of the scrutiny around Akhmetshin has centered on questions about
exactly who he was lobbying for -- and against -- during his two decades
in the United States.
Akhmetshin's lobbying has made him a player in DC, and a Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) complaint
filed against him, as picked up by Grassley, has alleged that his
lobbying went beyond what was disclosed and was conducted as a foreign
agent on behalf of the Russian government.
The complaint
was filed last year by American financier Bill Browder, whose company
worked closely with Russian lawyer Sergey Magnitsky in the 2000s.
Magnitsky uncovered a $230 million tax fraud scheme in Russia, was
jailed, and later died in a Moscow prison under suspicious
circumstances. US lawmakers passed the Magnitsky Act in 2012 to punish
the Russians allegedly responsible for his death.
It's this legislation that Akhmetshin and Veselnitskaya waged a campaign to overturn last year.
A staffer on
the House Foreign Affairs Committee was concerned when Akhmetshin
showed up at one of their hearings last year, according to an internal
email obtained by Politico.
The staffer's email described Akhmetshin as a former spy who
"specializes in active measures campaigns." The hearing, held on June
14, 2016, was about US policy on Russia. Both Akhmetshin and
Veselnitskaya attended. It was just days after the two attended the
Trump Tower meeting.
Akhmetshin denied being a spy working covertly in the US on behalf of Moscow.
"Just because I was born in Russia doesn't mean I am an agent of [the] Kremlin," Akhmetshin told Politico.
Not
all of his work has aligned with the Kremlin's interests. He once
worked in the US on behalf of Kazakh opposition figures who opposed the
Kremlin-friendly government in Kazakhstan, according to a 2006 interview he gave to The New York Times and a description of his work by the Axios reporter who has known him for 20 years.
Throughout his career, Akhmetshin has represented a range of clients, including a Russian oligarch.
"Some
of my clients are national governments or high-ranking officials in
those governments," Akhmetshin said in a court affidavit in August 2012,
according
to Radio Free Europe. "My government clients have highly sensitive
discussions in my emails concerning the location or relocation of
American military bases in areas within the former Soviet Union."
Links to Veselnitskaya
Akhmetshin
registered in April 2016 as a lobbyist for Veselnitskaya's organization
that was fighting to repeal the Magnitsky Act. The complaint filed by
Browder accuses Akhmetshin of not just being a lobbyist for this
independent organization, but for being a lobbyist for the Russian
government. That work in the US would require additional disclosures
with the DOJ under FARA.
Also in
April 2016, he met with Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, the California Republican
who is considered one of the most Kremlin-friendly lawmakers in
Washington. During this meeting, they discussed the Magnitsky Act,
according to CNN.
In
the months after the meeting, Rohrabacher proposed striking the
Magnitsky name from a new sanctions bill and offered arguments about the
legislation that closely tracked with the Kremlin's position. The
amendment was defeated during markup of the bill.
Rohrabacher
himself described Akhmetshin to CNN as someone with "an ulterior
motive" who is "involved with people who've got an agenda" and has
"international connections to different groups in Russia." When asked if
he thought Akhmetshin was still connected to the Russian security
services, Rohrabacher said: "I would certainly not rule that out."
Hacking lawsuit
Some of Akhmetshin's work has entangled him in legal disputes across the globe.
In 2015, a mining company registered in the Netherlands, International Mineral Resources, accused Akhmetshin in a lawsuit
of "organizing the hacking" of its computer systems and "searching for
specific information" on behalf of a Russian fertilizer-producer
company.
The allegations, which
arose out of a business dispute, were withdrawn in early 2016, according
to court documents filed in New York's Supreme Court.
In a related federal case, Akhmetshin stated in a 2014 affidavit, "I am not a computer specialist and I am not capable of 'hacking.'"
He
added that his previous work has included running a pro-democracy
organization in Washington, consulting a government of a former Soviet
territory as well as the "surveillance of undercover agents and
suspected undercover agents."
No comments:
Post a Comment