Trump Jr. and Other Aides Met With Gulf Emissary Offering Help to Win Election

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Sunday, 20 May 2018

quote [ ...a company connected to Mr. Zamel had been working on a proposal for a covert multimillion-dollar online manipulation campaign to help elect Mr. Trump, according to three people involved and a fourth briefed on the effort. The plan involved using thousands of fake social media accounts to promote Mr. Trump’s candidacy on platforms like Facebook.

There were concerns inside the company, Psy-Group, about the plan’s legality, according to one person familiar with the effort. The company, whose motto is “shape reality,” consulted an American law firm, and was told that it would be illegal if any non-Americans were involved in the effort. ]

Full in extended ((NYT/Paywall/etc.)

Reveal

WASHINGTON — Three months before the 2016 election, a small group gathered at Trump Tower to meet with Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son. One was an Israeli specialist in social media manipulation. Another was an emissary for two wealthy Arab princes. The third was a Republican donor with a controversial past in the Middle East as a private security contractor.

The meeting was convened primarily to offer help to the Trump team, and it forged relationships between the men and Trump insiders that would develop over the coming months — past the election and well into President Trump’s first year in office, according to several people with knowledge of their encounters.

Erik Prince, the private security contractor and the former head of Blackwater, arranged the meeting, which took place on Aug. 3, 2016. The emissary, George Nader, told Donald Trump Jr. that the princes who led Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were eager to help his father win election as president. The social media specialist, Joel Zamel, extolled his company’s ability to give an edge to a political campaign; by that time, the firm had already drawn up a multimillion-dollar proposal for a social media manipulation effort to help elect Mr. Trump.

The company, which employed several Israeli former intelligence officers, specialized in collecting information and shaping opinion through social media.

The interviews, some in recent weeks, are further evidence that special counsel’s investigation remains in an intense phase even as Mr. Trump’s lawyers are publicly calling for Mr. Mueller to bring it to a close.

It is illegal for foreign governments or individuals to be involved in American elections, and it is unclear what — if any — direct assistance Saudi Arabia and the Emirates may have provided. But two people familiar with the meetings said that Trump campaign officials did not appear bothered by the idea of cooperation with foreigners.

A lawyer for Donald Trump Jr., Alan Futerfas, said in a statement that “prior to the 2016 election, Donald Trump Jr. recalls a meeting with Erik Prince, George Nader and another individual who may be Joel Zamel. They pitched Mr. Trump Jr. on a social media platform or marketing strategy. He was not interested and that was the end of it.”

The August 2016 meeting has echoes of another Trump Tower meeting two months earlier, also under scrutiny by the special counsel, when Donald Trump Jr. and other top campaign aides met with a Russian lawyer after being promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton. No evidence has emerged suggesting that the August meeting was set up with a similar premise.

The revelations about the meetings come in the midst of new scrutiny about ties between Mr. Trump’s advisers and at least three wealthy Persian Gulf states. Besides his interest in Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, Mr. Mueller has also been asking witnesses about meetings between White House advisers and representatives of Qatar, Saudi Arabia’s bitter rival.

A lawyer for Mr. Zamel denied that his client had carried out any campaign on Mr. Trump’s behalf. “Neither Joel Zamel, nor any of his related entities, had any involvement whatsoever in the U.S. election campaign,” said the lawyer, Marc L. Mukasey.

“The D.O.J. clarified from Day 1 that Joel and his companies have never been a target of the investigation. My client provided full cooperation to the government to assist with their investigation,” he said.

Kathryn Ruemmler, a lawyer for Mr. Nader, said, “Mr. Nader has fully cooperated with the special counsel’s investigation and will continue to do so.” A senior official in Saudi Arabia said it had never employed Mr. Nader in any capacity or authorized him to speak for the crown prince.

Mr. Prince, through a spokesman, declined to comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Advisers to the Court

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan of Abu Dhabi, the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, the king’s main adviser, had long opposed many of the Obama administration’s policies toward the Middle East. They resented President Barack Obama’s agreement with Iran over its nuclear program, his statements of support for the Arab Spring uprisings and his hands-off approach to the Syrian civil war.

News outlets linked to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates fiercely criticized Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Trump’s Democratic opponent, when she was secretary of state, and diplomats familiar with their thinking say both princes hoped for a president who would take a stronger hand in the region against both Iran and groups like the Muslim Brotherhood.

Mr. Nader had worked for years as a close adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed of Abu Dhabi, and Mr. Zamel had worked for the Emirati royal court as a consultant as well. When Mr. Trump locked up the Republican presidential nomination in early 2016, Mr. Nader began making inquiries on behalf of the Emirati prince about possible ways to directly support Mr. Trump, according to three people with whom Mr. Nader discussed his efforts.

Mr. Nader also visited Moscow at least twice during the presidential campaign as a confidential emissary from Crown Prince Mohammed of Abu Dhabi, according to people familiar with his travels. After the election, he worked with the crown prince to arrange a meeting in the Seychelles between Mr. Prince and a financier close to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

Companies connected to Mr. Zamel also have ties to Russia. One of his firms had previously worked for oligarchs linked to Mr. Putin, including Oleg V. Deripaska and Dmitry Rybolovlev, who hired the firm for online campaigns against their business rivals.

Mr. Deripaska, an aluminum magnate, was once in business with the former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who has pleaded not guilty in the special counsel investigation to charges of financial crimes and failing to disclose the lobbying work he did on behalf of a former president of Ukraine, an ally of Mr. Putin. Mr. Rybolovlev once purchased a Florida mansion from Mr. Trump.

Mr. Nader’s visits to Russia and the work Mr. Zamel’s companies did for the Russians have both been a subject of interest to the special counsel’s investigators, according to people familiar with witness interviews.

A String of Meetings

Mr. Zamel and Mr. Nader were together at a Midtown Manhattan hotel at about 4 p.m. on the afternoon of Aug. 3 when Mr. Nader received a call from Mr. Prince summoning them to Trump Tower. When they arrived, Stephen Miller, a top campaign aide who is now a White House adviser, was in Donald Trump Jr.’s office as well, according to the people familiar with the meeting.

Mr. Prince is a longtime Republican donor and the brother of Betsy DeVos, the education secretary, and Mr. Prince and Mr. Nader had known each other since Mr. Nader had worked for Blackwater as a business agent in Iraq in the years after the American invasion. Mr. Prince has longstanding ties to the Emirates, and has frequently done business with Crown Prince Mohammed.

Mr. Prince opened the meeting by telling Donald Trump Jr. that “we are working hard for your father,” in reference to his family and other donors, according to a person familiar with the meeting. He then introduced Mr. Nader as an old friend with deep ties to Arab leaders.

Mr. Nader repeatedly referred to the Saudi and Emirati princes as “my friends,” according to one person with knowledge of the conversation. To underscore the point, he would open his mobile phone to show off pictures of him posing with them, some of which The New York Times obtained.

Mr. Nader explained to Donald Trump Jr. that the two princes saw the elder Mr. Trump as a strong leader who would fill the power vacuum that they believed Mr. Obama had left in the Middle East, and Mr. Nader went on to say that he and his friends would be glad to support Mr. Trump as much as they could, according to the person with knowledge of the conversation.

Mr. Zamel, for his part, laid out the capabilities of his online media company, although it is unclear whether he referred to the proposals his company had already prepared. One person familiar with the meeting said that Mr. Nader invited Donald Trump Jr. to meet with a Saudi prince — an invitation the younger Mr. Trump declined. After about half an hour, everyone exchanged business cards.

“There was a brief meeting, nothing concrete was offered or pitched to anyone and nothing came of it,” said Mr. Mukasey, the lawyer for Mr. Zamel.

By then, a company connected to Mr. Zamel had been working on a proposal for a covert multimillion-dollar online manipulation campaign to help elect Mr. Trump, according to three people involved and a fourth briefed on the effort. The plan involved using thousands of fake social media accounts to promote Mr. Trump’s candidacy on platforms like Facebook.

There were concerns inside the company, Psy-Group, about the plan’s legality, according to one person familiar with the effort. The company, whose motto is “shape reality,” consulted an American law firm, and was told that it would be illegal if any non-Americans were involved in the effort.

Mr. Zamel, the founder of Psy-Group and one of its owners, has been questioned about the August 2016 meeting by investigators for the special counsel, and at least two F.B.I. agents working on the inquiry have traveled to Israel to interview employees of the company who worked on the proposal. According to one person, the special counsel’s team has worked with the Israeli police to seize the computers of one of Mr. Zamel’s companies, which is currently in liquidation.

In the hectic final weeks of the campaign and during the presidential transition, several of Mr. Trump’s advisers drew Mr. Nader close. He met often with Mr. Kushner, Mr. Flynn and Stephen K. Bannon, who took over as campaign chairman after Mr. Manafort resigned amid revelations about his work in Ukraine.

In December 2016, Mr. Nader turned again to an internet company linked to Mr. Zamel — WhiteKnight, based in the Philippines — to purchase a presentation demonstrating the impact of social media campaigns on Mr. Trump’s electoral victory. Asked about the purchase, a representative of WhiteKnight said: “WhiteKnight delivers premium research and high-end business development services for prestigious clients around the world. WhiteKnight does not talk about any of its clients.”

After the inauguration, both Mr. Zamel and Mr. Nader visited the White House, meeting with Mr. Kushner and Mr. Bannon.

At that time, Mr. Nader was promoting a plan to use private contractors to carry out economic sabotage against Iran that, he hoped, might coerce it to permanently abandon its nuclear program. The plan included efforts to deter Western companies from investing in Iran, and operations to sow mistrust among Iranian officials. He advocated the project, which he estimated would cost about $300 million, to American, Emirati and Saudi officials.

Last spring, Mr. Nader traveled to Riyadh for meetings with senior Saudi military and intelligence officials to pitch his Iran sabotage plan. He was convinced, according to several people familiar with his plan, that economic warfare was the key to the overthrow of the government in Tehran. One person briefed on Mr. Nader’s activities said he tried to persuade Mr. Kushner to endorse the plan to Crown Prince Mohammed in person on a trip to Riyadh, although it was unclear whether the message was delivered.

Asked about Mr. Nader’s plans to attack Iran, the senior Saudi official said Mr. Nader had a habit of pitching proposals that went nowhere.

Mr. Nader was also in discussions with Mr. Prince, the former head of Blackwater, about a plan to get the Saudis to pay $2 billion to set up a private army to combat Iranian proxy forces in Yemen.

Since entering the White House, Mr. Trump has allied himself closely with Saudi Arabia and the Emirates. His first overseas trip was to Riyadh. He strongly backed Saudi and Emirati efforts to isolate their neighbor Qatar, another American ally, even over apparent disagreement from the State and Defense Departments.

This month, Mr. Trump also withdrew from an Obama administration nuclear deal with Iran that both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had campaigned against for years, delivering them their biggest victory yet from his administration.

Mark Mazzetti reported from Washington, Ronen Bergman from Tel Aviv and David D. Kirkpatrick from London. Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.

[SFW] [politics]	[+8 WTF]
[by knumbknutz@2:40pmGMT]

Comments

C18H27NO3 said @ 6:55pm GMT on 20th May [Score:1 Underrated]

More nothing burgers?

Man I'm getting hungry.

bbqkink said @ 7:13pm GMT on 20th May

Yea whats another felony at this point..about 5 more years.

United States. 52 U.S.C. § 30121 and generally, 11 CFR 110.20. In general, foreign nationals are prohibited from the following activities:

Making any contribution or donation of money or other thing of value, or making any expenditure, independent expenditure, or disbursement in connection with any federal, state or local election in the United States;
Making any contribution or donation to any committee or organization of any national, state, district, or local political party (including donations to a party nonfederal account or office building account);
Making any disbursement for an electioneering communication;
Making any donation to a presidential inaugural committee.

Persons who knowingly and willfully engage in these activities may be subject to an FEC enforcement action, criminal prosecution, or both.

Hugh E. said^[1] @ 2:58pm GMT on 20th May

Oops, I modded +1 Informative when I meant to click +1 This Shit Is Scary Depressing As Hell How Is This Happening

I'll make up for it on your next post.

satanspenis666 said @ 3:14pm GMT on 20th May

The FBI has already said that there was no collusion with Russia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, [insert country here]...

hellboy said @ 10:47pm GMT on 20th May

Any other administration would have been impeached long ago for any one of a number of things the Dumpster Fire criminal family is guilty of.

Rebecca Solnit says it well: The Coup Has Already Happened

bbqkink said @ 3:19am GMT on 21st May

Sometimes it amazes me to notice the similarities between Trump and Nixon.

Donald Trump Toys With Abuse Of Office In Beef Against Washington Post

norok said^[3] @ 7:18pm GMT on 20th May [Score:-3]
filtered comment under your threshold

Hugh E. said @ 7:39pm GMT on 20th May [Score:1 Underrated]

"bad candidate" and collusion with foreign governments are not mutually exclusive. One, however, is bad for the democratic republic.

Also, 54% of Americans stood in line to actively reject Trump, despite the $2b worth of free airtime he received from the media.

Put your country before your party or your candidate.

C18H27NO3 said @ 8:45pm GMT on 20th May

And the dumbasses keep thinking a DOJ investigation into the secret FBI investigation of the corrupt, possibly treasonous campaign in order to shut it down it is legit. The definition of politicization. And they proclaim to be the protectors of freedom and law and order against tyranny. Traitorous pieces of shit that keep spreading the lie of the 'deep state' conspiring against them when it doesn't suck their ass.

norok said @ 8:53pm GMT on 20th May

Frankly, I don't care for either one of them. All distractions. But I will enjoy watching the turnabout so I can say negative things like 'corrupt' and 'treasonous' because I feel them.

C18H27NO3 said^[1] @ 9:59pm GMT on 20th May

I don't feel it. I said "possibly" treasonous, and corrupt is as plain as the nose on your face. You simply don't want to see it because you, in fact, have bias.

Read.What.I.Posted. Not what you think I posted. And if you want to respond, respond to the rest of the post.

norok said @ 10:26pm GMT on 20th May

The "Traitorous pieces of shit" part? Are they possibly traitorous? If you want to come to a middle ground and give people the benefit of the doubt then I'm with you. Could Trump and his camp have done untoward things? Possibly. But could they also possibly be working in the best of faith for the good of America? Would you agree to that?

hellboy said @ 11:00pm GMT on 20th May [Score:2]

No. There is zero chance that the Dumpster crime family is working in good faith for anyone except themselves. There is zero chance that a lifelong grifter and pathological liar and narcissist, upon being elected president, has suddenly discovered that other people exist and are worth caring about. And there is no point trying to find "middle ground" with someone who denies the truth about Trump, just like there is no point compromising on dinner plans with someone who insists on eating hubcaps and strychnine.

Imagine that the Clintons had been caught doing any of the things that we already know the Dumpsters have done. Imagine the Obamas had made a deal to bail out a Chinese corporation which had been censured for serious crimes and flagged as a security risk by the intelligence community three days after receiving a $500 million windfall from the Chinese government. Now honestly tell me the Republicans, after desperately trying to squeeze something out of Benghazi for years, would not have impeached and indicted on the spot.

There's not going to be any damn 'turnabout' in favor of Trump, you fuckwit. Cohen is going to prison unless he testifies against his boss, thanks to Stormy Daniels. The new revelations aren't replacing the Russia fiasco, they're adding to it. There will be more indictments. Get used to it.

arrowhen said @ 10:58pm GMT on 20th May

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. "That politician is a traitor" and "that politician is working in the best of faith for the good of America" are both extraordinary claims.

norok said @ 8:50pm GMT on 20th May [Score:-2 Boring]
filtered comment under your threshold

bbqkink said @ 12:07am GMT on 21st May [Score:1 Underrated]

I did put my country first and so does Trump.

You are not that fucking dumb.

4321 said^[1] @ 9:14pm GMT on 20th May [Score:-2]
filtered comment under your threshold

arrowhen said @ 9:44pm GMT on 20th May

All publicity is good publicity.

Taxman said @ 8:52pm GMT on 20th May [Score:-2]
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norok said @ 8:56pm GMT on 20th May [Score:-3 Boring]
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Taxman said @ 9:06pm GMT on 20th May [Score:0 Underrated]

Are you implying law enforcement agents from both side of the political spectrum, with anywhere between 5-26 years of experience, are ‘making up’ the evidence of crimes? That they would drop all their political differences, abuse their duty, power, and principles, just to fuck over this one guy?

I mean is it possible in your mind that maybe he did something? Would you not care if he did?

norok said^[1] @ 9:24pm GMT on 20th May [Score:-3 Troll]
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Taxman said @ 10:33pm GMT on 20th May [Score:-1 Underrated]
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norok said^[3] @ 11:26pm GMT on 20th May [Score:-3 Boring]
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Taxman said^[1] @ 12:11am GMT on 21st May [Score:0 Underrated]

You agree that the agents had to show SOMETHING to a judge to be allowed to raid Micheal Cohen’s offices at multiple locations simultaneously (that’s important). That SOMETHING was not politically motivated and required multiple officers of different political stripes to be on board with and proceed to act on. That the EAR (Enforcement Action Review form) had to be reviewed and processed by the FBI, SDNY, Rosenstein, AND the DOJ because of who it might affect AND every one of those departments signed off on it.

So I’ve conceded ‘there could be nothing’. Can I please have your concession that there could be SOMETHING?

4321 said @ 1:11am GMT on 22nd May [Score:-1 Boring]
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Taxman said @ 1:48am GMT on 22nd May [Score:-1]
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norok said @ 12:29am GMT on 21st May [Score:-3 Flamebait]
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bbqkink said @ 1:25am GMT on 21st May [Score:-1 Classy Pr0n]
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