Saturday, March 15, 2025, 3:01AM |  66°
MENU
SECTIONS
OTHER
CLASSIFIEDS
CONTACT US / FAQ
Advertisement
In this July 11 file photo, Donald Trump Jr., left, speaks in New York.
1
MORE

Lawyer says Russian developer Agalarov’s staffer also at Trump Tower meeting; special counsel may be probing conversation

Richard Drew/Associated Press

Lawyer says Russian developer Agalarov’s staffer also at Trump Tower meeting; special counsel may be probing conversation

WASHINGTON — Revelations that a Russian developer’s representative was the eighth attendee at a Trump Tower campaign meeting arranged by President Donald Trump’s eldest son prompted a new round of castigation on Tuesday from Democrats. It also brought word that the special counsel investigating possible Trump campaign ties to Russia wants more information about the sit-down.

Officials from the office of special counsel Robert Mueller reached out over the weekend to a lawyer for Ike Kaveladze, who also goes by the name Irakly Kaveladze, attorney Scott Balber told The Associated Press. Mr. Kaveladze works for a Russian developer who once partnered with Mr. Trump to bring the Miss Universe pageant to Moscow,

Mr. Balber’s comments are the first public indication that Mr. Mueller is probing the June 2016 gathering in Mr. Trump’s namesake New York City skyscraper.

Advertisement

In emails, Donald Trump Jr. enthusiastically agreed to the meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya and others after he was promised dirt on his father’s rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton. He has since denied such material ever materialized.

Mr. Kaveladze works for Emin and Aras Agalarov and was there to represent them, according to Mr. Balber, who is serving as legal counsel for both Kavaladze and the Agalarovs. The father and son, who worked with Mr. Trump on the pageant in 2013, were named in the emails that promised damaging information on Ms. Clinton.

Mr. Balber cast Mr. Kaveladze as a minor player in the meeting, saying he had “no idea what the subject of the meeting was until an hour before” and doesn’t remember saying anything other than his name during the discussion. Mr. Balber said Mr. Kaveladze believed he was attending the meeting to translate for Ms. Veselnitskaya, but the attorney brought her own interpreter.

Ms. Veselnitskaya said the meeting focused on U.S.-Russian adoption policies and a sanctions law. She has denied working for the Russian government.

Advertisement

Democratic lawmakers skeptical of that account repeated their concerns Tuesday.

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said his panel wanted to talk to the meeting’s attendees.

“I doubt if this individual who had a history of setting up thousands of fake accounts in Delaware was really there to talk about Russian adoptions,” Mr. Warner said.

Mr. Warner appeared to be referring to a 2000 New York Times story that identified Mr. Kaveladze as running a company cited in a Government Accountability Office report for laundering $1.4 billion in wealthy foreigners’ funds via U.S. banks using thousands of Delaware corporations.

Former Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, who ordered the GAO report, called Mr. Kaveladze the “poster child” of using hidden ownership of American shell corporations to launder money.

Mr. Balber disputed that characterization, noting that no criminal charges were filed in the case.

The meeting was also attended by Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort, music publicist Rob Goldstone and Rinat Akhmetshin, a prominent Russian-American lobbyist and former Soviet military officer. Mr. Trump Jr. scheduled the gathering after Mr. Goldstone, a British publicist for Emin Agalarov, said the elder Agalarov had met with a Russian prosecutor who offered to provide the campaign with damaging information about Ms. Clinton.

Mr. Balber denied such a meeting ever took place and said he didn’t know why Mr. Goldstone made the assertion. He said Mr. Goldstone stopped working for Emin Agalarov in January for reasons unrelated to last year’s meeting.

In an online profile, Mr. Kaveladze lists himself as a vice president of Russia-based Crocus Group, Aras Agalarov’s firm, and says in a separate LinkedIn profile that he handled tax preparation for the company.

He holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of New Haven in Connecticut, according to those profiles. His most recent U.S. address appears to be in Huntington Beach, California, although several websites he maintains say he is based in Moscow. He didn’t respond to multiple attempts to reach him through his online sites.

Mr. Kaveladze was named a vice president of the Crocus Group in 2004. He lists among his achievements the development of Russia’s Far Eastern Federal University, a cluster of more than 70 college buildings near Vladivostok that Mr. Agalarov built, according to websites that contain profiles of him. In 2012, Russian President Vladimir Putin opened the facility and, a year later, gave Mr. Agalarov a national “Order of Honor.”

The Times reported in 2000 that Mr. Kaveladze was born in the Soviet Republic of Georgia in 1960 and graduated from the Moscow Finance Academy — a degree that Ike Kaveladze also reports on his LinkedIn and internet pages. The newspaper reported he operated a firm called International Business Creations, which the GAO report said opened the bank accounts based on the Delaware shell companies.

Also Tuesday, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, said Mr. Mueller had approved Mr. Manafort and others to testify before the panel, though it was unclear if Mr. Manafort would agree to talk.

A person familiar with the discussions, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to publicly discuss the ongoing investigations, said Mr. Manafort hasn’t committed to appearing next week and hasn’t decided which committees he’ll meet with.

First Published: July 19, 2017, 3:49 a.m.

RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson (3) and Cleveland Browns quarterback Jameis Winston (5) embrace after an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, in Pittsburgh.
1
sports
Jason Mackey: Why are the Steelers waiting so long for Aaron Rodgers? There's another option
Firefighters and officers respond to a collapsed porch roof on Friday, March 14, 2025, in Oakland. Earlier, during a college party, the roof caved in with over a dozen people on and below the structure. Multiple injuries were reported, and the porch was condemned.
2
local
WATCH: Several injured after roof collapsed on Oakland building
The Social Security Administration Building at 6117 Penn Circle North in East Liberty Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019 in Pittsburgh.
3
news
Social Security Administration to begin withholding full benefits from overpaid recipients
Jeff Capel, head coach of Pitt looks on against Syracuse at the NCAA men’s basketball game on Tuesday Feb. 18, 2025 at Petersen Event Center in Pittsburgh, Pa.
4
sports
Pitt men's basketball will decline invitations to any postseason tournaments
The National Energy Technology Laboratory in the South Hills. The research lab's future has been clouded with uncertainty after about 55 probationary employees were summarily fired via a midnight e-mail on Valentines Day.
5
business
The national lab in Pittsburgh's backyard is a place for innovation — and worry
In this July 11 file photo, Donald Trump Jr., left, speaks in New York.  (Richard Drew/Associated Press)
Richard Drew/Associated Press
Advertisement
LATEST news
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story