Cohen-Russian Oligarch Meeting: What Laws Were Broken?

Michael Cohen, former President Donald Trump's longtime lawyer, met with a Russian oligarch, Viktor Vekselberg, 11 days before Trump's inauguration. The meeting, which took place at Trump Tower, was also attended by Vekselberg's cousin, Andrew Intrater, who heads the investment firm Columbus Nova. During the meeting, they reportedly discussed ways to improve US-Russia relations under the incoming Trump administration. Shortly after the inauguration, Columbus Nova signed a $1 million consulting contract with Cohen, a deal that has since come under scrutiny from federal investigators. Cohen is currently under investigation for bank fraud, wire fraud, and possible campaign finance violations. The meeting with Vekselberg has raised questions about the potential influence of Russian oligarchs on US politics and the role they may have played in the 2016 US election.

Michael Cohen met with Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian oligarch, 11 days before Trump's inauguration

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's longtime lawyer, met with Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian oligarch, 11 days before Trump's inauguration. The meeting took place at Cohen's office on the 26th floor of Trump Tower. Vekselberg's cousin, Andrew Intrater, who is the head of the US investment firm Columbus Nova, also attended the meeting.

During the meeting, Vekselberg and Cohen reportedly discussed how to improve US-Russia relations under the Trump administration. Shortly after the inauguration, Columbus Nova signed a $1 million consulting contract with Cohen, a deal that has since come under scrutiny by federal investigators.

Vekselberg is a Russian energy tycoon with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has been sanctioned by the US for election interference and was involved in a Washington, D.C., lobbying campaign to further Russian interests in the country. He also has numerous other investments in the US, including in Silicon Valley startups, a Baptist church in Savannah, Georgia, and a Western-themed resort near Scottsdale, Arizona.

Cohen, who ended his business relationship with Trump, is under investigation for bank fraud, wire fraud, and possible campaign finance law violations. The investigation is focused on whether Cohen and other Trump associates facilitated Russian influence over the 2016 US election and US policy after Trump's victory.

Vekselberg and Cohen discussed improving US-Russia relations under Trump

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's longtime lawyer, met with Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian oligarch, 11 days before Trump's inauguration. The meeting took place at Cohen's office on the 26th floor of Trump Tower. Vekselberg's cousin, Andrew Intrater, who heads the US investment firm Columbus Nova, also attended the meeting.

During the meeting, Vekselberg and Cohen reportedly discussed how to improve US-Russia relations under the upcoming Trump administration. Shortly after the inauguration, Columbus Nova signed a $1 million consulting contract with Cohen, a deal that drew the attention of federal investigators.

Intrater told The New York Times that Vekselberg and Cohen met three times, including once during Trump's inauguration. He also stressed that Vekselberg had no role in Columbus Nova's decision to hire Cohen as a consultant. However, the timing of the contract and the meeting has raised questions about the nature of their relationship.

The discussion between Vekselberg and Cohen took place against a backdrop of strained US-Russia relations. Vekselberg himself acknowledged the deterioration in relations during a panel discussion on US-Russian business ties, stating that "the number of optimists has declined, though there are still some in this room."

The meeting between Vekselberg and Cohen is particularly noteworthy given Vekselberg's ties to the Kremlin and his sanctioned status by the US for election interference. As such, special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia included questioning Vekselberg about the payments to Cohen and other donations from Intrater to the Trump campaign and inauguration.

Columbus Nova, an investment firm, signed a $1 million consulting contract with Cohen after the inauguration

It is unclear what law, if any, Michael Cohen broke when he met with Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. However, the meeting and subsequent dealings have come under scrutiny from federal investigators.

Columbus Nova, an investment firm with deep financial ties to Vekselberg, signed a $1 million consulting contract with Cohen after the inauguration of Donald Trump. Cohen, who was then acting as Trump's personal attorney, was paid to be a "business consultant regarding potential sources of capital and potential investments in real estate and other ventures".

Andrew Intrater, the CEO of Columbus Nova and cousin of Vekselberg, was the one who decided to hire Cohen. According to Intrater, he agreed to pay Cohen $1 million over one year in monthly installments, in the hope that Cohen would connect him with wealthy investors. This was because Cohen was "interacting with some of the wealthiest people in the country" and had influential people "coming into his orbit because he was perceived as being close to Donald Trump".

Columbus Nova sources, however, later claimed that Cohen failed to deliver on these expectations. Cohen was unable to bring in the anticipated volume of introductions and new clients, and so Intrater stopped making payments to him about halfway through the year, after paying him a total of $500,000 to $580,000.

Columbus Nova has stated that Vekselberg was not involved in the decision to hire Cohen, and that the firm is "100 percent owned by U.S. citizens". However, Vekselberg is the firm's biggest client, and the company has secured him $450 million in loans from the Russian state-owned bank VTB Bank. Columbus Nova has also been described in federal regulatory filings as an affiliate of Vekselberg's Renova Group.

Cohen is under investigation for bank fraud and possible campaign finance law violations

Michael Cohen, former President Trump's longtime lawyer, is under investigation for bank fraud and possible campaign finance law violations.

Cohen met with the Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, 11 days before Trump's inauguration. Vekselberg is a Russian energy tycoon with ties to the Kremlin and has been sanctioned by the US for election interference. During the meeting at Trump Tower, Vekselberg and Cohen reportedly discussed how to improve US-Russia relations under the new Trump administration.

Shortly after the inauguration, Columbus Nova, an investment firm headed by Vekselberg's cousin, Andrew Intrater, signed a $1 million consulting contract with Cohen. This deal has come under scrutiny by federal investigators. Columbus Nova has since sought to distance itself from Vekselberg, stating that it is a "management company solely owned and controlled by Americans."

Cohen's dealings are the subject of an investigation by the Manhattan US Attorney's office. This includes an investigation into whether Cohen committed bank fraud, wire fraud, and campaign finance violations in connection to payments made to women who allegedly had affairs with Trump. Cohen acknowledged paying $130,000 to one of these women, the adult film actress Stormy Daniels, in exchange for her silence about an affair she claims she had with Trump.

In addition to the investigation into Cohen's payments to women, Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading the Russia investigation, is also interested in whether Cohen and other Trump associates facilitated Russian influence over the 2016 US election and subsequent policy. Mueller has interviewed Vekselberg about the Columbus Nova payments to Cohen, as well as donations from Intrater to Trump's inauguration and the Republican National Committee.

Vekselberg was sanctioned by the Treasury Department for interfering in the 2016 US election

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's longtime lawyer, met with the Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg 11 days before Trump's inauguration. Vekselberg and Cohen reportedly discussed how to improve US-Russia relations under the new administration. Andrew Intrater, Vekselberg's cousin and the head of the investment firm Columbus Nova, told The New York Times that Cohen and Vekselberg met three times, including at the inauguration.

Shortly after the inauguration, Columbus Nova signed a $1 million consulting contract with Cohen, a deal that drew the attention of federal investigators. Intrater told the Times that Vekselberg had not originally intended to meet with Cohen and that he would not have hired him or introduced him to Vekselberg if he had known about the subsequent federal criminal inquiries into Cohen.

Vekselberg was sanctioned by the Treasury Department in 2018 for allegedly interfering in the 2016 US election and in 2022 for his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The sanctions resulted in the seizure of his US property, including any US companies he owned a majority stake in. Vekselberg owns the Renova group of companies, which operate in Russia's energy sector. Russian prosecutors arrested two of Vekselberg's associates in 2016 for bribing officials connected to a power generation project.

In April 2019, Spanish police impounded Vekselberg's superyacht Tango at the request of US prosecutors, who accused him of obfuscating his ownership of the yacht and tricking US banks into processing transactions for it. In July 2019, Vekselberg's US cousin, Andrew Intrater, sued the US Treasury Department for seizing his assets, arguing that the government had violated his right against unreasonable seizures.

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