Over the weekend The New York Times published an article entitled “Trump Jr. And Other Aides Met with Gulf Emissary Offering Help to Win Election.”
The article led to President Trump issuing three separate tweets, as reported @The News Blender, calling out the New York Times as crooked, blasting the Mueller investigation for expanding to other countries beyond Russia, and once again calling the whole investigation a Witch Hunt.
As the tweet storm raged on, as sides were drawn up, as The New York Times was called crooked, key points inside the article have taken a back seat.
First, two of the men, Donald Trump Jr, and Joel Zamel, acknowledge the meeting took place.
A lawyer, for Donald Trump Jr., Alan Futerfas said in a statement, “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.”
Joel Zamel’s lawyer, Marc L. Mukasey, “Neither Joel Zamel, nor any of his related entities, had any involvement whatsoever in the U.S. election campaign, 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,” Mr Mukasey added, “There was a brief meeting, nothing concrete was offered or pitched to anyone and nothing came of it,
Second, the emissary to the princes of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab of Emirates, George Nader, according to the article, “was quickly embraced as a close ally by Trump campaign advisers.” meeting frequently with Jared Kushner and Michael Flynn.
Third, after the inauguration, both Nader and Zamel visited the White House meeting with Kushner and Stephen Bannon. According to the Times the meeting at the White House came at the time when Nader was promoting a plan to use private contractors to carry out economic sabotage against Iran. The plan, that would cost an estimated $300 million, to American, Emirati, and Saudi officials. His plan was simple to deter Western companies for investing in Iran along with trying to sow mistrust among Iranian officials. A senior Saudi official when asked about Nader’s plans to attack Iran said, “Mr. Nader had a habit of pitching proposals that went nowhere.”
Fourth, according to sources used for the Times article, Nader traveled to Moscow at least twice during the campaign, after the election he worked with the Crown Prince Mohamed of Abu Dhabi, to arrange a meeting in the Seychelles, between Erik Prince and a financier close to President Putin. Of note from the article companies connected to Joel Zamel also have Russian ties. One of his firms, had worked in the past for oligarchs, Oleg V. Deripaska, who once did business with Paul Manafort, and Dmitry Rybolovlev, both of whom are linked with President Putin.
