Jr. Meeting Included Lobbyist

[struggle4progress]

July 14, 2017 11:17 AM ET
BRIAN NAYLOR
Updated at 11:23 a.m. ET

... at least one more Russian in the room ... has been identified .. as a Russian-American lobbyist ... Rinat Akhmetshin ... has been described as a Russian "gun for hire" and a former Soviet-era spy and has worked in the West for years as an advocate for Russian interests ...

... Asked Friday about Akhmetshin, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said, "We don't know anything about this person."

... Grassley .. named Akhmetshin in a complaint in March about people who are effectively engaged in lobbying work but do not register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act ...

Akhmetshin was also accused in a 2015 lawsuit with attempting to hack into a mining company's computers ...

http://www.npr.org/2017/07/14/537219554/donald-trump-jr-meeting-included-second-russian

[struggle4progress]

1. The mystery man

Stephanie Kirchgaessner
Friday 14 July 2017 13.13 EDT

... “He is a former GRU person for sure, but he once said there is no such thing as former,” the person added with a laugh.

That fact that Akhmetshin, who told Politico last year that he once served as a Soviet counter-intelligence officer, is an American citizen also suggests that he would have at least been known to US officials.

Akhmetshin did not respond to calls or emails from the Guardian. But in an exchange in May, the lobbyist downplayed the Russia-Trump scandal, telling a reporter he did not believe that the Kremlin was involved in colluding with the Trump campaign and that allegations of frequent contacts between Russian agents and Trump campaign officials had probably been fabricated ...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/14/rinat-akhmetshin-russia-intelligence-donald-trump-jr