Special Counsel for the Russia investigation Robert Mueller is continuing his quest to uncover the truth of the Russia scandal, and his investigation has just recently been revealed to have roped in Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg. The special counsel’s team stopped him after he disembarked from a private plane in New York earlier this year, and now, CNN has details covering what exactly FBI agents wanted to question him about.
According to the outlet, massive payments Vekselberg’s company made to none other than Trump lawyer Michael Cohen himself are under scrutiny. CNN could not immediately ascertain the exact purpose for the cash or the exact nature of the business relationship between the two men — but Michael Avenatti has an idea.
Avenatti is serving as an attorney for adult film star Stormy Daniels, who is suing to be free from a nondisclosure agreement associated with hush money Cohen dished out to her covering an alleged affair with the president. (She also sued the president for defamation.)
According to Avenatti, a company “affiliated with Vekselberg” dished out a stunning half a million dollars to Cohen in the first months of 2017. That money went into a bank account belonging to “Essential Consultants,” which is the same front company that Cohen set up to funnel the hush money to Daniels back in 2016.
CNN noted both that they could not immediately independently authenticate Avenatti’s documentation and that Cohen has not faced any formal charges over the payments, but that does not negate the condemning nature of these revelations. As the president and his allies dig further and further into their position that this whole thing is nothing more than a witch hunt, the walls around them keep getting closer and closer. Here we have yet another questionable Trump team tie to Russia that — as mentioned — Special Counsel Mueller is reportedly investigating.
One source explained to CNN that payments in question came through Columbus Nova, an American affiliate of a company belonging to Vekselberg that’s led by his American cousin, Andrew Intrater. Cohen’s legal team did reveal in court filings that there are seven clients to whom Cohen has provided “strategic advice and business consulting,” but they did not reveal whether Columbus Nova was one of those clients, something that could — in theory — explain the cash.
Cohen’s overall activities as a lawyer have been rather limited; he’s only been documented to have a handful of legal clients, including most prominently the president.
He was recently revealed to be facing a criminal investigation of his activities that’s separate from the Russia investigation after authorities raided his home, office, and hotel room.
Authorities have already been reported to have seized documents related to the payout to Daniels; now, it seems as though their aims would have included uncovering information related to Vekselberg and Columbus Nova.
What financial role the well-connected Russian may have had in propping up the Trump team — or just Michael Cohen personally — either in the context of the Stormy Daniels deal or just in general has proven to be of great interest to the special counsel’s team.
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