Congressional investigators are taking a closer look at Georgian-born American businessman Irakly Kaveladze since discovering he first met the president in Las Vegas in 2013.
Kaveladze, who interviewed with both the Senate and House Intelligence Committees in recent weeks, works for the Crocus Group, the real estate development company owned by Russian billionaire Aras Agalarov and his son Emin.
The panels knew Kaveladze was at the June 9, 2016 meeting but became more interested in him after learning he also attended a private dinner in Las Vegas in 2013 with Trump and Agalarov as they celebrated an agreement to hold that year’s Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, the sources said.
Committee members now want to know more about the extent of Kaveladze’s contacts with the Trump family and whether he had a bigger role than previously believed in setting up the Trump Tower meeting when Trump was a Republican candidate for president.
Kaveladze's lawyer says his client is just a witness and not a target of any investigation. He "confirmed that his client attended both the dinner in Las Vegas and the Trump Tower meeting but said he did not set up the second meeting."
One photograph from the 2013 dinner, when Trump still owned the Miss Universe pageant, shows Agalarov and his pop singer son Emin along with Trump, two Trump aides and several other people at the dining table. Another shows Kaveladze standing behind Trump and Emin Agalarov as they speak.
The pictures were found by a University of California at Irvine student and blogger Scott Stedman, who posted them on Nov. 22. Aras Agalarov is a billionaire property developer in Russia who was awarded the Order of Honor by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Read more: U.S. lawmakers question businessman at 2016 Trump Tower meeting: sources (Reuters)