Rob Goldstone, the British music promoter who emailed Donald Trump Jr. on behalf of his client Emin Agalarov and helped set up the June 9, 2016 Trump Tower meeting with a Russian government attorney, has written a book and is sharing his perspective of that pivotal event, as well as of the Russia investigation in general.
He said he has no doubt that Russia interfered in the 2016 campaign (though he insists it was not with his help) and believes Trump’s team was open to such assistance. He praised the special counsel, whom Trump has accused of running a “witch hunt,” for investigating an issue with global stakes.
After more than nine hours with [Special Counsel Robert] Mueller’s team, Goldstone has also drawn some conclusions about what the special counsel is pursuing. Investigators were focused less on the details of the Trump Tower meeting that followed his email invitation to Trump Jr., he said.
Rather, prosecutors were keenly interested in his observations about the Trumps’ relationship with Aras and Emin Agalarov, Russian father-and-son billionaires who financed Trump’s Miss Universe pageant in Moscow in 2013 and then requested the 2016 sit-down at Trump Tower — as well as the Agalarovs’ relationship with the Kremlin, he said.
“They weren’t as interested in the minutia,” Goldstone said. “It was a bigger picture thing.”
He also is discussing how he met Donald Trump in 2013 and what he remembers about that encounter.
The Agalarovs would ultimately pay about $15 million to host the Miss Universe pageant.
A few months later, Goldstone accompanied them to meet Trump in Las Vegas, where the Miss USA pageant was being held.
At dinner, Goldstone was seated between Emin Agalarov and Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney, whom he was meeting for the first time.
Trump appeared to hit it off with Emin Agalarov. At one point during dinner, Trump loudly challenged the young singer: “ ‘Hey Emin! I’ll reduce the [pageant] fee right now by a million dollars if you tell me if you’ve ever slept with any contestants!’ ” Goldstone recalled Trump saying.
Agalarov shot back: “Interesting. I’ll increase your fee by $5 million right now if you tell me if you’ve ever slept with any contestant.”
Trump responded with a smile, “ ‘We should just forget the bet.’ ” The room cracked up.
“It was like frat boy behavior,” Goldstone said. “It was kind of a bonding thing.”
Goldstone, who has dual citizenship, did not vote in the 2016 election but tells the Post he thought Trump would win.
Goldstone had high hopes for his Russian client once Trump’s candidacy took off: Perhaps Emin Agalarov would be invited to sing at the inauguration or visit the White House.
So he was peeved when Agalarov called on the morning of June 3, 2016, and asked him to use his pull with the Trump family for something else entirely.
Agalarov explained that his father had met that day with a “well connected” Russian lawyer, someone Agalarov said was either a current or former prosecutor. The lawyer had damaging information about Russian funding of the Democrats, Agalarov relayed. He asked Goldstone to get a meeting with “the Trumps” so the information could be passed along.
Goldstone said he was confused. What lawyer? What information? But Agalarov either didn’t know or refused to answer, insisting Goldstone should just secure the meeting and not worry about such details, Goldstone recalled ...
At the time, Goldstone said, it never occurred to him that the offer might be unethical or even illegal. “Hindsight is a beautiful thing,” he said.
Goldstone wrote the email, some of which he now says was embellished for impact.
To Goldstone, the most important line came toward the end: “Would you be able to speak to Emin about it directly?” he wrote. His goal was to separate himself from this request and get Agalarov and Trump Jr. talking directly.
“If it’s what you say I love it,” Trump Jr. responded.
Phone records provided to Congress show Trump Jr. and Emin Agalarov spoke briefly three days later as the singer stepped off a concert stage in Moscow.
Trump Jr. testified to Congress that he has no memory of a call ...
The next day, Trump Jr. emailed Goldstone to say that he had invited Jared Kushner, his brother-in-law, and senior campaign official Paul Manafort to attend a meeting with the Russian lawyer set for June 9.
Trump Jr. testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee he did not know what to think of Goldstone’s email, but saw no problem with exploring whether he had important information. “I didn’t think that listening to someone with information relevant to the fitness and character of a presidential candidate would be an issue,” he said.
Goldstone said he concluded that Trump Jr. had been impressed by whatever Agalarov told him on the phone.
“My email didn’t get a meeting at Trump Tower. My email got a call,” he said, adding that unless the details of the call are revealed, “we’ll never know why there was a meeting.”
How a British music publicist ended up in the middle of the Russia storm (WaPo)