Proof of Collusion

by Seth Abramson

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  The dossier also includes raw intelligence—meaning intelligence that hasn’t been confirmed—on Putin’s using proposed real estate deals in Russia to seal Trump’s loyalty.

  The dossier of raw intelligence that the FBI’s investigation of Trump-Russia ties now in part relies upon does discuss Aras Agalarov, though not by name. The dossier details Russian efforts to entice Trump toward pro-Russia policies through promises of future Russian land-development deals, noting on its second page that “[t]he Kremlin’s cultivation operation on Trump also had comprised offering him various lucrative real estate development business deals in Russia, especially in relation to the ongoing 2018 World Cup soccer tournament. However, so far, for reasons unknown, Trump had not taken up any of these.”103 Agalarov was named on a Forbes list of the fifteen Russian billionaires tied to the World Cup, noting that “his Crocus Group was awarded $580 million in state contracts to erect two stadiums in host cities Kaliningrad and Rostov-on-Don.”104 As for Trump’s not accepting the offers referenced in the dossier—keeping in mind that he did indeed sign letters of intent in 2013 and 2015 to build a Trump Tower Moscow—one explanation for Trump’s lack of engagement can be found in one of his earlier disengagements from a Russia deal. As reported by the Associated Press in 2017, Trump declined a chance to build a tower in Moscow in 1997 because “[he] said he did not have enough money to renovate the property. Trump told [Alexander Khomenko, then assistant to Moscow’s deputy mayor]: ‘I’m really interested in this project but I don’t have enough funds and I will need to look for outside investment.’ ”105 In the 2000s (see chapter 1), Trump began licensing his name rather than becoming directly involved in new building projects—while at least once, in Toronto, claiming to be involved in building a tower when in fact he was only licensing his name to it—so any decision to turn down Kremlin-proffered opportunities in Russia in the 2010s could have been the result of Trump being a licensor rather than a builder because of a lack of capital. Forbes also noted five additional Trump-linked Russian billionaires who had World Cup projects: Viktor Vekselberg, who reportedly is tied to an investment firm that paid Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen $500,000 between January and August 2017 (specifically, into an account Cohen used to pay off Trump’s former girlfriends and mistresses), and Mikhail Fridman, German Khan, Alexei Kuzmichev, and Pyotr Aven, who, per Forbes, citing the Steele dossier, “worked with the Kremlin to influence the 2016 presidential elections.”106 Fridman, Khan, Kuzmichev, and Aven control Alfa Bank—a member of whose advisory board, Richard Burt, cowrote Donald Trump’s first foreign policy speech (now known as the “Mayflower Speech”) and thereafter “continue[d] to work with the bank’s co-founder, Mikhail Fridman,” according to Politico.107

  According to the Washington Post, after the pageant there was a “glitzy after-party in a Moscow nightclub.”108 Trump, “energized,” worked the room.109 Trump would later claim that “all of the oligarchs” attended, which wasn’t true—but the room was certainly packed with influential Russian nationals.110 And the day before he had indeed been with powerful Russian businessmen, including Sberbank’s Gref, called “a longtime ally of President Vladimir Putin” by Bloomberg.111

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  A longtime friend of Trump’s, actor Tom Arnold, bolsters Trump’s claims of having spoken to Putin “indirectly and directly,” saying he has knowledge of a speakerphone call between Trump and Putin on November 9 at the Ritz-Carlton Moscow because it was witnessed, he will say repeatedly on social media, by NBC executive Chuck LaBella and others. Per Arnold, “Putin called Trump at [the] Moscow Ritz [in] Nov[ember] 2013. Trump put [it] on speakerphone for everyone to hear. Putin congratulated Trump on Trump Tower Moscow & encouraged Trump to run for President & offered Russia’s support. It’s all on tape.”

  On November 11, 2013, Yulya Alferova, then wife of well-connected Russian billionaire Artem Klyushin, posted on Twitter a picture of herself standing behind Donald Trump as Trump, seated at a small table, looked at something on a computer screen. To Trump’s left was Emin Agalarov, son of Trump’s billionaire business partner Aras Agalarov—already well known for being Vladimir Putin’s go-to real estate developer. To Trump’s right was billionaire casino mogul and Trump friend Phil Ruffin, while over Trump’s left shoulder, Trump bodyguard Keith Schiller hovered. Over his right shoulder were Alferova and an unidentified man. It is unknown what (or, given allegations made by Trump friend Tom Arnold, who) was on the computer screen. Alferova’s tweet was captioned, “Waiting for your business in Russia to start, Mr. Trump!” She added hashtags for “Russia” and “Moscow” and directed the tweet to Trump’s and Emin’s attention by using their Twitter handles, @realdonaldtrump and @eminofficial, respectively.112

  In January 2017, Arnold made the startling accusation that Trump spoke with Putin via speakerphone—whether through an actual phone or via a desktop computer application is unknown—at the 2013 Miss Universe pageant, that others had heard the call, and that the call was incriminating. On January 9, 2017, Arnold tweeted “at” Trump that “Chuck LaBella [NBC talent development executive] was not only listening on speakerphone when Putin called (you lied to 60 Minutes, by the way) but he knows everything else, and just in case, Putin filmed it all.”113 In mid-2018, VICE News, convinced that Arnold has substantial knowledge of Trump’s private dealings from his years of friendship with him and Apprentice producer Mark Burnett, announced that Arnold would star in a program entitled The Hunt for the Trump Tapes, to premiere in September 2018.114 Arnold has since been pictured with Trump fixer Michael Cohen, now known to have a large number of audio recordings of the president.115

  Arnold argued in his January 2017 tweets that his intention was not to harm Trump’s political career, stating, as noted by the International Herald Tribune,

  There is a sex tape of him from Moscow in 2013 from when he was over there for the Miss Universe pageant. I wish that he would release it because I don’t care. I wish he would say, “Putin has this over me, here’s what it is. Okay, now it’s out, now he [Putin] can’t talk about me. Okay, I’m going to do what’s best for America.” Because something is up, something happened there. I want to help him so he can do what’s best for our country and the men and women who serve our country.116

  LaBella has not discussed Arnold’s allegations with the media, for reasons that may be connected to Trump’s onetime fixer and attorney, Michael Cohen. In April 2018, CNN reported that Cohen, then Trump’s attorney, had directed LaBella to retain Keith M. Davidson as an attorney in response to Arnold’s claims.117 Davidson is best known for helping adult film actor Stormy Daniels negotiate a “hush money” payment from Trump when she had information Trump did not want disclosed.118 Whether LaBella plans to speak out about what he saw in Moscow is uncertain. LaBella has told the Irish Examiner, however, that “Donald is an incredible man, and I mean that sincerely in a positive way. He has been very good to me over the past 10 years personally and professionally. I’ve learned a lot of unique lessons from him.”119

  Trump has given different accounts of the reported speakerphone call with Putin, telling journalists at the National Press Club on May 27, 2014, that he spoke to Putin “directly” and “indirectly.” However, it is LaBella who could state unequivocally whether the phone call took place.120 Arnold has kept the pressure up on both Trump and LaBella, tweeting on October 16, 2017, “Trump loves Chuck LaBella. I’d kill if a reporter asked DJT about him. Chuck can confirm the [existence of the] ‘pee pee tape’ & Putin call and Apprentice/Miss U[niverse pageant] filth.”121 Arnold had previously alleged, in public tweets, that Apprentice producer Mark Burnett was in possession of tapes from Apprentice recording sessions on which Trump could be heard using racist and misogynistic language. This allegation of Trump using racist language has since been repeated by former Trump adviser Omarosa Manigault Newman.122

  Beyond Aras Agalarov’s promise to Trump that he could meet Putin, Trump’s summer 2013 letter to Putin and tweet
about Putin pre-pageant, and Trump’s subsequent claims to have spoken to Putin indirectly and directly, his interest in meeting the Russian president is underscored by his choice of entourage in Moscow in November 2013. One compatriot during the trip was Bob Van Ronkel, an American expatriate who has lived in Moscow for many years and specializes in getting Hollywood talent to travel to Russia.123 Van Ronkel’s specific skill is selling Hollywood stars on the idea that they can get rich by doing business in and with Russia; that Van Ronkel is good at his job is underscored by the fact that the front page of his website features several photos of him with Vladimir Putin.124 Van Ronkel and Putin became friendly in part because the former does a great service for Russia by bringing the world’s biggest celebrities there.125 He also sought to make a TV show about the KGB in 2001; on August 13, 2001, the website of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers noted that

  producer Bob Van Ronkel is currently putting together a multimillion-dollar television series tentatively titled “Files From the KGB.” The series is planned to be filmed in Russia and it will use an almost all-Russian cast to show the world the swashbuckling adventures of one of the world’s most feared intelligence agencies. This time, however, they won’t be the cruel psychopaths of Cold War movies or the megalomaniacs of James Bond films. . . . [The series will be] in the style of television series such as “La Femme Nikita.”126

  On his website, Van Ronkel lists, among his November 2013 accomplishments, the following four: “attended a private event with Steven Seagal”; “drinks with Donald Trump during the Miss Universe Competition in Moscow”; “entertained owners of Dick Clark Productions and Mandalay Entertainment, Allen Shapiro and Peter Guber, who were in Russian [sic] for the Miss Universe Competition they were producing”; and “dinner with Chuck LaBella, Vice President [of] Talent Relations at NBCUniversal[,] and the partners of Miss Universe.”127 The latter three events occurred at the 2013 Miss Universe pageant. It’s unclear if Van Ronkel met with his client Seagal at the pageant or elsewhere; in either case, Seagal, a friend of Putin’s, is now both a Russian citizen—an honor bestowed upon him by Putin at a widely publicized Moscow ceremony—and, as of 2018, Putin’s “Special Envoy” to the Trump administration.128

  In 2013, LaBella was an NBC talent development executive. He’d also been involved as producer in several Miss Universe pageants (2010, 2011, and 2012) and a judge in several others (particularly Miss Teen USA pageants).129 LaBella’s role with respect to the 2013 Miss Universe pageant is unclear; IMDB doesn’t list it at all for him, but other sites say he was a producer for the 2013 edition of the show just as he was from 2010 to 2012.130 Per IMDB, he worked on five episodes of The Apprentice with Trump in 2013.131 Arnold claims LaBella was also NBC’s liaison to Trump during the pageant—NBC co-owned the Miss Universe pageant with Trump at the time—and was therefore, Arnold alleges, with him for any incriminating behavior that may have occurred during the trip. “Chuck LaBella was there and knows all,” Arnold tweeted out on October 16, 2017.132

  In 2015, BuzzFeed published significant details about Van Ronkel’s Moscow operation, establishing that his job was not just to get stars like Trump to Russia but to be certain they understood that doing so could lead to business deals with Russians and lots of money. BuzzFeed described Van Ronkel as “tak[ing] credit for bringing numerous celebrities to Russia” and mentioning in interviews with American media “large sums of money flowing to the celebrities whose trips he facilitates.”133 Speaking of Steven Seagal in particular, Van Ronkel bragged to BuzzFeed that “Steven has been offered commercials, film roles, and is working on all kinds of other interesting business deals in Russia and with very many interesting people.”134 Van Ronkel, BuzzFeed noted, even runs his own acting school in Moscow.135

  Van Ronkel didn’t just attend the 2013 Miss Universe pageant, but he also had drinks with Trump and had a meeting with him. Pictures available online show him sitting just six seats from Trump during the pageant, immediately beside Yulya Alferova and Artem Klyushin. At one point he had his picture taken with Trump; that picture, of the two men side by side and smiling, is also available online (as the “splash page” photograph on Van Ronkel’s professional website).136 Other celebrities photographed with one of Hollywood’s chief conduits to Russian audiences include Katy Perry, Kanye West, Russell Crowe, Angelina Jolie, Jack Nicholson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kevin Costner, Snoop Dogg, Jared Leto, and “NBC/Universal executive Chuck LaBella.”137 If Trump didn’t see any of these photos prior to connecting with Van Ronkel in Moscow, he may have since seen a July 14, 2017, article in the Financial Times crediting Van Ronkel with having “introduced several Hollywood celebrities to Mr. Putin.” The British media outlet not only added that Van Ronkel had attended the 2013 Miss Universe pageant as a VIP, but that he had even “worked on the pageant” itself.138 In speaking to Financial Times, Van Ronkel said that Trump “looked bored” at the 2013 pageant after-party in Moscow.139 Yet Van Ronkel told VICE News something quite different; according to VICE, “When Russian pop star Emin Agalarov hit the stage at the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, Bob Van Ronkel sat watching his longtime acquaintance [Emin] from the front row. . . . There, a few seats away, sat the pageant co-owner: Donald Trump. Later that night, Van Ronkel wound up at a vodka-soaked afterparty with Trump, Emin, and Emin’s billionaire father, Aras. Trump was ‘shaking hands and meeting anyone he could and trying to do business,’ Van Ronkel says.”140

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  After promising that he will attend the pageant, Putin suddenly chooses not to do so.

  Why didn’t Putin go to the pageant? There are as many answers offered to that question as there are reporters who’ve pursued it. The Daily Mail said Trump arrived in Moscow too late for the anticipated meeting with Putin because his plane was delayed in North Carolina.141 The Guardian wrote that the Trump-Putin meeting mysteriously “fell off” Putin’s schedule a few days before Trump arrived in Moscow.142 Mother Jones said a “Moscow traffic jam” was to blame, while the Washington Post said it was a meeting between Putin and the king of the Netherlands that ran long.143 Trump himself would later claim to Fox News that the meeting did in fact happen—though he was light on the details—and Putin, for his part, has claimed he didn’t even know Trump was in Moscow that month.144

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  In December 2013, just over a month after his return from Moscow, Trump begins formally reaching out to influential Republicans on the subject of a presidential run, which he predicts in conversations with politicians in New York will begin in 2015.

  Within forty-five days of returning to the United States from Moscow, Trump had already met with influential Republicans “to discuss a possible run for governor of New York [in 2014],” according to the New York Times.145 During one such event he was given a four-page document by an upstate assemblyman that had a section entitled “Springboards to the Presidency.” The Times noted that that document section was written with “the particular interests of Mr. Trump in mind,” given that, per “an examination by The New York Times of contemporaneous documents and emails, as well as interviews with people who met with Mr. Trump during that period . . . he . . . measure[d] whether the governor’s office was a necessary steppingstone to his long-held goal: the White House. His calculations [in December 2013] . . . run contrary to the seat-of-the-pants image he projects on the campaign trail, and offer a look at a formative stage of his presidential ambitions.”146 The Times added that Trump’s intentions were serious, inasmuch as he actually “discussed with state Republican leaders the idea of using the governorship as a platform to run for president, a situation in which he would serve for a year” before running for the 2016 Republican nomination. “He made it clear [in December 2013] he wanted to run for president,” said Manhattan’s Republican Party chairman when contacted by the Times.147 In another meeting that December, this time at Trump Tower, Trump told Republican leaders “he did not think the country could withstand eight years of Hillary Clinton,” and
that he wanted to “save the country.”148

  At one point in December 2013, Trump boosters met with him with the necessary documents to register a presidential exploratory committee in hand; they also brought a notary public to the meeting. Trump has said that “even then [in December 2013] . . . what I really wanted to do was run for president.”149

  In February 2018, Trump tweeted that “I didn’t know I was going to run [in 2014].”150

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  The Trump-Agalarov letter of intent will remain active, according to Aras Agalarov, for three and a half years—a period covering the entirety of the presidential campaign. It expires only on Trump’s inauguration, according to a February 2017 statement to a Russian construction website by the elder Agalarov.

  On February 2, 2017, Agalarov announced that the Trump Tower Moscow project he and Donald Trump had signed a letter of intent to pursue in 2013 was dead. Popular Russian online journal Construction.RU announced the project’s death in an article entitled “Russians Abandon Plan for Trump Tower Construction in Moscow Region.” The article quoted Agalarov as saying his letter of intent with Trump had expired not because Trump had been elected president but because, as Agalarov put it, Trump had decided that as president he “couldn’t do any deals.”151 Agalarov’s statement confirmed that Trump had operated under one letter of intent for the entirety of his presidential run (Trump-Agalarov) and a second letter of intent (Trump-Rozov) from October 2015—three months into his presidential run—until May 2016 at the earliest (see chapter 4). As Yahoo News would report in May 2018 of the Trump-Rozov letter of intent, “Prosecutors and congressional investigators have obtained text messages and emails showing that. . . . as late as May 2016, around the time Trump was clinching the Republican nomination, Cohen was considering a trip to Russia to meet about the [Trump Tower Moscow] project with high-level government officials, business leaders and bankers.”152 Given statements, across multiple decades, by Donald Trump and Donald Trump Jr. about how real estate deals get done in Moscow, both of these tower deals would have depended upon the generosity of Russian officials.