Ivanka Communicated During Campaign With Russian Promising Trump-Putin Meeting
Image by Getty Images
Ivanka Trump put President Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen in contact with a Russian weightlifter to facilitate a Trump-Putin business meeting during the campaign, BuzzFeed News reported Wednesday.
These interactions have been reviewed by both congressional investigators and Robert Mueller’s team, BuzzFeed said.
In November 2015, Ivanka allegedly connected Cohen with weightlifter Dmitry Klokov, a former Olympian who claimed to Cohen he could put Trump in contact with Putin—all in an effort to further a Trump Tower project in Moscow.
Cohen and Klokov exchanged several emails and at least one phone call. When Cohen eventually cut off contact with Klokov in an email, Klokov copied Ivanka Trump, and she reportedly was frustrated by the severed ties.
Donald Trump signed a nonbinding letter of intent which would allow a Russian developer to brand a Trump Moscow tower in October 2015. The agreement stipulated that Ivanka Trump would oversee spa and fitness facilities, as well as a branded “The Spa by Ivanka Trump.”
A spokesperson for Ivanka Trump’s attorney wrote to BuzzFeed News that she did not know about the Moscow project “until after a nonbinding letter of intent had been signed, never talked to anyone outside the Organization about the proposal, and, even internally, was only minimally involved.” However, the timeline and breadth of Ivanka’s communications with Cohen and Klokov seem to show a higher level of involvement.
While it is unclear whether Klokov could have initiated a meeting with Putin, and that there is no evidence this interaction was illegal, these revelations have drawn a generally under-the-radar Ivanka into public discourse over Trump’s connections with Putin.
Contact Juliana Kaplan at kaplan@forward.com or on Twitter, @julianamkaplan
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
