Surprising man at centre of Donald Trump Jr scandal
THIS is Rob Goldstone. You’ve probably never heard of him, but he’s now at the very centre of the biggest political scandal on the planet.
HE’S worked with some of the biggest names in the music industry, including Michael Jackson, BB King and Richard Branson.
But up until now, few outside the entertainment industry would have heard of Rob Goldstone, or known anything about his connection to President Donald Trump.
Suddenly the music publicist has found himself in the international spotlight thanks to an email chain which shows Donald Trump Jr discussing plans to meet with a Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, over potentially damaging information about Hillary Clinton.
Today The Daily Beast reported that Ms Veselnitskaya has ties to former high-ranking Russian military and intelligence officials.
The meeting took place in June 2016 at Trump Tower, just two weeks after Mr Trump secured the Republican presidential nomination.
Mr Trump’s eldest son tweeted the email chain “in order to be totally transparent” after being contacted for comment by the New York Times and informed the paper had seen their contents.
Mr Goldstone requested the meeting at the request of a his client, Azerbaijani-born pop singer Emin Agalarov, whose father Aras is a Moscow-based real estate mogul with links to Vladimir Putin, and a former business partner of the US president.
The singer’s ties to Ms Veselnitskaya remain unclear.
In a statement provided to USA Today, Goldstone said: “The lawyer had apparently stated she had some information regarding illegal campaign contributions to the (Democratic National Committee) which she believed Mr Trump Jr might find important.”
“I reached out to Donald Trump Jr and he agreed to squeeze us into a very tight meeting schedule.”
Ms Veselnitskaya promised damaging information on Mrs Clinton, but Trump Jr claimed that information never materialised.
But who is exactly is Rob Goldstone, and what connection does he have to the Trumps?
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES
Mr Goldstone, the former international marketing director for music retailer HMV Group was born in Manchester.
According to his profile, Goldstone worked as a journalist in London and now runs a New York-base public relations company, Oui 2 Entertainment, which he founded with David Wilson in 1998.
The company has worked with high profile events such as the Miss Universe competition, once owned by President Trump. Miss Universe was hosted in Moscow in 2013.
His Facebook page also shows he is friends with Lara Trump, the wife of Eric Trump. The publicist’s posts are filled with travel pictures, along with messages showing support for Mr Trump.
One post in June 2016 showed him along with Mr Trump and Emin Agalarov captioned: “The A team — head to the White House.”
Goldstone manages Emin, whose father, Aras, was Mr Trump’s business partner, and helped bring the Miss Universe competition to Moscow in 2013. He also owns Crocus City Hall, which hosted the event.
Aras Agalarov also worked with Mr Trump to bring Trump Tower to Russia, although that project never materialised.
The pop star also has some interesting links with Mr Trump, who Mr Trump appeared in a music video with the younger Agalarov in 2013. It has been watched almost two million times on YouTube, and we fully recommend it. Catchy.
Emin’s song, In Another Life, features the singer in a mansion surrounded by dozens of beautiful girls and ends with Mr Trump firing him for always being late.
THE EMAILS
The emails show Goldstone telling Trump Jr that Emin and his father had “helped along” the Russian government’s support for Mr Trump.
Mr Goldstone promised Mr Trump’s eldest son damaging information on Hillary Clinton from the Russian government and offered to send the information directly to his father’s personal assistant, though he suggested it would be better to go through Trump Jr.
Mr Goldstone wrote that he was sending the “ultra sensitive” information to Trump Jr first, but noted: “I can also send this info to your father via Rhona,” an apparent reference to the elder Trump’s longtime assistant Rhona Graff.
Goldstone spoke to The Associated Press earlier to confirm he had set up the meeting on behalf of his client, but he did not disclose the contents of the email described by The Times.
The Trump Organization has confirmed the authenticity of the emails, the Associated Press reported.
WELL TRAVELLED
Goldstone’s social media accounts show he made several trips to Russia prior to the US election.
In a Facebook post on June 29, he posted: “That’s it NYC — see ya next year” while earlier posts talked about him having a gap year.
His latest post shows him on holiday in Montenegro, Greece, Croatia, London and Italy — wearing a number of interesting hats. Good for him.
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