Russian government officials are confirming accounts that a Trump Organization lawyer reached out to them for help during Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
The Washington Post reported earlier this week that officials within the Trump Organization sent emails to Russian government officials hoping for help in securing permission to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Trump lawyer Michael Cohen wrote to Vladimir Putin aide Dmitry Peskov:
“Over the past few months I have been working with a company based in Russia regarding the development of a Trump Tower-Moscow project in Moscow City. Without getting into lengthy specifics, the communication between our two sides has stalled.”
At the same time the email was sent, Trump was bragging on the campaign trail about having warm ties to Putin, the Post reported.
On Wednesday, Kremlin officials confirmed the account of receiving the email, revealing that they ignored it in part because they don’t deal with business transactions.
Bloomberg reports that Peskov responded to questions about the email in a conference call with several reporters:
“We don’t respond to such business topics. It’s not our job and we left it without a response.”
The odd timing of the email, occurring while Trump was campaigning to become president, draws additional questioning over whether a conflict of interest between Trump’s business ties and his position in the Oval Office exists.
It also causes some to wonder whether Trump sought help from the Kremlin to appear more successful in developing a strong relationship with Russia to aide in his election.
Indeed, it was reported that Felix Sater, a Russian-born developer who also worked for the Trump Organization at the time, and who was helping Cohen with putting together this business opportunity, suggested the deal could result in significant political capital for Trump. “I will get Putin on this program and we will get Donald elected,” Sater wrote to Cohen:
“Our boy can become President of the USA and we can engineer it.”
Watch this PBS News Hour clip on how Trump revealed classified intel to Russian ambassadors:
Featured image by Flickr/Gage Skidmore, CC By 2.0
