How come? Natalia Veselnitskaya, Russian lawyer who met with Don Trump Jr. enjoyed lavish, U.S. taxpayer-funded meals, hotel accomodations during 2015 case –
‘She came for a deposition and wasn’t even deposed in person during the all expense paid trip’
Russian lawyer who met with Trump Jr. enjoyed lavish, U.S. taxpayer-funded meals, hotel accommodations during 2015 case
Natalia Veselnitskaya racked up big bills for “multiple expensive meals”, at cost to the U.S. taxpayer
Although Prosecutors griped that the powerful ‘Kremlin connected’ attorney “was not deposed and did not even attend the depositions in person” Veselnitskaya still got what she came for, and then some
Significantly, the government’s case against Prevzon Holdings Ltd. has been expeditiously settled, on terms incredibly favorable to the defendant
Feds settled the $230 million lawsuit with Prevezon for just $6 million in May
Only after Preet Bharara, the former chief protagonist on the government side was inexplicably fired by the incoming administration
Natalia Veselnitskaya lived it up in the big apple leaving a big bills for “multiple expensive meals”, which were footed by U.S. taxpayers.
The Russian lawyer whose name keeps cropping up at every turn of the Donald Trump Jr. scandal wined and dines in super luxe style, in New York leaving the U.S. taxpayers footing the bill, it has been revealed.
Starting in late 2015, ‘Kremlin connected’ attorney, Natalia Veselnitskaya was one of the lawyers representing Russian real estate conglomerate Prevezon in a money laundering case brought by then-Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
She was one of three people the company owned by Trump associate, Aras Agalarov, brought to the city to help with depositions in the case. She decided to splurge after the judge in the matter, said the feds should pay her bills for the trip.
That included upgrading her accommodations to a $995 a night room in the Plaza Hotel, court papers say.
“Ms. Veselnitskaya appears to have stayed at a less expensive hotel during the depositions, but moved to the Plaza after the depositions concluded, and only after the Court orally stated that the Government would be responsible for reimbursing Defendants’ expenses,” prosecutors griped in papers filed in Manhattan federal court.
At the swanky former Trump property, Veselnitskaya racked up big bills for “multiple expensive meals.” Among them was a sumptuous $793.29 feast for five people — “although, again, only three witnesses were deposed.”
The extravagant dining included “eighteen dishes, eight grappas, and two expensive bottles of wine.”
Donald Trump Jr. reportedly met with Veselnitskaya in June 2016. He went on the Sean Hannity show on FOX network and said the meeting was a ‘Nothing Burger’. Subsequent revelations have contradicted his statements
President Donald Trump defended Junior’s actions in France on July 13
Prosecutors also pointed out the lawyer “was not deposed and did not even attend the depositions in person” and used the rooms “the weekend after the depositions had concluded.”
In all, Bharara’s office reimbursed Prevezon $50,365.72 for bringing three people from Russia to New York City from Oct. 13 to Oct.16, 2015 for depositions.
The hefty sum included “airfare, hotels, meals, and interpreter services,” according to a Nov. 25, 2015 letter filed by prosecutors.
Prosecutors griped Veselnitskaya was taking advantage of the gratis trip.
Veselnitskaya’s name recently surfaced after New York Times broke the story that Donald Trump Jr. and other senior Trump advisers met with her in June 2016.
Their meeting took place after the President’s eldest son received an email telling him a “Russian government attorney” had dirt for campaign on rival Hillary Clinton.
Kremlin connected The Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, represented a Russian real estate conglomerate in a case brought by former Manhattan U.S. attorney Preet Bharara in 2015.
Was sleaze peddled here? Rinat Akhmetshin, a Russian-American lobbyist who admits working with, Natalia Veselnitskaya on lifting sanctions, confirmed he attended the Trump Tower meeting last June
The email said the information was coming courtesy of “Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”
Trump Jr. said he released the emails to be transparent — but he tweeted them out only after he found out the Times had obtained the emails. On Friday, it was revealed a Russian lobbyist with alleged ties to Russian intelligence also attended the meeting.
Bharara, who brought the Prevezon case in 2013, was unexpectedly fired by Trump in March.
The four pages of emails released by Donald Trump Jr. on July 11 show that he was explicitly informed more than a year ago that the Russian government supported his father’s presidential campaign and wanted to sabotage his opponent.
The exchanges between Trump and Rob Goldstone, a British music publicist with Russian ties, show Don Jr set up a meeting at Trump Tower expecting to get dirt from the Russian government on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
“(I)f it’s what you say I love it,” Trump Jr. wrote in one email about the info he expected to learn.
An initial message from Goldstone, on the morning of June 3, 2016, has him clearly stating the Russian government wanted to help Donald Trump.
“This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump,” Goldstone wrote about the supposed Clinton dirt.
Goldstone told Trump Jr. he could help provide “some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father.”
The communication at this point specifically mentions a “Russian government lawyer” who would provide the intel. Goldstone also suggested that he could “send this info to your father via Rhona,” likely referring to Donald Trump’s longtime assistant Rhona Graff.
Trump seemed excited about the offer and replied in less than half an hour.
“Seems we have some time and if it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer,” he wrote.
“Could we do a call first thing next week when I am back?”
Trump also forwarded the message to Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who ended up joining the sitdown. He mentions that they would likely be there.
The extensive planning contradicts Trump’s earlier claims that the meeting was a more informal and impromptu event, considering that in a Moscow interview with NBC’s Peter Alexander, the main attendee from Russia, Natalia Veselnitskaya, claims Trump Jr. wanted dirt on Clintons
Later, in an interview with the Fox News show “Hannity,” Trump said he “probably would have done things a little differently” after the explosive email exchange put him at the center of the alleged Russian election meddling scandal.
The Russian lawyer represented a Russian real estate conglomerate in a case brought by former Manhattan U.S. attorney Preet Bharara in 2015, who was fired before the $230million money laundering case against Prevzon was settled for a mere $6million
Who was in on it?
House Judiciary Committee Democrats are demanding Attorney General Jeff Sessions [photo] clarify whether Veselnitskaya had a hand in settlement talks between Russian real estate firm Prevezon Holdings Ltd. and the Dept of Justice
Significantly, the government’s case against Prevzon Holdings Ltd. has been expeditiously settled by the Trump administration, on terms incredibly favorable to the defendant, and only after Preet Bharara, the former chief protagonist on the government side was inexplicably fired by the incoming administration.
The feds settled with Prevezon for just $6 million in May, only two days before the trial for alleged money laundering in a $230 million tax fraud.
House Democrats are up in arms demanding why the Trump Justice Department agreed to suddenly settle the major case for so little money.
House Judiciary ranking member John Conyers and other Democrats wrote a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions asking if Veselnitskaya participated in Prevezon settlement talks.
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