Skip to main content

The eye of the storm

July 13, 2017 | Expert Insights

The White House continues to struggle under the weight of the Russian controversy as fresh details have emerged regarding Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian attorney who met with Donald Trump Jr. last year.

The US Department of Justice had been investigating on whether a real-estate company, Prevezon, had laundered millions of dollars into New York City real estate. The company is owned by Denis Katsyv, the son of the former vice governor of Moscow region, Pyotr.  Veselnitskaya represents the family. While the case was supposed to go on trial in May 2017, the case was abruptly settled by the Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Now, the Democrats have officially requested the AG to provide the reasons behind this settlement.

Background

According to emails that have been released by Donald Trump Jr himself, the son of the current US President had met with Veselnitskaya in hopes of getting information damaging to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. The meeting had been arranged by music promoter Rob Goldstone, who had told Trump Jr that Veselnitskaya had offered to provide the Trump campaign with documents that would incriminate Hillary Clinton. Trump Jr, attended the meeting along with campaign adviser Jared Kushner (current senior adviser to the President) and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

There is an ongoing investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller whether members of the Trump campaign had colluded with the Russians to disrupt the presidential elections. A detailed look at the investigation can be found here.

Analysis

AG Sessions was in a predicament when information emerged that he had met Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak on three different occasions during the presidential campaign. He had not disclosed these meetings during his confirmation hearings. In June 2017, he testified to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence regarding this very matter. Part of the reason why Mueller is heading the Russia probe is due to the fact Sessions had to recuse himself from any investigations into Donald Trump's campaign.

Considering Trump Jr’s meeting with Veselnitskaya, the Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee have written a letter to Sessions asking why the case against Prevezon was settled. In the letter, the members express their concern that the two events (Trump Jr’s meeting and the settlement of the case) are linked. A source from Department of Justice was quoted by Business Insider as saying that the decision not to go on trial saved US taxpayers money.

In light of the latest development, a Democratic Representative Brad Sherman has introduced the first formal article of impeachment against President Donald Trump. It is highly unlikely that the outcome will lead to an impeachment as the Republicans have majority in the House.  

Assessment 

Our assessment is that the controversy is going to weaken the administration further. Global leaders will be worried to engage with President Trump as they would be quite concerned about his future. We believe that the objective of Congressman Brad Sherman in introducing the article of impeachment is to make the White House more accountable.