Eighth participant in Trump Tower meeting identified

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Ike Kaveladze identified as 8th person in Trump Jr. meeting

Kaveladze a senior vice president at company founded by Russian oligarch who initiated meeting; John Roberts reports from the White House

A previously unknown eighth participant in Donald Trump Jr.’s controversial campaign-season meeting with Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya has been identified as Ike Kaveladze, Fox News confirmed Tuesday.

Kaveladze’s attorney, Scott Balber, confirmed his identity.

Balber also told Fox News that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office is now seeking information on Kaveladze.

FILE - In this June 5, 2017, file photo, Donald Trump Jr., executive vice president of The Trump Organization, announces that the family's company is launching a new hotel chain inspired by his and brother Eric's Trump's travels with their father's campaign at Trump Tower in New York. Trump Jr. shared a video on July 8, 2017, of an edited clip of the 1986 military thriller “Top Gun” in which President Donald Trump’s face is superimposed over Tom Cruise’s character as he shoots down a Russian jet with a CNN logo on it. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File) (AP)

Mueller’s office declined to comment on the matter.

Kaveladze serves as vice president of commercial real estate company Crocus Group, owned by Russian billionaire Aras Agalarov. Balber also serves as counsel for the tycoon's son, Russian pop singer Emin Agalarov.

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Emin also is represented by publicist Rob Goldstone, the contact who originally sought to arrange the controversial June 9, 2016 meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and Veselnitskaya -- who was thought to have dirt on Hillary Clinton but ended up discussing sanctions. The circumstances surrounding the Trump Tower meeting have since fueled critics who claim the Trump team coordinated with Russia, though President Trump has defended his son's actions.

Kaveladze has dual-citizenship in the United States and Russia. Kaveladze attended Moscow Academy of Finance for his undergraduate degree, and received a Master in Business Administration from the University of New Haven in Connecticut.

FILE - In this file photo taken on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013, music publicist Rob Goldstone attends a group picture during the preliminary competition of the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, Russia. In the emails, sent shortly after Donald Trump secured the GOP nomination, music publicist Rob Goldstone wrote to connect the Donlad Trump jnr. to Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya. The emails show Goldstone telling Trump that singer Emin Agalarov and his father, Moscow-based real developer Aras Agalarov, had "helped along" the Russian government's support for Trump. (Irina Bujor/Kommersant Photo via AP, file) RUSSIA OUT (AP)

The number of people known to have attended the meeting grew to eight last week. They included: Donald Trump Jr.; Trump son-in-law and now-senior adviser Jared Kushner; and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort; Goldstone; and Veselnitskaya.

(AP)

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Russian-American lobbyist Rinat Akhmetshin confirmed his participation in the meeting on Friday. Akhmetshin told the Associated Press that Trump Jr. asked Veselnitskaya for evidence of illicit money flowing to the Democratic National Committee, but Veselnitskaya said she did not have that information.

FILE - In this July 17, 2016 file photo, Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort talks to reporters on the floor of the Republican National Convention at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland as Rick Gates listens at back left. Emails obtained by The Associated Press shed new light on the activities of a firm run by Donald Trump’s campaign chairman. They show it directly orchestrated a covert Washington lobbying operation on behalf of Ukraine’s ruling political party, attempting to sway American public opinion in favor of the country’s pro-Russian government. Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates, never disclosed their work as foreign agents as required under federal law. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File) (AP)

Akhmetshin, also a U.S. citizen, reportedly said that “they couldn’t wait for the meeting to end,” referring to Trump Jr., Manafort and Kushner.

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With Kaveladze and Akhmetshin identified, many speculate the other individual served as a translator during the meeting.

Reports suggest Anatoli Samochornov, a former State Department contractor, could be the identity of that other participant. Samochornov is known to be Veselnitskaya’s interpreter, and there are reports that he was in the meeting serving as a translator.