[ad_1]
The newspaper reported that the social media expert and Israeli, Joel Zamel, talked about how his company could help a political campaign gain an advantage. According to the Times, the company had by then put together “a multimillion-dollar proposal for a social media manipulation effort to help elect Mr. Trump.”
It is unclear, however, whether a proposal was ever executed, and details on who commissioned it remain in dispute, the Times reported.
Alan Futerfas, a lawyer representing Trump Jr., told CNN in a statement “Prior to the 2016 election, Donald Trump Jr. recalls a meeting with Eric (sic) Prince, George Nader, and another individual who may be Joel Zamel. They pitched Mr. Trump Jr. on a social media platform or marketing strategy. He was not interested and that was the end of it. “
A lawyer for Nader, Kathryn Ruemmler, told the Times he has “fully cooperated with the special counsel’s investigation and will continue to do so.” Ruemmler did not immediately return a request for comment from CNN.
CNN has also reported that Nader attended a December 2016 meeting in New York between Emirati officials and members of Trump’s inner circle, and another in January 2017 in the Seychelles islands between the Emiratis and Prince. Nader was also in the Seychelles when Prince met with a Russian banker, the sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
A senior official in Saudi Arabia told the Times that the country has never employed Nader or given him authorization to speak on behalf of the crown prince.
A lawyer representing Joel Zamel pushed back on the report in a statement to CNN, saying that Zamel “offered nothing to the Trump campaign, received nothing from the Trump campaign, delivered nothing to the Trump campaign and was not solicited by, or asked to do anything for, the Trump campaign.” The lawyer, Marc Mukasey, said that “media reports about Mr. Zamel’s engaging in ‘social media manipulation’ are misguided. Mr. Zamel’s companies harvest publicly available information for lawful use.”
The White House did not return the Times’ request for comment, nor CNN’s request for comment, and Prince declined to comment to The Times through a spokesman.
A request for comment from Prince sent to Frontier Services Group, which lists Prince as executive director and chairman, by CNN was not immediately returned.
“I did not collude with any foreign government and do not know of anyone who did,” Trump Jr. said in his testimony.
In response to a CNN request for comment on the Journal’s report, Mukasey, Zamel’s attorney, said in an e-mail, “We have been assured that our client is not a target of any investigation. This is much ado about nothing.”
When asked for additional detail on when that assurance was made and by whom, Mukasey said, “Joel was interviewed by Mueller’s team months ago and was cooperative and transparent. I won’t comment on discussions with Mueller’s team, but Joel is not a target.”
CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz, Kara Scannell, Sara Murray, Manu Raju, Jeremy Herb and Marshall Cohen contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link