Key players involved in Donald Trump Jr.'s email chain about meeting with Russian lawyer
Breaking down the growing cast of characters.
— -- Screenshots of the purported email chain that Donald Trump Jr. released today, which appears to have led to a meeting between top Trump campaign team members and a Russian lawyer purporting to have damaging information about Hillary Clinton, brings a new batch of players into the unfolding story surrounding possible Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Here is a breakdown of the individuals named or referred to in the emails, as well as those who attended the June 9, 2016, meeting at Trump Tower in New York:
Donald Trump Jr.
The president's eldest son. He was contacted via email by Rob Goldstone about meeting the Russian attorney, Natalia Veselnitskaya. Over the weekend, Trump released a statement obtained by ABC News confirming that he agreed to the meeting.
Rob Goldstone
A British-born former journalist and music publicist. His clients have included Michael Jackson, B.B. King and Richard Branson, according to his company's website.
Goldstone represents Emin Agalarov, a pop star from Azerbaijan, and was an acquaintance of Donald Trump Jr.'s when he sent him the email about the meeting in early June 2016.
A Facebook page that appears to belong to Goldstone shows that the account checked in at Trump Tower on the day of the meeting.
Emin Agalarov
A singer from Azerbaijan and a vice president of his father's development company, the Crocus Group. In the email, Goldstone writes, "Emin just called and asked me to contact you with something very interesting."
In a statement released today, Trump said that Agalarov was "a person I knew from the 2013 Miss Universe Pageant near Moscow."
"Emin and his father have a very highly respected company in Moscow," Trump said in the statement.
Agalarov has his own ties to Donald Trump Sr. In 2013 the then–reality show star had a cameo in one of Agalarov's music videos, using his signature "You're fired!" catchphrase from "The Apprentice."
Agalarov was born in Azerbaijan and moved to Moscow when he was 4 years old, according to his biography on the Crocus Group's website.
He oversees a number of the company's properties, including two of its retail-entertainment complexes, a resort in Azerbaijan and a restaurant portfolio that includes outposts of the famed Asian chain Nobu, according to the company website.
Donald Trump Sr. showed his fondness for Agalarov on Twitter in 2013 after the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, sending him a direct tweet that said, "Emin, your performance at Miss Universe was fantastic - you are a STAR!"
Trump praised a "Today" appearance by Agalarov the next year, calling him "a star!" again.
Aras Agalarov
Emin Agalarov's father and a Russian real estate tycoon. He heads the Crocus Group.
The company's website says he established Crocus International, the precursor to the Crocus Group, as a "Soviet-American joint venture" in 1989, near the end of the Cold War.
Forbes estimated that Aras Agalarov is worth $1.92 billion.
Donald Trump Sr. showed his ties to Aras Agalarov on Twitter in November 2013 as well, writing, "I had a great weekend with you and your family. You have done a FANTASTIC job. TRUMP TOWER-MOSCOW is next. EMIN was WOW!"
'The Crown prosecutor of Russia'
It remains unclear who Goldstone was referring to in the email when he wrote, "The Crown prosecutor of Russia met with [Aras Agalarov] this morning and in their meeting offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary."
Goldstone did not name this alleged government official, and that title does not directly match any positions in Russia.
Russia does have a prosecutor general, which is roughly the equivalent of the attorney general in the United States.
Natalia Veselnitskaya
The Russian lawyer at the center of the June 2016 meeting. In one of the emails released by Donald Trump Jr. today, Goldstone described her as "The Russian government attorney," though she is not named in the alleged email chain.
Veselnitskaya spoke to NBC's "Today" this morning and denied that she had connections to the Kremlin and that she was part of any Russian effort to interfere in the 2016 election.
Jared Kushner
Donald Trump Sr.'s son-in-law — he is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump — and a key member of the Trump team.
During the campaign, Kushner was a campaign adviser. Now he is a senior adviser to the president.
According to Veselnitskaya's "Today" interview, the man she believed to be Kushner "left the meeting after about seven to 10 minutes."
Paul Manafort
The former chairman of Donald Trump Sr.'s presidential bid. In the purported emails, Donald Trump Jr. refers to Manafort as "campaign boss."
Manafort previously did consulting work in Ukraine and joined the Trump presidential campaign in the spring of 2016.
In Veselnitskaya's "Today" interview, she described Manafort as "looking at his phone all the time, reading something, doing his own thing, and actually, I didn't understand why he was there at this meeting."
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