The chief executive of the holding company Vector Group, Mr. Lorber was an early supporter of Mr. Trump, served as an economic adviser to the campaign and accompanied Mr. Trump to Moscow in November 1996. As recently as the 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump tried to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, according to documents obtained by investigators examining Mr. Trump’s ties to Russia. Mr. Trump’s longtime fixer and lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, pursued the deal until at least June 2016, the documents showed. Within days, the younger Mr. Trump met at Trump Tower with a producer who worked for Mr. Agalarov and a Russian lawyer close to the Kremlin. Donald Trump Jr. later said in interviews that the meeting was disappointing because it was “mainly about adoption” and easing Russian sanctions.

Source: New York Times February 01, 2019 02:31 UTC