Members of the Trump transition team appear to have met on December 12, 2016 with a group from Qatar that included Ahmed al-Rumaihi, the former Qatari diplomat and current head of a division of Qatar’s massive sovereign wealth fund who is accused in a recent lawsuit of scheming to bribe Trump administration officials.
Mother Jones
Apparently, that bald guy with the beard is al-Rumaihi:
Ice Cube? Jesus, this story has everything.Michael Avenatti, a lawyer for adult film actress Stormy Daniel, on Sunday shared an ambiguous tweet showing a group of unidentified men in a Trump Tower elevator with Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney.
The photos include a person who appears to be al-Rumaihi, who in late 2016 and 2017 was part of an aggressive Qatari effort to forge ties with members of the Trump administration. It has not previously been reported that Qataris, including al-Rumaihi, met with Cohen in December 2016.
Ice Cube, the rapper and actor, and his business partner Jeff Kwatinetz recently filed a $1.2 billion lawsuit that includes an allegation that Al-Rumaihi and other Qatari officials attempted use an investment in the men’s BIG3 basketball league to gain access to Trump administration officials.
Mr. Kawtinetz wasn't born yesterday, eh?“Mr Al-Rumaihi requested I set up a meeting between him, the Qatari government, and Stephen Bannon, and to tell Steve Bannon that Qatar would underwrite all of his political efforts in return for his support,” Kwatinetz said in the court filing. Kwatinetz says he rejected the offer, which he viewed as bribe.
In response, Kwatinetz claims, “Al-Rumaihi laughed and then stated to me that I shouldn’t be naive, that so many Washington politicians take our money, and stated ‘do you think [Mike] Flynn turned down our money?’”
UPDATE 5/15:
A Qatari investor referenced in a series of tweets from Michael Avenatti this week confirmed to CNN through a spokesperson on Tuesday that he did attend meetings at Trump Tower in December 2016.
The stated reason: Ahmed Al-Rumaihi wanted face time with Trump transition officials.
[...]
"He did not participate in any meetings with Michael Flynn, and his involvement in the meetings on that date was limited."
[...]
"There were several meetings that took place between the delegation and Trump transition officials. During one, Michael Cohen briefly popped in."
[...]
The spokesperson did not elaborate on which Trump transition officials attended those meetings or the substance of the meetings.
CNN
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