REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski
A former Russian spy aided President Donald Trump’s business team in their effort to secure “financing for a Trump-branded tower” in Moscow during the 2016 campaign, according to BuzzFeed News. The former agent reportedly served in the Russian “military intelligence arm” known as GRU, and then worked as an arms dealer who “negotiated for financing from a Russian state-owned bank that was under US sanctions at the time.” The unnamed agent also reportedly passed on intelligence to the U.S. government, “including al-Qaeda’s weapons caches and North Korea’s attempts to develop nuclear weapons.” Special counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly aware of the agent’s involvement in the Moscow deal. While the Trump project never came to fruition, Trump real-estate associate Felix Sater contacted the agent in 2015 for help with financing. Both men first met back in 1997, when the agent would pass information along to Sater—who worked as a “source for US law enforcement.” The agent suggested Sater look for funding from either GenBank or VTB Bank. Emails turned over to investigators by the Trump Organization show that the team was trying to get financing from VTB.