President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence during the 58th U.S. Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C.on January 20, 2017.Vekselberg, a Russian national, was questioned by the Mueller team after stepping off his private jet at a New York-area airport, The New York Times reported earlier this month. Vekselberg has also been in the headlines this week after the attorney for adult film star Stormy Daniels, Michael Avenatti, alleged that Veksleberg directed payments to a company formed by Cohen’s totaling $500,000.
The alleged payments, made by Columbus Nova — the firm led by Intrater — were listed in a seven-page document prepared by the law firm representing Stormy Daniels.
Daniels alleges she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006.
The document outlines what it claims are $4.4 million in payments to a corporate entity set up by Cohen shortly before the 2016 elections. The payments allegedly come from both obscure companies and well-known brands — foreign and domestic — including AT&T. Several of those companies have extensive business before the U.S. government.
The alleged payments continued until earlier this year.
Columbus Nova said in a statement earlier this week that the firm’s work with Cohen was not improper.
"Columbus Nova is a management company solely owned and controlled by Americans. After the inauguration, the firm hired Michael Cohen as a business consultant regarding potential sources of capital and potential investments in real estate and other ventures,” Columbus Nova's attorney Richard Owens said in the statement. “Reports today that Viktor Vekselberg used Columbus Nova as a conduit for payments to Michael Cohen are false. The claim that Viktor Vekselberg was involved or provided any funding for Columbus Nova's engagement of Michael Cohen is patently untrue. Neither Viktor Vekselberg nor anyone else other than Columbus Nova's owners were involved in the decision to hire Cohen or provided funding for his engagement."
Why these individuals would be of interest to the Mueller team remains unclear. The expanded probe sheds light on a possible growing area of interest to the Mueller investigation.
So far, the Mueller probe has led to nearly 20 indictments including plea deals for cooperation for two Trump loyalist – former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and Deputy Campaign Manager Rick Gates.
Editor's note: A previous version of the story incorrectly stated that Intrater donated $35,000 to the Trump Victory fund and an additional $29,600 to the RNC. The story has been corrected to reflect that Intrater donated a total of $35,000 to the Trump Victory fund and $29,600 of that went to the RNC.
Kaynak:Abcnews