Qatari investor Ahmed Al-Rumaihi has confirmed that he attended meetings in Trump Tower in December 2016, following a tweet from adult-film star Stormy Daniels’s lawyer claiming the investor had met with longtime Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.
Al-Rumaihi told CNN through a spokesperson that he attended some meetings with Trump transition officials, but the spokesperson noted he did not meet with former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
“Mr. Al-Rumaihi was at Trump Tower on December 12, 2016. He was there in his then role as head of Qatar Investments, an internal division of QIA, to accompany the Qatari delegation that was meeting with Trump transition officials on that date,” the spokesperson told CNN. “He did not participate in any meetings with Michael Flynn, and his involvement in the meetings on that date was limited.”
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Al-Rumaihi’s acknowledgment that he was at Trump Tower meetings came after Michael Avenatti, a lawyer for Daniels in her lawsuit against President Trump and Cohen, claimed in a tweet that the Qatari investor had met with Cohen and Flynn.
“Why was Ahmed Al-Rumaihi meeting with Michael Cohen and Michael Flynn in December 2016 and why did Mr. Al-Rumaihi later brag about bribing administration officials according to a sworn declaration filed in court?” Avenatti tweeted.
Avenatti’s posted screenshots of a Trump Tower lobby video feed from Dec. 12, 2016, where Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney who is currently under criminal investigation, and Al-Rumaihi appear to be entering and leaving Trump Tower.
The spokesperson for Al-Rumaihi’s did not say who was in the meetings Al-Rumaihi attended or what they involved, but a person familiar with the Qatari delegation meetings at Trump Tower told CNN that Cohen “popped in” during one meeting.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is suing Cohen to extricate herself from a $130,000 nondisclosure agreement they signed just weeks before the 2016 election. She is also suing both Cohen and Trump for defamation.
The same corporation that Cohen set up to make his payment to Daniels apparently received payments from companies and individuals seeking access to and insight on the Trump administration.
The FBI raided Cohen’s office and residence last month after receiving a referral from special prosecutor Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.
On Tuesday, CNN reported that Cohen lied in 2017 about the Trump Organization having no relationship with Russia even though he later admitted he had pursued a business deal for the organization in Russia during the 2016 election.
– This story was updated at 7:38 p.m. to clarify comments attributed to Al-Rumaihi.