A critical Russia probe witness may have poked a huge hole in the Trump team's story about a mysterious Seychelles meeting
- George Nader, a little-known but critical witness in the Russia probe, has reportedly contradicted key portions of Trump associate Erik Prince's testimony before the House Intelligence Committee last year.
- Prince told lawmakers that his meeting with Kirill Dmitriev, the head of a sanctioned Russian investment fund in the Seychelles in January 2017 happened by chance, and that he was introduced to the Russian by potential business customers in the United Arab Emirates.
- Nader, meanwhile, has reportedly told prosecutors that the Seychelles meeting was set up in advance to open a Trump-Russia back-channel, and that the Emirates were not the ones who introduced Prince and Dmitriev.
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George Nader, a top adviser to Emirati crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and a critical witness in the Russia probe, contradicted key points in Trump associate Erik Prince's testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, The Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday.
Nader and Prince met in the Seychelles in January 2017 with Kirill Dmitriev, the chief executive of a sanctioned Russian investment fund and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meeting has drawn scrutiny from the special counsel Robert Mueller as he investigates whether it took place as part of an effort to open a secret back-channel between the incoming Trump administration and Russia.
Prince, who resides in the United Arab Emirates, told the House Intelligence Committee last year that his meeting with Dmitriev had occurred by chance as he was meeting potential Emirati business contacts in the Seychelles.
He also said the Emiratis introduced him to Dmitriev. During the meeting, Prince told lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee, the Emiratis "mentioned a guy who I should also meet who was also in town," who turned out to be Dmitriev.
"At the end, one of the entourage says, 'Hey, by the way, there's this Russian guy that we've dealt with in the past. He's here also to see someone from the Emirati delegation. And you should meet him, he'd be an interesting guy for you to know, since you're doing a lot in the oil and gas and mineral space,'" Prince told lawmakers.
When he met Dmitriev, they discussed a range of topics, and Dmitriev stressed that he wished Russia and the US could resume normal trade relations, Prince said. He added that they spoke for no more than 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, Nader told prosecutors earlier this year that the Emirati delegation did not introduce Prince and Dmitriev, The Journal reported.
Emirati officials were also under the impression that Prince was attending the meeting as a surrogate for then President-elect Donald Trump's team, while Dmitriev was representing Putin's interests. Nader testified before a grand jury about the meeting earlier this year, and according to The Washington Post, a witness told Mueller that the Seychelles meeting was set up in advance to discuss US-Russia relations.
But Prince denied that in his testimony last year, saying he attended the meeting strictly for business purposes.
The Post reported last year that Prince approached Crown Prince Mohammed, with whom he has a long business relationship, following a December 2016 meeting between the prince and senior adviser Jared Kushner, then-incoming White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, and then-incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Prince told the Emirati crown prince he was authorized to act as an unofficial surrogate for Trump, and then asked whether Crown Prince Mohammed could set up a meeting with Dmitriev, the report said.
Prince told the House Intelligence Committee last year that he knew Dmitriev was a Russian fund manager but did not know it was a sanctioned fund that was controlled by the Russian government.
After the Seychelles meeting, Dmitriev also met with Anthony Scaramucci, who would later become the White House communications director, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Russian state media quoted Scaramucci as saying, after his meeting with Dmitriev, that the Obama administration's new sanctions on Russia - which were imposed that month to penalize it for interfering in the 2016 election - were ineffective and detrimental to the US-Russia relationship.
One month before Prince met with Dmitriev, Kushner also reportedly proposed a secret back-channel of communication between the Trump team and Moscow using Russian facilities.