Cohen Alleged to Have Asked for Millions from Qatari to 'Pass to Trumps'

Two days ago, Michael Avenatti tweeted a screenshot from a CSPAN video which showed Michael Cohen getting into an elevator at Trump Tower with Ahmed al-Rumaihi and a handful of others. In a follow up tweet, Avenatti asked a question:

Michael Avenatti ‏Verified account @MichaelAvenatti

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?

5:41 PM - 13 May 2018

The reference to bragging about a bribe comes from a crazy story involving rapper Ice Cube and a basketball league startup called BIG3. Ice Cube's partner in the venture is a man named Jeff Kwatinetz. Kwatinetz is the founder of Hollywood talent agency, The Firm. For a period beginning in the late 90's, Steve Bannon was partner at The Firm and the two men have remained friends.

Al-Rumaihi invested millions in BIG3. And then he started pressuring Kwatinetz to set up a meeting between Qatari officials and Steve Bannon. Kwatinetz didn't. According to Ice Cube and Kwatinetz's suit Al-Ruhaimi then failed to make good on the rest of the money he'd agreed to invest. Here's the significant bit referenced in Avenatti's tweet.

Here’s how Ice Cube figures in the Trump-Cohen mess

Kwatinetz testified that after investing in BIG3, Al-Ruhaimi repeatedly brought up Bannon and the Trump administration’s position on the trade embargo. Then, in January 2018, the two men went on a hike — and Al-Rumaihi said he had a message from Qatar for Bannon, according to Kwatinetz.

“Al-Rumaihi requested I set up a meeting between him, the Qatari government, and Steve Bannon, and to tell Steve Bannon that Qatar would underwrite all his political efforts in return for his support,” Kwatinetz testified.

Kwatinetz claims he responded he was “offended by this request,” but that the Qatari businessman replied that he’d already forged some kind of financial relationship with Michael Flynn.

“Al-Rumaihi laughed and then stated to me that I shouldn’t be so naive, that so many Washington politicians have taken our money, and stated ‘Do you think [Michael] Flynn turned down our money?” Kwatinetz testified.

That's a pretty serious claim by Kwatinetz and this effort for the Qataris to get access to Trump lines up with other recent stories like their interest in buying NewsMax, owned by Trump's pal Chris Ruddy.

Before I proceed, I'll note that Al-Rumaihi has now confirmedthrough a spokesperson that he was present at the Trump Tower meeting. Now screenshots of come out that show Cohen, Al-Rumaihi and Flynn together at Trump tower.

The last part, which is what the title references comes from a Daily Mail exclusive, citing an unnamed "Senior Kuwaiti official." I would say that since it's from Daily Mail, take it with a grain of salt but the reality is a The Gateway Pundit post citing a tweet from a random unknown is taken as gospel by some so make whatever you will of it.

EXCLUSIVE: Michael Cohen 'asked Qatari investor for millions of dollars' which he said he would 'pass to Trump family members' at Trump Tower meeting - and Qatar's foreign minister was there too

The Kuwaiti source told DailyMail.com that following DailyMail.com's disclosure of the court case, Al-Rumaihi called him and boasted that Cohen had asked him for money in exchange for influence in the Trump administration. The official said: 'He said Cohen told him to send millions to various members of the Trump family.' Al-Rumaihi did not do so, the official added. The Trump family members were not named.

In his role as a senior official in the Qatari Investment Authority, Al-Rumaihi has business dealings with Kuwait, and has become close to several government officials there.

The Kuwaiti source said Al-Rumaihi informed him of the alleged bribery attempt so that he would not appear to be 'going behind Kuwait's back' in his relationship with the Trump administration.

The Kuwaiti source claimed Al-Rumaihi told him that Cohen tried to get the money during a meeting which also included now disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn at Trump Tower in December 2016.

Daily Mail was able to confirm the identity of one of the other men in the elevator as Qatar's foreign minister, Sheik Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani.

Qatar's media attaché in Washington DC, Jassim Al-Thani, confirmed his presence at Trump Tower to DailyMail.com and said in a statement: 'As a lead-up to the US Presidential election, His Highness had scheduled separate meetings with both major party candidates. His Highness met with then-candidate Donald Trump. The meeting with Hillary Clinton was postponed due to a scheduling conflict.

'In December 2016 during the Presidential transition, His Excellency, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs met with officials from President Donald Trump’s incoming administration.

Ahmed Al-Rumaihi, who was head of Qatar investments at Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) from May 2016 to March 2017, was present at Trump Tower but did not participate in any meetings.

'Since March 2017, Mr. Al-Rumaihi has not represented the State of Qatar in official matters. Nor is Qatar involved in any of his private business matters.'

For extra Conspiracy Theory Points, the meeting between the Qataris and Trump transition officials came just two days after QIA purchased billions of dollars in shares of Russian state-run oil giant Rosneft. Along with Swiss company Glencore, the Qatar state investment fund purchased 19.5% of Rosneft in a deal that many believe is referenced in the Steele Dossier:

In terms of the substance of their discussion, SECHIN’s associate said that the Rosneft President was so keen to lift personal and corporate western sanctions imposed on the company, that he offered PAGE/TRUMP’s associates the brokerage of up to a 19 per cent (privatised) stake in Rosneft in return. PAGE had expressed interest and confirmed that were TRUMP elected US president, then sanctions on Russia would be lifted.

a reply to: theantediluvian


I can't wait for the movie!

He's not just corrupt, he's so corrupt he should be impeached.

a reply to: theantediluvian

Some data that might clear or help clear up what was going on and a possible reason why Trump cancelled the Iran deal .

this is a really important topic

do have any information on any other politicians involved in this kind of scheme or is Trump the only one?

Watching Donald Trump do his deceptive schemes and the way he deceives not only himself but others and the massive corruption he is undertaking right before our eyes remind me of the movie The Devils Advocate. There Al Pacino playing the devil made a classic speech at the end of the movie and said that when his crew takes over they would be so massively and blatantly corrupt that the stench would be so foul it would reach heaven.


I think we're seeing some kind of simulation of that movie's last scene

This was the video I was talking about in the other thread. I had the wrong guy but the right cast of characters.

a reply to: Sillyolme

This was the video I was talking about in the other thread. I had the wrong guy but the right cast of characters.

What video ?

a reply to: Willtell

this is really bad if Trump is taking money from other powerful people in countries that do not have our best interest in hand for favors from the government

is he the only one doing this?

Lol this tale has it all, rappers, hearsay, innuendo.

How about those Iranian bribes to get the nuke deal off the ground? Or that big huge cube of 1.5 billion dollars cash shuttled off in the dead of night to the Iranian bribers so they could pay off their bribes?

a reply to: toysforadults

Why?

originally posted by: toysforadults
a reply to: Willtell

this is really bad if Trump is taking money from other powerful people in countries that do not have our best interest in hand for favors from the government

is he the only one doing this?

Yes.
If there was proof that Trump accepted money from foreign countries, that would put him at Hillary's level.
Think about how many years she spent in prison for all of that money she and Bill collected for the Foundation.

No, wait....

So all he has a picture and that shows what exactly? LMAO You guys are really reaching..

But its a hookers lawyer so it must be legit lol..

a reply to: the2ofusr1

Well not video the photos that avanatti tweeted. I assume they are from a video. Maybe I'm jumping the gun.

a reply to: TinfoilTP

The cash belonged to Iran. Everybody heard this at the time. Some i guess chose not to believe it but that doesn't change the truth. That's your choice.

originally posted by: CB328
He's not just corrupt, he's so corrupt he should be impeached.

Opinionated much ?
You say that as fact
"Corruption" is subjective , all depending on the country a person is sitting in.

originally posted by: Sillyolme
a reply to: TinfoilTP

The cash belonged to Iran. Everybody heard this at the time. Some i guess chose not to believe it but that doesn't change the truth. That's your choice.

I have wondered why money from frozen accounts in the US had to be flown into Iran at night, as physical currency after being converted at another location.
Seems like a lot of work to free up money that was frozen in an account.
Why not just lift the embargo on the account and let them wire transfer the funds like countries normally do?

a reply to: theantediluvian

Jokes on you. Noone will investigate this seriously unless Dims steal enough seats in November.

a reply to: theantediluvian

Sounds like Cohen knows exactly how to play ball in DC. Too bad there are some people who are great at picking up tracks left behind eh?

What is important and given my stance on HRC and Co, question is Trump involved and knowing of the attempted ear bending or outright bribery?

Does this have to do with policy or real estate and such as even in Dec '16, Trump still had his hands in his business.

Should Cohen be caught peddling influence then it's over for him.

Now the 'but' moment. This is based around a rather odd group of folks.