U.S. Special Counsel wants to interview Aliyev's former son-in-lawAugust 3, 2018 - 18:33 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller wants to interview Emin Agalarov, an Azerbaijani-Russian pop star and former son-in-law of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, a lawyer for Agalarov says, according to RFE/RL. Mueller is investigating alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and whether President Donald Trump's campaign colluded with Russia. NBC News quoted attorney Scott Balber on August 2 as saying that Mueller had requested an interview with Agalarov. Balber did not elaborate on whether Mueller is also interested in speaking to the singer's father, Aras Agalarov, a tycoon with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Agalarovs were partners with Trump in staging the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow in 2013. They also played a key role in arranging a June 2016 meeting attended by Trump's son Donald Trump Jr.; his son-in-law and now senior adviser Jared Kushner; Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign chairman at the time; Russian lawyer Natalya Veselnitskaya; and others, according to congressional testimony. The meeting at Trump Tower in New York City was set up after a Russian intermediary told Trump’s son that a Russian official had offered to provide documents and information that would “incriminate” Trump's election rival, Hillary Clinton. Veselnitskaya has denied acting on behalf of the Kremlin when she met with the Trump team, telling Congress that she operates "independently of any government bodies." Agalarov, the singer, confirmed that he helped to organize the meeting but has denied that any information incriminating anyone was discussed. Mueller has no authority to subpoena the Agalarovs, who do not live in the United States. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |