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By Jessica Kwong
Staff Writer
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Russia probe special counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly investigating a private consulting firm with ties to an adviser who frequently met with Jared Kushner in the early months of the Trump administration.
Related: FBI Should Investigate Jared Kushner Leaks to Saudi Crown Prince, Democrats Demand
Mueller is questioning the crowdsourced firm Wikistrat and its co-founders, including Joel Zamel—who was asked about his business relations with Lebanese-American businessman George Nader, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Nader, who acts as a top adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, is believed to have represented the United Arab Emirates' interests in meetings at the White House with President Donald Trump's son-in-law Kushner and former chief strategist Steve Bannon.
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Zamel and Nader, who is cooperating with Mueller's probe, have "done some business together" and have an "arms' length" type of relationship, people familiar with the matter told the Journal. Zamel and Nader sought to forge ties with the Trump administration during the transition last year.
Mueller's team has inquired about Zamel's work in general and for specific clients, one source told the Journal.
The United Arab Emirates reportedly contracted Wikistrat in 2015 to make war game scenarios in Yemen on Islamist political movements. Along with Saudi Arabia, the Emirates successfully got backing from the Trump administration on a blockade of Qatar.
The White House supported the blockade a month after the Qatari government reportedly refused to finance a troubled New York City property owned by Kushner's family-run real estate company.
Mueller has been looking into whether Nader funneled money from the Emirates to Trump's campaign. The special counsel has already heard Nader's testimony on a meeting he had in Seychelles with a Russian executive linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Erik Prince, a top Republican donor tied to the Trump transition team, just weeks before Trump's inauguration.
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