He has quite the bombastic social media presence...
Rob Goldstone, a relatively unknown New York City playboy who hosted vodka-soaked parties with younger acquaintances at the Russian Tea Room in Manhattan, has now shot to fame having been exposed as the man who set Donald Trump Jr. up to speak with the Russian lawyer in the now infamous meeting.
Goldstone was formerly a British tabloid reporter, and now runs a PR firm in New York that represents the likes of Russian popstar Emin Agalarov. It is Emin’s father, Aras, who is a Russian real estate developer, friend of Vladimir Putin, and perhaps Russia’s own answer to Donald Trump.
The Donald and Aras had in fact planned to build a Trump Tower together in Moscow before the election, after they met in 2013 when Trump was in town for the Miss Universe pageant. Trump has since remained close with the family, even making a cameo appearance in one of Emin’s music videos.
Russia probe
Since the revelations in the New York Times about the meeting with the Kremlin-connected lawyer, Goldstone could now be pulled into the Russia investigation, for his part in setting it up.
He arranged the meeting in June 2016 on the premise that the lawyer could provide damaging information on Hillary Clinton, and was backed by the Russian government’s wish to see Trump in office.
The email exchange has been posted:
Here’s my statement and the full email chain pic.twitter.com/x050r5n5LQ
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) July 11, 2017
On the day of the meeting, Goldstone even checked into Trump Tower:
You have to love that Rob Goldstone wrote an email saying the Russian gov wants to help beat Hillary and then checked in for the meeting pic.twitter.com/Ajg1NWHciA
— Josh Schwerin (@JoshSchwerin) July 11, 2017
Social media
Since his unmasking, Goldstone has shown no eagerness to lock down his social media accounts, that showcase some fairly bonkers behaviour:
His Instagram boasts a photo of him wearing a hat with the word “cunty” printed on the front:
Intermediary Rob Goldstone seems like a perfectly normal guy. pic.twitter.com/XQTRrxnwvI
— Nathaniel Meyersohn (@nmeyersohn) July 9, 2017
Honestly, I’m just really looking forward to seeing this guy testify before Congress. pic.twitter.com/feVrPlP5cQ
— Tim Hogan (@timjhogan) July 11, 2017
Like, I absolutely understand why you would trust this guy to serve as an intermediary with the Russians. He’s a pro. pic.twitter.com/WmgaTZpZFZ
— Tim Hogan (@timjhogan) July 11, 2017
A crown for every occasion pic.twitter.com/dpvy8mOAa7
— robert goldstone (@GoldstoneRob) July 1, 2013
To top it off, one day after Trump’s election victory, he posted this:
Rob Goldstone, the Donald Trump Jr. acquaintance who brokered the meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer, the day after the 2016 US election: pic.twitter.com/20bMLUvDiH
— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) July 9, 2017