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Who Are Emin & Aras?

Donald Trump Jr. took to Twitter, much like his father, to comment on his meeting with Russian attorney, Natalia Veselnitskaya, in the weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential election. He chose to release the emails he received from Rob Goldstone, a British publicist that arrange the meeting, and two people, Emin and Aras Agalarov, are mentioned. But who are Emin and Aras? How do they factor into this situation?

According to The New York Times, an email from Goldstone on June 3, 2016 claimed that Goldstone was writing "on behalf of a mutual friend," Russian pop music star, Emin Agalarov, who is also the son of Aras Agalarov, a real estate tycoon that apparently has been called "the Donald Trump of Russia."

Apparently Agalarov is more than just "the Donald Trump of Russia" — he and his family also became close with the Trump family. The New York Times also noted that Agalarov has close ties to President Putin and in 2013, Agalarov worked alongside Trump to bring the Miss Universe pageant to Moscow. His son, who goes by Emin professionally, released a music video that featured a Trump cameo, and Agalarov apparently made plans to partner with Trump for a Trump Hotel in Moscow, which never came to fruition.

But their connection didn't stop there. According to Vox, the June 3 email from Goldstone mentioned Emin and Aras specifically. "Emin just called and asked me to contact you with something very interesting," the email began.

"The Crown prosecutor of Russia met with his father Aras this morning and in their meeting offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father.
This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump — helped along by Aras and Emin."

No. You're not in a Bruce Willis movie — this is actually an email sent to the future President of the United States' son that was apparently pushed by a pop star and his mogul father in order to incriminate Hillary Clinton and help President Donald Trump win the 2016 election. I know.

In later emails, The New York Times reported that an email from Goldstone claimed that Emin asked him to schedule a meeting between Trump Jr. and a Russian government attorney.

It seems like the Agalarovs are more than just business partners with Trump — they're fairly close. In an interview with Forbes, Emin shared all of the connections he maintains with President Trump, including "exchanging messages with Donald Trump Jr. as recently as January."

Nobody knows for sure how organic the relationship between the Agalarovs and Trumps is. Are they all connected merely to make their names sound bigger and stronger? Did Emin become involved with Donald Trump Jr. in an effort to help Trump win the election so he and his father could exude some of the power? Was it a friend helping a friend?

Nobody knows for sure, but one thing's certain — Emin and Aras have officially gained some fame and notoriety. (Just maybe not in the way they intended.)