Russian singer cancels US tour after not reaching testimony deal with Mueller, Congress
Washington: A Russian singer who initiated the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with US President Donald Trump’s campaign members, has cancelled his upcoming tour to America after failing to reach a testimony deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller and Congress.
Emin Agalarov was set to launch a four-city US tour to promote his latest single “Got Me Good” and its video satirising the Mueller investigation, on Saturday, CNN reported.
Agalarov’s attorney Scott Balber said talks broke down at the end of last week and the decision to cancel the tour was made on Monday.
“It’s the only choice we had,” CNN quoted Balber as saying.
“I’ve been endeavouring to engage with the Special Counsel’s office as well as various Congressional committees and despite our best effort we haven’t been able to reach an agreement on the terms.”
Agalarov posted an Instagram video about the cancellation on Monday saying it was “due to circumstances beyond my control”.
He made no mention of Mueller or Congress.
Talks between the two sides about possibly doing interviews stopped mid last year but were revived when Agalarov planned on coming to the US for his tour.
Balber said Agalarov wanted to appear voluntarily in his interviews and would not agree to be served with a subpoena for his testimony.
“He has nothing to hide. He wants to tell his story,” Balber said.
Mueller’s investigators and several congressional committees are interested in speaking with Agalarov because of his role in the June 2016 meeting attended by Donald Trump Jr., his brother-in-law Jared Kushner, then-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and a Russian lawyer promising dirt on former presidential hopeful, Hillary Clinton.
Emin and his father Aras Agalarov, a billionaire Russian real estate developer, are said to be close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Aras Agalarov helped Trump bring the Miss Universe pageant to Moscow in 2013 and also discussed a partnership to build a Trump Tower in the Russian capital. He supported Trump during the presidential campaign.