Why I Wrote This Book
In deciding to write this book, I want to be clear that I did not do so for financial gain, for fame, or to portray myself as a helpless victim. As you can see from my account, I am the prime actor in my story. My dealings with Donald Trump and Michael Cohen were all at my instigation.
No one is perfect. None of us are without sin, vanity, selfishness, or pride. And there are no exceptions, including the presidents of the United States, past and present.
I can’t say what, if anything, ever transpired between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Or why Donald Trump behaved in certain ways toward Vladimir Putin or Kim Jong-un. About this we may never know the full truth. But the truth is that Donald Trump is the president of the United States, and every president has the right to act according to his own best judgment and to follow his own strategy and tactics. Time, only time, can tell if Trump is right or wrong, or as he often says, if his gut feeling guided him to modern American victories or failures.
All I can write about is what I know from my own personal experience. I know what I saw, and I know what my instincts tell me. Where reports are false, I can say so and tell the truth of what I know to have happened.
I wrote this book because I was tired of hearing lies and reading false statements about me and my partners. I sat down and started to make notes and write down what I’ve been forced to experience since being subpoenaed before the Mueller grand jury.
Once I started to write, I began to expand my personal notes and realized that I had a unique story to tell. I wanted to do so in order to take back control of my narrative. To tell the truth, my truth, what I know to be true, and what happened to me as a result of what I did and what I knew. I can speak to the media sinkhole my partners and I fell into, and the damage done by innuendo and false reporting.
When all is said and done, I wrote this book because I want my children to know the truth, my truth, and not what they find by Googling my name, which will now call up many false accusations and inaccurate stories about me.
I hope that this book will be an eye-opener for Americans about a major distinction between being Russian and Georgian. How devastating it can be when they conveniently misidentify you as Russian in the Russia Probe when you in fact aren’t. Like I’ve said before, there’s nothing wrong with being Russian. Russia is a great culture with many great people. I am just not Russian.
And be warned, if it can happen to me, it can happen to you too…
No Collusion
This book is not about being pro-Trump or anti-Trump. I am not a Democrat nor a Republican, but I am pro-America for many reasons. I was born in Soviet Georgia, and my family and I were lucky to survive the Communism and Socialism and then the post-Soviet black hole; and trust me, that is something I never want to go back to, nor would any American if they really understood what living under a Communist or Socialist regime was like. As bad as things may get in the United States, we are a million times better than we would be under Communist rule. Socialism sounds nice in principle but it is a harsh reality to live under.
It is painful to see America divided, but this may be the best opportunity in decades for us to come together again. It is evident that the time has come to have a tough, honest, and sometimes downright nasty argument about what we believe in and what we stand for. The ability to have these sorts of debates remains the best indicator of an open society and true democracy.
Being able to speak your mind is a great blessing of our democracy, particularly when you consider that my Uncle Victor spent fifteen years in a Soviet prison for speaking his truth and criticizing the government.
As Americans, we need to make life better for everyone: those in Trump’s base and those Trump speaks against. That means those who lived in the United States for many generations as well as recent emigrants.
Whether Trump acknowledges it or not, we are all emigrants (including Trump, whose grandfather came from Germany). I would hate to see my grandson speaking out against emigrants. Every time I think about what it would take for America to be less divided and more united, unfortunately the first thing that comes to mind is crises. It sure seems like unity in America comes roaring back when we are facing some sort of crisis. The strongest memory I have of that happening was the era immediately following 9/11.
Trump and Putin
In the last two years, I’ve been asked the awkward question of whether Trump and Putin are working together as a team over and over again. My answer, from the first, has been that I don’t believe Trump needed to collude with anyone to win the presidency. In fact, I believe crediting Russia for Trump’s presidency is an insult to our very democracy. Over sixty-two million Trump supporters are Americans too, not Russians.
Nothing I’ve seen or learned in the last twenty-four months changes my opinion about that. I predicted that Trump would win from the moment he declared his candidacy. The reasons were plain and simple:
- Trump’s absolute name recognition
- His genius salesman skills
- His extreme media savvy.
Add to that the mood of the country, which after eight years of Obama was ripe for change: the economy was stagnant; the country was racially divided with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement that pitted police against black communities; Syria’s alliance with Iran; Putin’s expansion in Ukraine; and the general feeling in Israel and among hardline Israel supporters in the US that Obama was not doing enough for Israel—not to mention the all-time-low ratings of Washington politicians. The stage was set for someone blunt, tough, and unapologetic who was not a politician and was recognized as a business mogul who got things done.
Donald Trump was the right candidate at the right moment in time. He may have been lucky—but he could not have been so lucky as to have the FSB or GRU manipulate an election on his behalf. That makes no sense.
Do I believe that Trump would seize any opportunity to defeat his challengers and that he is always determined to win at all costs? Yes.
Do I believe Trump’s associates would do anything and meet with anyone if they thought it would help Trump defeat his competition and win the election? Yes.
Do I believe that Putin leads Russia with an iron fist and would do anything to downgrade the fundamental core institutions of the United States? Yes.
Russia remains involved in an ideological battle with the United States where there are really no rules. But do I believe Putin and Trump colluded to get him elected? No way.
To me, the question is not whether Trump colluded with Russia. From everything I know of Trump, for better or worse, only Trump can influence Trump.
But whether Trump can have any influence on Putin is much more consequential for world peace and prosperity.
You may think it’s a long shot, but Trump being Trump, long shots do sometimes come true. Trump is, after all, president. And still president despite all the attacks on him. So if you are betting on long shots, you would be smart not to bet against Trump.
As much as the idea of collusion between these two titans makes for a great story and is the excuse for countless articles and stories and fills out hours of TV discussion, to me it is a smoke screen to distract us all from our most serious problems.
As for the Mueller investigation, even as someone who was questioned by his team, I always felt that it was important to have affirmed that this is a country of laws, and that no person, even the president, is above the law.
The Mueller investigation will in time, I hope, lead to America being stronger in standing up to individual bad actors as well as countries like Russia, China, and Iran who are waging cyber war against the United States.
Will Putin go down in history as a peacemaker or a leader who left behind a legacy of conflict among a people who enjoyed eight thousand years of friendship, culture, and hospitality? Time will tell, and as they say in Georgia, “Leaders rule only for a time while time is the ruler of us all.”
It’s Not Over until It’s Over. And, Even Then, It’s Not Over.
On Thursday, March 22, 2019, there was an announcement that Robert Mueller had completed his investigation and submitted his report to the attorney general. In the hours and days that followed, despite intense media coverage and popular interest, there was very little information available other than Attorney General William Barr’s four-page summary that announced that Mueller had found no collusion with Russia, and that he was not charging President Trump with obstruction of justice, although the report did not exonerate him of such.
After two years, it was anticlimactic. No collusion. No charges. Mueller had been true to his mandate and done his job soberly and thoroughly, with no attention to politics, only to truth, fact, and what he found by law.
This was vindication for the president who had repeatedly insisted there was no collusion.
Clearly, for Trump’s enemies, this was a tremendous letdown. They had pinned all their hopes on Mueller and he left them with nothing. I suppose their attention shifts now to the Southern District of New York, but the SDNY probably wouldn’t attempt to indict a sitting president. They will have to wait until 2020. Or 2024, as the case may be.
Afterward, Trump and his supporters have felt vindicated, embold-ened even.
As for myself, I felt as others did, that two years had been wasted—that all that time, money, and manpower could certainly have been put to better use. I, and many others, had labored for more than a year under a cloud. To what end?
—
In the aftermath of the Mueller Report, there was one particular response that I’d like to point out that readers of this book will find very interesting.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesperson, was asked to comment on the Mueller Report findings. Here’s what he said:
“It is hard to find a black cat in a dark room.” That is EXACTLY what I said earlier in this book (and I promise you I wrote it before Peskov said it).
For Peskov to be quoting Lavrentiy Beria, the founder of the KGB, is just amazing. It is almost too much.
So, what does it mean? As in the best KGB speak, it means two different things at the same time. On the one hand, it means that nothing was there. On the other, it means the cat was there, just that it was hard to catch it.
I think that it was a very provocative comment for Peskov to make when talking about Russian collusion. Did Peskov do this to perpetuate the intrigue or to divide us more? Either way, the lesson is that we as Americans would be wise to unite against attempts to create division among us.
Although Trump, the Trump Organization, and the Trump campaign did not collude with Russia, it doesn’t mean that Russia will ever stop its efforts to weaken the United States’ role in global geopolitics. It should come as no surprise, given that the Kremlin and the White House have been adversaries for decades now, that Russia is all for continuing the tradition.
We can demonize Russia as much as we want, but Russia sees the above as its mission, a strategy for geopolitical gains or, ultimately global dominance. They say the best defense is an aggressive offense. The Mueller Report finding of no collusion is a win for Russia, which said all along that it never colluded with Trump. That Russia, like China, has launched cyberattacks on our country, possibly trying to influence our elections, is a great concern, but we should already be well aware of that by now.
—
My fondest wish is that the United States and Russia realize that working together to solve the world’s problems will yield better results than continued spending on an unnecessary arms race and cyber and social media warfare. Maybe, just maybe, we can coexist in cyberspace and, instead of beating the drum of the cyber war, find a consensus of cyber peace more useful for all of us to the future of the entire human race. I know it may sound boring, but it sure beats a three-year investigation into possible Russian cyber influence.
My greatest dream is that we will one day soon see American and Russian leaders (maybe even Trump and Putin) sitting together at the majestic Tsinandali wine estate in Georgia, and that as they enjoy a legendary Georgian feast, with Georgian songs and dance and plenty of glorious Georgian wine, they will agree publicly to end the divide in the name of the human race and embark on a journey toward peace and prosperity for everyone, regardless of nationality, race, religious beliefs, or sexual orientation. Just imagine that, and even better, just imagine being there. Can you? I certainly can, like I once imagined the fall of the USSR…
May it be so and come to pass!
On Thursday, April 18, 2019, the redacted Mueller Report was released. It seemed like the whole country spent the day reading, digesting, and talking about its almost 450 pages, collected in two volumes. It seemed as if no one was talking about anything else other than the Mueller Report on TV, radio, and the Internet, in a constant loop of commentary to an insatiable worldwide audience.
Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that the emails and texts I exchanged with Michael Cohen over the years would become part of what NBC News called “the most anticipated document in a generation.”
Yes, I am in the report—two whole pages are devoted to my private interactions with Michael regarding the possible Trump Tower in Moscow. I am also mentioned in a footnote in the Mueller Report (part 2, page 25, footnote 112).
I am relieved to let you know that I was found to have done no wrong and was witness to no collusion with Russia. Contrary to what various media outlets predicted, the Mueller investigation had little interest and nothing of substance to report about me and my partners’ attempts to build Trump Towers in Georgia and Kazakhstan.
Given all this, there is no reason I should have received any attention for appearing in the Mueller Report. To the contrary, I should have been redacted from it. Instead, the Mueller Report chose to publish my private emails and text messages and single me out in an unnecessary footnote to the report—falsely and inaccurately. Doing so led to my being maligned once again in the mainstream media and virally on the Internet, as they must have known I would be. I can’t tell you how many disparaging and toxic links have been sent my way.
Once again, I found myself in the middle of a media maelstrom.
For reasons that I still struggle to understand, the Mueller Report published false, insulting, and damaging information about me, glaring inaccuracies and misrepresentations that give a false and frankly perverted account of my actions and portray me in the worst light possible.
Let me set the record straight here so that I can begin to restore my good name. If it is at all possible.
The footnote concerns Comey briefing Trump about the infamous Steele dossier with its claim of a compromising video of Trump in Moscow—i.e., the much-sought-after kompromat. The footnote goes on to say that Trump may have already known about the alleged compromising video from Michael Cohen.
“On October 30, 2016,” the footnote states, “Michael Cohen received a text from Russian businessman Giorgi Rtskhiladze that said, “Stopped flow of tapes from Russia but not sure if there’s anything else. Just so u know,” and it cites “a 10/30/16 Text Message from Rtskhiladze to Cohen.” This text exchange has already appeared in this book more than once.
I have explained its every word and intention. And although Mueller’s team had the complete texts, in the footnote they chose to edit them—leaving out certain words (i.e., “some” before “tapes”) and leaving out the rest of the conversation—in a manner that insinuates that I knew about the tapes and likely suppressed them.
The footnote goes on to say that “Rtskhiladze said ‘tapes’ referred to compromising tapes of Trump rumored to be held by persons associated with the Russian real estate conglomerate Crocus Group, which had helped host the 2013 Miss Universe Pageant in Russia.”
This too is false. Although Melanie and I gossiped and joked that if there were a tape it was most likely from Trump’s time in Moscow for the 2013 Miss Universe Pageant hosted by the Agalarovs and the Crocus Group, I certainly never said Crocus had or held any such tapes, or tapes of any kind. I never said that. I never knew Crocus to make such tapes and certainly did not say the rumor was that such tapes were held by Crocus.
I may have had business differences with them, but the Agalarovs are decent people and Crocus is a reputable and very successful Russian company. The founder of Crocus, Aras Agalarov, hosted me at his apartment in Moscow where his mother cooked an incredible meal for us. I’ll never forget that generosity from Aras.
—
Finally, this gratuitous and derogatory footnote of impossible length concludes with, “Rtskhiladze said he was told the tapes were fake, but he did not communicate that to Cohen.”
Although media outlets and social media enthusiasts have shared this assertion as mine all over the known universe, it’s simply false. I never used the word “fake” and thus certainly couldn’t tell Michael Cohen that these tapes, which you may recall I had never seen and did not believe existed, were fake. There’s a difference between saying a tape exists but is fake and believing that it doesn’t even exist.
If, as CNN claimed, Cohen shared any information from me concerning these supposed tapes with then candidate Trump, it was that, at best, the tapes were only a rumor.
But I wouldn’t know because I never discussed it with Cohen ever again. The implication by Mueller’s Report that I knew tapes existed and knew that they were fake and, knowing that, that I didn’t tell Cohen, is inaccurate on so many different levels. It makes me out to have knowledge of something that, in fact, I didn’t have; and also to be the sort of disreputable businessman who would hide the truth from his associate and the entire American public.
None of us ever imagined in October 2016 that the Trump-Russia probe would become the biggest story of the Trump presidency. At that time, we didn’t even know if Trump would win the 2016 election.
I was truthful and honest with the Mueller team. I explained myself and my heritage, even made it very clear that I was not Russian. I spoke at length about my dealings with Michael Cohen, the Trump Organization, and Donald Trump, and the truth, the whole truth, behind my October 30, 2016, text message to Cohen.
This is why I am so deeply disappointed by what I found in Mueller’s Report. There is almost no doubt in my mind that these were calculated falsehoods meant to insult and discredit me only to show the collusion between Russians and Trump’s inner circle, like Michael Cohen.
Despite all of Prosecutor Rhee’s attempts to make much of my supposed deep connections to Russia, they found no impropriety in my actions and no improper links between Donald Trump, Michael Cohen, me, and Russia.
Mr. Mueller and Mrs. Rhee, falsely identifying an innocent American citizen of Georgian heritage (or any other heritage) as Russian in the Russian Probe, while knowing this would cause irreparable damage to that person’s reputation, was immoral. For you not to know the difference between Georgia and Russia is hard to believe, especially when I was very clear about this during my interview and grand jury testimony. You can prove me wrong just by releasing the transcripts.
Mr. Mueller, if you ever read this book, I have difficult questions for you concerning why my life (and that of my family) needed to be turned upside down, my business reputation damaged, and why your final report needed not just mention me but do so inaccurately and falsely—omitting words from my texts and labeling me as Russian when I am an American who was born in Georgia.
Those are answers that I am still waiting for.
However, Mueller did appear recently before the House Committee on Intelligence. And for me, it was electrifying to watch as Congressman Devin Nunes of California asked Mueller the following pointed question: “An American citizen from the Republic of Georgia who your report misidentifies as a Russian claims that your report omitted parts of a text message he had with Michael Cohen about stopping the flow of compromising tapes of Donald Trump. In the omitted portions he says he didn’t know what the tapes actually showed. Was that portion of the exchange left out of the report for a reason?”
My heart stopped as I waited for Mueller’s response. Here’s what he said (verbatim):
“No. We got an awful lot in the report but we didn’t get every intersection, or conversation, and like, so, I am not familiar with that particular episode you’re talking about.”
Pretty stunning, isn’t it? My life gets turned upside down for two years. I need to cull and review thousands of pages of emails, texts, and other matters, prepare for and be questioned for hours by Mueller’s team, and then am disparaged in a footnote in the Mueller Report, that Mueller says he is “not familiar with.”
So he didn’t prepare the report? He didn’t read it, and ask about those matters he wasn’t familiar with? Was he lying? Obfuscating? Going senile before our eyes?
And again I ask, after spending something like $45 million of taxpayer money on his staff investigation and producing his report, what was accomplished?
Any way you look at it, it is troubling and raises more questions than it answers about why I needed to be dragged into the Mueller investigation and mentioned in the Mueller Report.
—
For Mueller, this case is now closed, while for me, the false accusation made in the report will stay with me and my family throughout my life. As an American citizen and frankly as a human being, I deserve answers from Mueller and his entire team, including Mrs. Rhee.
Mr. Mueller and Mrs. Rhee, I urge you to show your good faith just like I did when I fully cooperated with your investigation. I urge you to ask Attorney General William Barr to issue a retraction to the inaccurate footnote you created (and as my attorney A. Scott Bolden of Reed Smith has asked, in writing, the attorney general to do). That would be the ethical thing to do. That would be the right thing to do.
I am still waiting for their response.
Giorgi Rtskhiladze
New York, NY
August 1, 2019
Appendix A: Letter to Attorney General William Barr
Appendix B: Letter from House Committee on Intelligence
