--- title: Here Are Some Key Players in the Mueller Investigation description: Court filings from prosecutors provide some clues to the major players likely to be named in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report. canonical: https://time.com/5557238/mueller-report-key-players/ author: Abigail Abrams article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-03-23T15:20:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T11:55:17.481Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here Are Some Key Players in the Mueller Investigation og:description: Names that you'll hear in the coming days. og:url: https://time.com/5557238/mueller-report-key-players/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf308ea86d472c4a6/69894738929fad061ebf2ec3/robert-mueller.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller Briefs Senate Intel Committee On Capitol Hill og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here Are Some Key Players in the Mueller Investigation twitter:description: Names that you'll hear in the coming days. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf308ea86d472c4a6/69894738929fad061ebf2ec3/robert-mueller.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here Are Some Key Players in the Mueller Investigation > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=483a886a-f20e-4a7f-9633-c7022b4793f6&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Mar 23, 2019 3:20 PM UTC  Special counsel Robert Mueller (2nd L) leaves after a closed meeting with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee June 21, 2017 at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Special counsel Robert Mueller (2nd L) leaves after a closed meeting with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee June 21, 2017 at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Alex Wong—Getty Images by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Mar 23, 2019 3:20 PM UTC After nearly two years, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation came to a close as he [delivered his final report](http://time.com/5557315/mueller-report-trump/) to Attorney General [William Barr](http://time.com/5557096/william-barr-mueller-report/) on Friday. While the public has not yet seen the report, court filings from the special counsel’s team provide some clues to the major players likely to be named in it. That includes some of President Donald Trump’s top advisers and members of his campaign, a rogue’s gallery of Russian hackers and spies and various people who played bit parts in the drama. Below is a closer look at some of the names you may hear in the coming days and weeks. ## The Key Players ## **Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign chairman** A longtime Republican consultant, Manafort later went into working overseas and lobbying for foreign political figures in the U.S. before serving as Trump’s campaign chairman. During the campaign, he joined Trump’s son, Donald Jr., and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in a meeting in Trump Tower with a Kremlin-connected lawyer who promised dirt on Hillary Clinton. He also shared valuable campaign polling data with a former business associate, Konstantin Kilimnik, who the FBI believes has ties to Russian intelligence. In 2018, Manafort was [convicted](http://time.com/5369058/paul-manafort-trial-verdict/) of hiding income he earned representing a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine and [sentenced](http://time.com/5547607/paul-manafort-sentencing-donald-trump/) to seven and a half years in prison for that and other charges. ## **Rick Gates, Manafort’s deputy** Gates, Manafort’s right hand man at his lobbying business, played a similar role in the Trump campaign and went on to work on the inauguration. He was [indicted with Manafort](http://time.com/5002847/rick-gates-paul-manafort/) in October 2017 and later struck a deal to [cooperate](http://time.com/5359385/rick-gates-paul-manafort-trial-witness-flip/) with the special counsel’s office. ## **Konstantin Kilimnik, Manafort’s Russian employee** A Russian political consultant, Kilimnik worked for Manafort in his lobbying firm, where he was sometimes described as “Manafort’s Manafort.” Along with sharing the polling data, he and Manafort also discussed a Ukrainian peace plan, according to a court filing. Mueller’s office [charged Kilimnik](http://time.com/5306563/robert-mueller-indicts-konstantin-kilimnik-and-hits-paul-manafort-with-another-charge/) with attempting witness tampering, but no trial has been set. ## **Roger Stone, Trump’s longtime confidant** A longtime Republican operative and [Trump confidant](http://time.com/5513039/who-is-roger-stone-trump-adviser-arrested/), Stone was charged for lying to Congress about his communications with WikiLeaks, which released Democratic and Clinton campaign emails stolen by the Russians, and for witness tampering. He has pleaded not guilty and his trial is set to begin in November. ## **Michael Flynn, Trump’s national security advisor** Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general and former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, advised Trump on national security issues during the campaign, worked on the transition and served as national security advisor in the White House. He [resigned](http://time.com/4670208/michael-flynn-resignation-trump-white-house/) in February 2017 after misleading Vice President Mike Pence about conversations he had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition. FBI Director James Comey testified before Congress that Trump asked him to end an investigation into Flynn. In December of 2017, Flynn [pleaded guilty](http://time.com/5012230/who-is-michael-flynn/) to lying to investigators and began [cooperating](http://time.com/5470935/michael-flynn-robert-mueller-donald-trump-russia/) with Mueller’s team. ## **Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney** Cohen, Trump’s former longtime personal lawyer and self-described fixer, [pleaded guilty](http://time.com/5373301/michael-cohen-plea-deal/) to lying to Congress about his efforts to secure a Trump Tower deal in Moscow during the 2016 campaign. In a separate investigation, he was [sentenced](http://time.com/5477719/michael-cohen-sentenced-prison/) to three years in prison for making [hush money](http://time.com/5373301/michael-cohen-plea-deal/) payments during the campaign. He made a host of [explosive claims](http://time.com/5540496/michael-cohen-testimony-claims/) in testimony to Congress in February, including that Trump often lied about the value of his business holdings, that he knew Clinton’s emails would be leaked ahead of time and that he spoke with Cohen about hush money payments to a porn star. ## Trump’s Family ## **Donald Trump Jr., Trump’s oldest son** Trump’s oldest son is running the family businesses — along with his younger brother Eric — while Trump is in the White House. Trump Jr. was a key player behind the infamous Trump Tower meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer in June of 2016\. He also issued a misleading statement to the New York _Times_ about the meeting which turned out to have been personally dictated by the president while returning from a trip to Germany on Air Force One. Trump Jr. also later revealed that he had communicated [privately with WikiLeaks](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/us/politics/donald-trump-jr-wikileaks-emails-democrats.html) during the campaign. In addition, Cohen testified that he told the eldest Trump son about his work to develop the Trump Tower in Moscow. ## **Ivanka Trump, Trump’s daughter** Trump’s oldest daughter, who now holds a post in his Administration, was also briefed on the Moscow tower development, according to Cohen’s testimony. During the campaign, she was also contacted by the [wife of a Russian athlete](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/anthonycormier/ivanka-trump-putin-moscow-meeting-michael-cohen-tower) who wanted to help develop a separate Trump property in Moscow, according to a report in BuzzFeed. ## **Jared Kushner, Ivanka’s husband** Ivanka’s husband, Kushner served on the campaign and now works in the White House. He had several Russian contacts during and after the campaign. Most notably, Kushner was present at the 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Trump Jr. and Manafort. He was also sent emails about efforts to set up back-channel discussions with Russians and about Trump Jr.’s contacts with WikiLeaks — both of which he [failed to provide](https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/%5Fcache/files/6/d/6d69f200-c605-4424-87ac-7158b8ea161d/939EC01CF7731069B466775F920174C9.kushner-letter.pdf) to Senate investigators. ## **The Russians** ## **Sergey Kislyak, the ambassador** The former Russian ambassador to the U.S., Kislyak had several notable meetings with Trump associates. Flynn, the national security advisor, was fired after it came out that he had not disclosed meetings with Kislyak. Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from overseeing the Russia investigation after it came out that he had not disclosed meetings with Kislyak in his Senate confirmation hearings. And Kislyak and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with Trump in the Oval Office less than a day after Trump fired Comey. He [returned to Russia](https://www.cnn.com/2017/07/23/politics/kislyak-russia/index.html) in the summer of 2017. ## **Aras Agalarov, the real estate tycoon** A Russian [real estate tycoon](http://time.com/magazine/south-pacific/5402056/september-20th-2018-vol-192-no-13-u-s/) who partnered with Trump to host the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow in 2013\. He kicked off the 2016 [Trump Tower meeting](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/11/us/politics/trump-russia-email-clinton.html?module=inline) after learning that Russia wanted to give the Trump campaign dirt on Clinton. ## Emin Agalar**ov, his son** The son of the developer and a [Russian pop star,](http://time.com/5322907/the-russian-pop-star-who-played-a-role-in-the-trump-tower-meeting-has-a-music-video-about-it/) the younger Agalarov helped set up the Trump Tower meeting. ## **Natalia Veselnitskaya, the lawyer** A Kremlin-connected [lawyer](http://time.com/4851321/donald-trump-jr-russian-lawyer-natalia-veselnitskaya/), Veselnitskaya was at the [Trump Tower meeting](http://time.com/5358931/trump-tower-meeting-claims/) and was the person Trump Jr. was told could have damaging information about Clinton. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5557238/mueller-report-key-players/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5557238/mueller-report-key-players/"},"headline":"Here Are Some Key Players in the Mueller Investigation","datePublished":"2019-03-23T15:20:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T11:55:17.481Z","description":"Court filings from prosecutors provide some clues to the major players likely to be named in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report.","url":"https://time.com/5557238/mueller-report-key-players/","keywords":["Robert Mueller","russia","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf308ea86d472c4a6/69894738929fad061ebf2ec3/robert-mueller.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abigail Abrams","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf308ea86d472c4a6/69894738929fad061ebf2ec3/robert-mueller.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller Briefs Senate Intel Committee On Capitol Hill","caption":"Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller Briefs Senate Intel Committee On Capitol Hill","creditText":"Alex Wong—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/robert-mueller/","name":"Robert Mueller"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5557238/mueller-report-key-players/","name":"Here Are Some Key Players in the Mueller Investigation"}}]}] ```