Michael Cohen, an attorney and executive vice president for the Trump Organization, in January 2016 asked Russian President Vladimir Putin's aide for help on a business deal, The Washington Post reported Monday.
Trump was pursuing a deal to build a huge Trump Tower in Moscow, and Cohen had reached out to Dmitry Peskov for help in proceeding with the stalled project.
"Over the past few months I have been working with a company based in Russia regarding the development of a Trump Tower – Moscow project in Moscow City," Cohen wrote Peskov. "Without getting into lengthy specifics the communication between our two sides has stalled."
"As this project is too important, I am hereby requesting your assistance. I respectfully request someone, preferably you, contact me so that I might discuss the specifics as well as arranging meetings with the appropriate individuals. I thank you in advance for your assistance and look forward to hearing from you soon," Cohen added.
The Post on Sunday first reported of the Trump Organization's pursuit of a deal in Moscow as Trump ran for president, and the new details come amid the ongoing investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into possible collusion between members of Trump's team and Russia.
Cohen's email is the most direct interaction between a Trump aide and a senior member of Putin's government.
The project never came to fruition and was abandoned two weeks after Cohen sent the email.
"The Trump Tower Moscow proposal was not related in any way to Mr. Trump's presidential campaign," Cohen wrote in his statement to congressional investigators, according to the Post. "The decision to pursue the proposal initially, and later to abandon it were unrelated to the Donald J. Trump for President Campaign."