In 2001, Millian moved to the United States, and in May 2006, he formed the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce in Atlanta. In 2007, he was invited by Donald Trump to attend a horse racing event in Miami. He was subsequently contracted to market Trump Hollywood properties by a brokerage company hired by the Trump Organization and The Related Group. In March 2014, he told Fox News that his Russian-American Chamber of Commerce website was recently hacked.
In March 2016, Millian reached out to Michael Cohen about joining Trump's campaign, highlighting his knowledge of Russian politics and business. In July 2016, he made a similar pitch to George Papadopoulos. Later, he offered to supply Papadopoulos with a "disruptive technology that might be instrumental in political work for the campaign." He attended Donald Trump's presidential inauguration, attending several black-tie events at the inauguration. He has boasted of his contacts with George Papadopoulos, aiding in promotional real estate contracts for Trump, including that he was the "exclusive broker" for Trump properties in Russia, and that Trump introduced him to Michael Cohen. He has also boasted of his contacts with the Russian government, has provided translation services to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and been photographed with Oleg Deripaska and Donald Trump.
Identified as a source for several key Steele dossier allegations
Identity as sub-source
Millian is described in the Steele dossier as a "close associate of Trump", and multiple reliable sources have identified him as Sources D and E in the Steele dossier, who allegedly shared key information to a compatriot, who then shared it with Christopher Steele. They have also identified him as "Person 1" in the Inspector General's report. ABC News reported that a version of the dossier "provided to the FBI included Millian's name as a source".The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal reported that Millian was "both Source D and Source E". Millian has denied these reports. Politico has summed up identifying information, some from the Inspector General's report: The Inspector General's report mentions "Person 1" as a sub-source:
Allegations
Millian, as sources D and E, has been reported as the source behind the following allegations in the dossier: Source D
Alleged he was "present" for Trump's alleged "perverted conduct in Moscow". Glenn R. Simpson, co-founder of Fusion GPS, doubts Millian's claim.
With source F "told quite a lurid story, the now infamous 'golden showers' allegation".
According to the founders of Fusion GPS, seven Russian sources told Steele about the salacious "golden showers" incident at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. According to the dossier, these included Sources D and E and others in "alphabet list of assets". Source E
Source E: "Speaking in confidence to a compatriot...admitted there was a well-developed conspiracy of cooperation between them and the Russian leadership", and that the relationship was managed for Trump by former campaign chairman Paul Manafort."
Source E: alleged "that the Trump campaign and Russia had moles in the Democratic Party; that US-based 'cyber operators' were coordinating attacks on the DNC and Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta; and that these operators were being paid covertly via Russian 'diplomatic staff' in 'key' US cities via that Russia's emigre pension system."
Source E: alleged "that the Russian regime had been behind the recent leak of embarrassing e-mail messages, emanating from the Democratic National Committee, to the WikiLeaks platform." "In return the Trump team had agreed to sideline Russian intervention in Ukraine as a campaign issue and to raise US/NATO defense commitments in the Baltic and Eastern Europe to deflect attention away from Ukraine."
Source E: alleged that "the Trump campaign was 'relatively relaxed' about the attention on Trump's reported ties to Russia 'because it deflected media and the Democrats' attention away from Trump's business dealings in China."
Person 1 The Inspector General's report also describes "Person 1" as the source of allegations in Reports 80, 95, and 102. Report 102 contains some of the following allegations:
... that Putin's interference operation had an "objective of weakening CLINTON and bolstering TRUMP".
... that Page had intended the email leaks "to swing supporters of Bernie SANDERS away from Hillary CLINTON and across to TRUMP."
... that the Trump camp became angry and resentful toward Putin when they realized he not only was aiming to weaken Clinton and bolster Trump, but was attempting to "undermine the US government and democratic system more generally".
Millian has denied these reports.
Mueller investigation interview declined
Millian was contacted multiple times by investigators for the Special Counsel investigation, but their invitations for an interview were declined.
Mistaken report of death
In February 2018, Harvard professor Laurence Tribe alleged on Twitter that Millian was a passenger on a sabotaged Russian airliner. The tweet was deleted after it was shown to be a 4chan hoax.
