Donald Trump Jr. Donald Trump’s eldest son and campaign adviser Why was he in the meeting? Rob Goldstone, a music promoter, requested that Trump Jr. take the meeting so he could hear “very high level and sensitive information” that was “part of Russia and its government’s support” for his father’s campaign. Background: As an executive in his father’s company, Donald Trump Jr. traveled back and forth to Russia for years, attempting to broker a deal for a Trump Tower in Moscow. In 2008, he told an audience at a real estate conference that Russians “made up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets.” At the time of the 2016 meeting, Trump Jr.’s role as an informal adviser in his father’s campaign was expanding.

Jared Kushner Donald Trump’s son-in-law and campaign adviser Why was he in the meeting? Donald Trump Jr., the candidate’s son, asked him to attend. The Russian lawyer told NBC that he attended only briefly and left before the meeting ended. Background: In a White House that has viewed politics as a family business, Kushner—who is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka--has emerged as the president’s most important adviser and confidant. At the time of the campaign, he was a top adviser but remained in charge of his own family’s real estate business, searching for new investors for key projects. After Trump’s election, Kushner met with the Russian ambassador and a Russian banker, both meetings he did not at first disclose.

Paul Manafort Campaign adviser Why was he in the meeting? Donald Trump Jr., the candidate’s son, asked him to attend. The Russian lawyer has said he stared at his phone throughout the meeting. Background: A globe-trotting political consultant whose previous clients included dictators and a Russia-friendly political party in Ukraine, Manafort was hired to bring discipline and professionalism to the Trump campaign in April 2016. At the time of the meeting, he was locked in a bitter internal dispute with Corey Lewandowski, then the campaign manager. Eleven days after the meeting, on the advice of his adult children, Trump fired Lewandowski and named Manafort chairman of his campaign.

Natalia Veselnitskaya Russian lawyer Why was she in the meeting? Somewhat in dispute. Emails show that Rob Goldstone asked Donald Trump Jr. to meet with her after his Russian pop star client Emin Agalarov’s father Aras met with a prosecutor in Russia who had information to transmit to the campaign and asked that Trump Jr. meet with a “Russian government lawyer.” A lawyer for the Agalarovs says he never met with the prosecutor but interceded after Veselnitskaya asked for help securing the meeting. She has said she was not acting on the Russian government’s behalf. Background: Veselnitskaya began her career as a prosecutor in the Moscow region before going into private practice, where her clients include prominent Russians like Russian businessman Denis Katsyv. Her ex-husband was a government official. She has told the Wall Street Journal that she is friendly with Russia’s top prosecutor and exchanged information with him prior to the meeting but insisted she was no government envoy.

Rob Goldstone Music publicist Why was he in the meeting? His client, the Russian pop star Emin Agalarov, asked him to set up the meeting. Background: As Emin Agalarov’s publicist, Goldstone was intimately involved in bringing Miss Universe to Moscow in 2013. He attended a meeting with Trump and the Agalarovs in Las Vegas in 2013 and later attended the pageant.

Anatoli Samochornov Translator Why was he in the meeting? He has worked before with Veselnitskaya, who does not speak English, and accompanied her to serve as her translator. Background: He has previously worked for the U.S. State Department and has worked for other groups in the New York area to translate Russian.

Rinat Akhmetshin Russian-American lobbyist Why was he in the meeting? In an interview, he said he was having lunch with Veselnitskaya a few blocks from Trump Tower when she started telling him about the meeting and asked his advice about what she should say. “She said, ‘Why don’t you come with me?’” he recalled. Background: He is a veteran of the Soviet army, where he served in a unit whose responsibilities included counterintelligence. He denies any ties to the Russian government or intelligence services. He was hired by Veselnitskaya to launch a U.S. lobbying effort to lift the Magnitsky Act sanctions and he had conducted meetings on Capitol Hill about the topic. He is known as a wily political operator whose tactics have included sullying the reputations of his client’s enemies.