Russian lawyer ‘said she had Clinton dirt’
British PR agent claims he set up meeting between president’s son and Moscow attorney
A British publicist has claimed to be the go-between for Donald Trump’s son and a Russian lawyer, amid mounting concern over possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow. Donald Trump Jr, the eldest son of the president, met Natalia Veselnitskaya on June 9 2016 at Trump Tower after she claimed she had damaging material about Hillary Clinton.
A BRITISH publicist has claimed to be the go-between for Donald Trump’s son and a Russian lawyer, amid mounting concern over possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow.
Donald Trump Jr, the eldest son of the president, met with Natalia Veselnitskaya on June 9 2016 at Trump Tower after she claimed she had damaging material about Hillary Clinton.
The encounter was set up by Rob Goldstone, a New York-based former journalist, whose PR firm describes the Manchester-born executive as having represented Michael Jackson and Sir Richard Branson. Mr Trump Jr said that the meeting did not provide any information about Mrs Clinton and that he was lured there under false pretences.
Ms Veselnitskaya, who is married to a Moscow government official, has denied that she works for the Kremlin.
“I was asked by my client in Moscow – Emin Agalarov – to help facilitate a meeting between a Russian attorney (Natalia Veselnitzkaya) and Donald Trump Jr,” said Mr Goldstone, in a statement. “The lawyer had apparently stated she had some information regarding illegal campaign contributions to the DNC (Democratic National Committee) which she believed Mr Trump Jr might find important. I reached out to Mr Trump Jr and he agreed to squeeze us into a very tight meeting schedule.
“At the meeting, the Russian attorney presented a few very general remarks regarding campaign funding and then quickly turned the topic to that of the Magnitsky Act and the banned US adoption of Russian children – at which point the meeting was halted by Mr Trump Jr and we left. Nothing came of that meeting and there was no follow-up between the parties.”
Mr Trump Jr issued two statements about the meeting, when approached by The New York Times. First, he said it was an encounter to discuss adoption. Then he admitted that he hoped the Russian lawyer would provide damaging material on his father’s rival.
“Obviously, I’m the first person on a campaign to ever take a meeting or hear info about an opponent,” he tweeted yesterday. “Went nowhere but had to listen.” Mr Trump Jr last night tweeted that he would be happy to work with the Senate intelligence committee investigating the Russian hack of the election, and “pass on what I know”.
He has been urged to testify by Susan Collins, a Republican member of the panel which is looking into accusations of Russian meddling in the election. Mr
‘The lawyer had apparently stated she had information she believed Mr Trump Jr might find important’
Trump Jr has hired a lawyer to represent him in Russia-related investigations, his office and the lawyer said yesterday. Alan Futerfas, his New York lawyer, who specialises in criminal defence, would not say when he was retained or whether he played any part in the statements Mr Trump Jr made over the weekend about the meeting.
Senator Mark Warner, the top Demo- crat on the Senate intelligence committee, said he “absolutely, absolutely” wanted to speak to Mr Trump Jr, about the meeting and anyone else involved with it.
Mr Warner said: “This is the first time that the public has seen clear evidence of senior level members of the Trump campaign meeting with Russians.” Sarah Sanders, a White House spokesman, last night said President Trump only learned about the meeting in the “last couple of days”. She was not aware if Donald Trump Jr had had other meetings with Russians.
“The only thing I see inappropriate about the meeting was the people that leaked the information,” she said.
The president was also yesterday trying to deflect criticism of his daughter, Ivanka, after she sat in his chair during a meeting at the G20 attended by Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. Mr Trump described having his daughter take his place as “standard”.
Mr Trump was also forced to back away from a plan to work with Russia on a cyber security unit, after the suggestion was met with widespread ridicule in Washington. Lindsey Graham, a member of the Senate’s armed services committee, said the idea was “not the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard, but it’s pretty close”. Mr Trump said: “The fact that President Putin and I discussed a cyber security unit doesn’t mean I think it can happen.”