Trump junior’s Russian liaison

US President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr, agreed to meet with a Kremlin-linked lawyer during the 2016 election campaign after being promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton, the New York Times has reported, citing three advisers to the White House.

Mr Trump’s then-campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also attended the meeting at Trump Tower on June 9, 2016, two weeks after Mr Trump won the Republican nomination, the Times reported.

In a statement quoted by the Times, Donald Trump Jr acknowledged meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya.

“After pleasantries were exchanged, the woman stated that she had information that individuals connected to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee and supporting Ms Clinton,” the statement said. Ms Clinton was the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee.

“Her statements were vague, ambiguous and made no sense. No details or supporting information was provided or even offered. It quickly became clear that she had no meaningful information.”

Mr Trump Jr said Ms Veselnitskaya then turned the conversation to the adoption of Russian children and a US law blacklisting Russians linked to alleged human rights abuses.

Mr Trump was “not aware of and did not attend” the meeting, Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Mr Trump’s legal team, said in an emailed statement.

Mr Trump Jr said he was asked to attend the meeting “with an individual who I was told might have information helpful to the campaign” at the request of an acquaintance he knew from the 2013 Miss Universe pageant.

“I asked Jared and Paul to attend, but told them nothing of the substance,” he said.

“The meeting lasted approximately 20 to 30 minutes,” he said. “As it ended, my acquaintance apologised for taking up our time. That was the end of it and there was no further contact or follow-up of any kind. My father knew nothing of the meeting or these events.”

The New York Times report said Mr Trump Jr was promised damaging information about Ms Clinton before agreeing to meet with the lawyer.

It cited three advisers to the White House briefed on the meeting and two others with knowledge of it.