Kushner, Manafort, Trump Jr. Attended Meeting for ‘Helpful Information’ to Trump Campaign
Donald Trump Jr. met with a Russian lawyer “after being promised damaging information†on Hillary Clinton, The New York Times reported Sunday.
The news follows their initial report Saturday that former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner, and Donald Trump Jr. met with Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Kremlin-linked lawyer two weeks after Donald Trump was named the Republican presidential candidate.
In his original statement yesterday, Donald Trump Jr. confirmed the “short introductory meeting,†advising that he “asked Jared and Paul to stop by.†The president’s son advised the meeting was to discuss a “program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago.â€
The original, much shorter statement can be seen below:
Donald Trump Jr. released a new statement today, however, confirming the additional NYT reporting:
“I was asked to have a meeting by an acquaintance I knew from the 2013 Miss Universe pageant with an individual who I was told might have information helpful to the campaign. I was not told her name prior to the meeting. I asked Jared and Paul to attend, but told them nothing of the substance. We had a meeting in June 2016. 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. 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. She then changed subjects and began discussing the adoption of Russian children and mentioned the Magnitsky Act. It became clear to me that this was the true agenda all along and that the claims of potentially helpful information were a pretext for the meeting. I interrupted and advised her that my father was not an elected official, but rather a private citizen, and that her comments and concerns were better addressed if and when he held public office. The meeting lasted approximately 20 to 30 minutes. As it ended, my acquaintance apologized 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.â€
Of note, the White House’s Chief of Staff today suggested that the meeting had been arranged by Democratic operatives.
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