Trump Jr met Russian lawyer for damaging Clinton info during 2016 campaign

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US President Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Junior, has acknowledged meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer during his father's 2016 election campaign. The meeting was held after the Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, promised to provide damaging information about Hillary Clinton, the New York Times reported.

The meeting took place at Trump Tower on June 9 last year, two weeks after Trump won the Republican nomination, and was also attended by Trump's then-campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

VCG Photo

The revelation came as multiple investigations are underway into whether Trump's campaign team colluded with Moscow during the presidential election.

This is believed to be the first private meeting between Trump's inner circle and the Russian side, as the New York Times reported.

Trump Jr has acknowledged the meeting in a statement on Sunday, but it was not known whether the Russian lawyer revealed the promised information on Clinton, who was Democratic presidential candidate at the time, though she was expected to do so in the meeting.

"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.

File: Donald Trump Jr. greets the audience after speaking on the second day of the Republican National Convention at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on July 19, 2016. /VCG Photo

"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."

Trump Jr said the lawyer then moved the subject to a suspended program of Americans adopting Russian children.

"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."

The president's son added that he had asked Jared and Paul to attend but told them nothing of the substance.

"The meeting lasted approximately 20 to 30 minutes," he said. "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."

President Trump was "not aware of and did not attend" the meeting, Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Trump's legal team, said in an emailed statement.

Veselnitskaya, for her part, stressed that nothing was discussed about the presidential campaign in the meeting.

"I have never acted on behalf of the Russian government and have never discussed any of these matters with any representative of the Russian government."

Trump Jr's statement came just two days after his father discussed the allegations of election meddling with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the first day of the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, on June 7, 2017. /VCG Photo

The Independent reported citing an official from the White House that Trump had in fact not accepted assurances from Putin that Russia did not meddle in the election. However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a briefing that Trump accepted Putin's assurances.

Putin reiterated to world leaders on the second day of the summit that Russia had never interfered in the 2016 US presidential election.

Before his Hamburg trip, Trump had relayed a mixed message in Poland that Russia could have been among other powers meddling in the election.

"I think it was Russia but I think it was probably other people and or countries..." Trump told reporters.

Trump, in Poland, waives bargaining chip before confronting Putin