- Title: Trump's son defends meeting with Kremlin-linked lawyer during campaign
- Date: 10th July 2017
- Summary: CLEVELAND, OHIO, UNITED STATES (FILE - JULY 20, 2016) (REUTERS) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE DONALD TRUMP WALKING WITH VICE PRESIDENTIAL RUNNING MATE MIKE PENCE / TRUMP'S FAMILY WALKING BEHIND HIM: (LEFT TO RIGHT) SON-IN-LAW JARED KUSHNER, SON ERIC TRUMP, DAUGHTER IVANKA TRUMP, DAUGHTER TIFFANY TRUMP, AND SON DONALD TRUMP JR.
- Embargoed: 24th July 2017 15:00
- Keywords: Donald Trump Jr. Trump campaign Twitter
- Location: INTERNET / CLEVELAND, OHIO, UNITED STATES
- City: INTERNET / CLEVELAND, OHIO, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0036P4XXL3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: MORE FILE VIDEO IN EDIT 7141
President Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., defended his meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer on Monday (July 10), one day after a New York Times report said he had agreed to meet with her during the 2016 election campaign after being promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton, citing three advisers to the White House.
"Obviously I'm the first person on a campaign to ever take a meeting to hear info about an opponent...went nowhere but had to listen," Trump Jr. said on Twitter.
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 Trump won the Republican nomination, the Times reported.
In a statement quoted by the Times and later made available to Reuters and other media outlets, 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. 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."
Trump Jr. said Veselnitskaya then turned the conversation to the adoption of Russian children and a U.S. law blackisting Russians linked to alleged human-rights abuses.
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. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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