Trump Jr. asked Russian lawyer for evidence of illegal Clinton Foundation donations: report

During a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower, Donald Trump Jr. asked Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya for evidence of illegal donations to the Clinton Foundation, according to a new report.

NBC News reports that Veselnitskaya told the Senate Judiciary Committee about Trump Jr.’s request. She told the committee in written answers to questions that she had no evidence of illegal donations and that when she told Trump Jr. that, he became uninterested in the meeting.

“Today, I understand why it took place to begin with and why it ended so quickly with a feeling of mutual disappointment and time wasted,” Veselnitskaya wrote, according to NBC News. “The answer lies in the roguish letters of Mr. Goldstone.”

{mosads}Rob Goldstone, a British music producer, arranged the meeting between Veselnitskaya on behalf of Emin Agalarov and promised Trump Jr. damaging information on then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

The meeting was also attended by former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

In his emails to Trump Jr., Goldstone referred to Veselnitskaya as a “Russian government lawyer” who had damaging info on Clinton as “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”

“If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer,” Trump Jr. replied to Goldstone in one email.

But Veselnitskaya told the Senate Judiciary Committee that she did not work for the Russian government and was only meeting with Trump Jr. to look at the circumstances around Russians sanctions under the Magnitsky Act, according to NBC News.

The network reports that her written answers also say the meeting included no discussion of any Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

The meeting was also attended by former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating the meeting. In July, Mueller requested White House staff save all documents and communications related to the meeting. Grand jury subpoenas related to the Trump Tower meeting were reportedly issued in August.