Despite claims by the Russian lawyer that she acted independently when met with Donald Trump, Jr., in Trump Tower in 2016 to peddle dirt on Hillary Clinton, she reportedly discussed the potentially damaging information with Russia's prosecutor general Yuri Y. Chaika.
The meeting between Natalia V. Veselnitskaya and the younger Trump, as well as, Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, and former Trump Campaign Manager Paul J. Manafort, has been a target of scrutiny by investigators probing Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election and allegations of collusion between Trump's team and Russian operative.
A memo brought to the meeting by Veselnitskaya contained language similar – in some instances verbatim – to that found in a “confidential” document Chaika's office passed to pro-Russia Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, the New York Times reported.
“To the extent they had information concerning the fitness, character or qualifications of a presidential candidate, I believed that I should at least hear them out,” Trump said in his prepared remarks to Senate Judiciary Committee in September. “Depending on what, if any, information they had, I could then consult with counsel to make an informed decision as to whether to give it further consideration.”
The president's son, who has insisted he didn't collude with the Russians, told lawmakers that “the meeting provided no meaningful information and turned out not to be about what had been represented.”
