On Monday, a GOP member of the United States Senate investigative panel on the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election urged the panel to interview President Donald Trump’s oldest son. Trump Jr. admitted meeting a Russian lawyer during the period of the campaign. According to the New York Daily News, Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, the son-in-law to President Trump and Paul Manafort, the chairman of the campaign were in attendance at the meeting which took place at the New York's Trump Tower in June 2016.
Trump Jr.'s meeting with the Russian lawyer
Trump Jr. said he accepted to meet with a lawyer who was described as having connections with the Kremlin after he was promised harmful information about Hillary Clinton, the then Presidential Candidate of the Democratic Party. This was the first confirmed personal meeting between Donald Trump's inner circle members and a Russian citizen, the Times said. Congressional panels and also special counsel Robert Mueller will probe whether Russia meddled in the 2016 US presidential election and colluded with the campaign.
On Monday, both the Senate and the House Intelligence panels refused to comment about whether the younger Trump would be invited to give his testimony about the Russia saga.
Alleged Russian interference in the US election
Allegations of Russian connection with the Trump campaign continue to mount and have cast down on the sincerity of the Trump administration since he assumed office about five months ago.
Rob Goldstone, public relations specialist, admitted that Agalarov had asked him to facilitate a meeting with a Russian lawyer who allegedly had information about illegal campaign funds for the Democratic National Committee.
According to Goldstone, Veselnitskaya's lawyer opened the meeting with Trump Jr. with a few comments on campaign contributions before going over to the issue of US ban on Russian children adoption, in which Trump stopped the meeting, the New York Daily News reported.
Senator Susan Collins said the intelligence committee needs to question the younger Trump to find out exactly the motive for the meeting and to examine how that relates with the alleged Russian meddling in the US election.
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson said on Monday that Moscow did have details or the identity of the alleged Russian lawyer named in the report.
The publicist who made the arrangement for the meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and the lawyer last year said he did so upon the request by Emin Agalarov, a Russian-based businessman, who was his client.
