But Trump Jr. and other key figures involved in the meeting downplayed the gathering when questioned by Senate investigators. “The meeting provided no meaningful information and turned out to be not about what was represented,” Trump Jr. told the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to recently released transcripts.
“The Crown prosecutor of Russia met with his father Aras this morning and in their meeting offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary [Clinton] and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father,” Goldstone said.
Bradley A. Smith, a former Bill Clinton-appointed Republican Federal Election Commission member, said based on what's known about the meeting, Trump Jr.'s actions are unlikely to be considered illegal solicitation. "It's not illegal to meet with someone to find out what they have to offer," Smith said.
Before Trump Jr. was set to meet with the Russian lawyer as his father campaigned for the presidency, Trump Jr. was told Veselnitskaya’s potentially damning information about Clinton was from the Kremlin, according to emails he released. More on this... Who attended the controversial meeting in Trump Tower?
Donald Trump Jr. met with a Russian lawyer in July 2016 after learning she had damaging information about Hillary Clinton, the Democratic opponent of now-President Trump. But Trump Jr. and other key figures involved in the meeting downplayed the gathering when questioned by Senate investigators.
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort also attended the meeting, along with a translator. Rob Goldstone, a music publicist who set up the meeting, was also in attendance, as well as Rinat Akhmetshin, a prominent Russian-American lobbyist, Ike Kaveladze, a business associate of a Moscow-based developer ...
Trump Tower meeting transcripts released. Trump Jr. has maintained that Veselnitskaya did not have any information to share and instead wanted to discuss other matters, such as the Magnitsky Act which enacts sanctions on certain Russian officials as punishment for human rights violations.