Donald Trump

Russian Lawyer Who Met Trump Jr. Denies Having Clinton Info

The Russian lawyer who met with President Donald Trump's eldest son during the campaign exclusively told NBC News Tuesday that she does not have any connection to the Kremlin and insists she was not at the meeting to hand over information about Hillary Clinton and her campaign.

"It is quite possible that maybe they were longing for such information. They wanted it so badly that they could only hear the thought that they wanted," Natalia Veselnitskaya said, when asked how Trump Jr. had the impression she had information about the Democratic National Committee.

Donald Trump Jr. has acknowledged he was promised information about Hillary Clinton that might be helpful to his father’s presidential campaign in a meeting with a Russian lawyer. The lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, gave “no meaningful information,” Trump Jr. said, adding that his father, President Donald Trump, had no knowledge of the meeting.

The interview comes after a report in The New York Times that Trump Jr. was told in an email that Veselnitskaya had information that was part of a Russian government effort to help Donald Trump's push for the presidency.

Trump Jr. confirmed the meeting occurred, giving a statement to the Times saying it was "a short introductory meeting" with the lawyer that primarily covered adoption.

Veselnitskaya told NBC News she was pressing a client's interest in ending the Magnitsky Act, which imposed sanctions on Russian officials accused of human rights violations and led to Russian President Vladimir Putin ending American adoption of Russian kids.

Contact Us