Oct 9, 2017

New email raises questions about Trump Jr. meeting

Alayna Treene

Donald Trump Jr. walks from the elevator at Trump Tower, in New York. Photo: Carolyn Kaster / AP

A newly disclosed email sent by the Russian lawyer who met with Donald Trump Jr. at Trump Tower in June 2016 may offer evidence to support her claims that she met with Trump Jr. solely to discuss the Magnitsky Act, per the Washington Post.

What they're saying: An American lawyer representing Aras Agalarov, the Russian billionaire who hosted the Trump-owned Miss Universe pageant in Moscow in 2013 and helped secure the Trump Tower meeting, says the email is proof his clients never offered damaging information about Hillary Clinton. However previously disclosed emails show Trump Jr. was told by an intermediary that the meeting was part of the Russian government's efforts to help his father win, to which he replied, "I love it."

Details of the email:

  • Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer, sent the note to Rob Goldstone, a music publicist who helped arrange the Trump Tower meeting, asking if she could bring a "lobbyist and trusted associate" — Rinat Akhmetshin — who "is working to advance these issues with several congressmen," she wrote. "He has invaluable knowledge about the positions held by the members of the Foreign Relations Committee that will be important to our discussion."
  • At the time, Veselnitskaya was preparing to testify before the Foreign Relations Committee about the Magnitsky Act, which she has been working to overturn.
  • It was Goldstone who contacted Trump Jr. about the meeting, and said it would include dirt on Clinton.

Go deeper: Untangling the web of Trump Jr.'s Russia meeting; What to know about the Trump Jr. email saga.

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