Jul 9, 2017 - Politics & Policy

Trump Jr. met with Russian lawyer for "damaging" Clinton info

Saul Loeb / AP

Donald Trump Jr. has acknowledged that he met with a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin in June, 2016, accompanied by Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort. Now the New York Times reports he did so after he was promised "damaging" information about Hillary Clinton.

The new evidence was revealed to NYT by three White House advisers who were briefed on the meeting and two others who knew about it. Trump Jr. previously said the meeting centered on adoption.

Why it matters: If the report is true, this is evidence that a Trump associate was willing to accept help from Russia in influencing the U.S. election

The "damaging" info, according to Trump Jr.'s statement: "[T]he woman stated that she had information that individuals connected to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee and supporting Ms. Clinton. Her statements were vague, ambiguous and made no sense. No details or supporting information was provided or even offered. It quickly became clear that she had no meaningful information."

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