CNN's Chris Cuomo systematically destroys Russia-linked lawyer's Trump Jr. denials

The lawyer for Russian pop star Emin Agalarov on Wednesday tried to deny his client's ties to the Russian government, only to be backed into a corner by CNN's Chris Cuomo.

Agalarov's publicist, Rob Goldstone, mentioned in his email exchange with Donald Trump Jr. a phone call between the pop star and Trump Jr. regarding Russian government information. But on Wednesday, Agalarov's lawyer Scott Balber insisted to Cuomo that the phone call "didn't happen."

"So Mr. Goldstone, who is the publicist for your client, was wrong when he suggested that Donald Trump Jr. had spoken with your client?" Cuomo asked. "And he was wrong when he said, 'The crown prosecutor of Russia met with his' — Emin's — 'father this morning, and in their meeting, offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary [Clinton]?'"

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Cuomo concluded that if that were really all false, as Balber claimed it to be, "that is some doozy of a lie." "That's a lot of information and specificity just to pitch a meeting, is it not?" Cuomo asked.

Balber continued to deny that any such meeting happened between Agalarov's father and Russian officials, prompting Cuomo to pull out the big guns. "When did your client fire Mr. Goldstone?" Cuomo asked. "I don't know that he fired Mr. Goldstone," Balber responded. "The man told a lie like this about your client and he didn't fire him as his publicist?" Cuomo fired back.

Watch Balber try to respond to that question below. Becca Stanek