Did the Russians give the Trumps more documents than Donald Jr. let on?

(Image credit: David Becker/Getty Images)

published 14 July 2017

Russian-American lobbyist Rinat Akhmetshin, who was identified Friday as having attended the June 2016 meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and Kremlin-linked lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, claims Trump Jr. was possibly left with documents that allegedly proved incriminating rumors about Hillary Clinton, The Associated Press reports. Trump Jr. has claimed that while he sought information from Veselnitskaya, what she offered in the meeting was not fruitful.

During the meeting, Akhmetshin said Veselnitskaya brought with her a plastic folder with printed-out documents that detailed what she believed was the flow of illicit funds to the Democratic National Committee. Veselnitskaya presented the contents of the documents to the Trump associates and suggested that making the information public could help the Trump campaign, he said.[…] Akhmetshin said he does not know if Veselnitskaya's documents were provided by the Russian government. He said he thinks she left the materials with the Trump associates. It was unclear if she handed the documents to anyone in the room or simply left them behind, he said. [The Associated Press]

Akhmetshin claims Trump Jr. lost interest in Veselnitskaya when she was unable to provide solid evidence. Akhmetshin added that the mounting scandal surrounding Trump Jr.'s meeting has taken him by surprise. "I never thought this would be such a big deal to be honest," he told AP.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.