Information brought to Trump Jr. at 2016 meeting had Kremlin ties

Donald Trump Jr.
(Image credit: David Becker/Getty Images)

Information brought by a Russian lawyer to a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and then-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort had been previously discussed with the prosecutor general of Russia, Yuri Chaika, The New York Times reported Friday. The lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, reportedly used points from a memo Chaika's office had given to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) and Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) in April 2016 that allegedly tied two of Hillary Clinton's donors to the evasion of millions in Russian taxes.

Veselnitskaya had touted having compromising intelligence on Clinton — Trump Jr. agreed to setting up the meeting with an email that enthused "I love it" — but Trump's allies were ultimately unimpressed by Veselnitskaya's attempt to portray some of Clinton's campaign donations as "stolen" Russian money.

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Jeva Lange

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.