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Trump Jr meeting: Russia lobbyist confirms attendance Trump Jr meeting: Russia lobbyist confirms attendance
(35 minutes later)
A former Soviet counter-intelligence official attended a meeting last year with senior aides to President Donald Trump and his son, it has emerged.A former Soviet counter-intelligence official attended a meeting last year with senior aides to President Donald Trump and his son, it has emerged.
Rinat Akhmetshin, now a lobbyist, told AP news agency he was present at the encounter in Trump Tower.Rinat Akhmetshin, now a lobbyist, told AP news agency he was present at the encounter in Trump Tower.
Donald Trump Jr was promised damaging material on Hillary Clinton at the meeting, his emails show.Donald Trump Jr was promised damaging material on Hillary Clinton at the meeting, his emails show.
Mr Trump Jr has only previously acknowledged that a Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, was present.Mr Trump Jr has only previously acknowledged that a Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, was present.
The president's eldest son has played down the 9 June 2016 meeting since it was reported this week.The president's eldest son has played down the 9 June 2016 meeting since it was reported this week.
But a congressional panel investigating claims that Russia meddled in last year's US election, in a bid to help Donald Trump, has asked the president's son to publicly testify. But the Senate Judiciary Committee has asked the president's son to publicly testify.
Emails show Mr Trump Jr, together with the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and campaign chairman Paul Manafort, met Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, who had reported ties to the Russian government, on 9 June 2016. It is one of several congressional panels that - along with federal investigators - is looking into claims that Russia meddled in last year's US election in a bid to help Donald Trump.
The records revealed the encounter was arranged under the premise that Ms Veselnitskaya would share damaging information about Mrs Clinton, Mr Trump's Democratic party rival for the White House. Also present at the Trump Tower meeting were the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Mr Trump Jr said it later became apparent that Ms Veselnitskaya wanted to discuss a suspended programme for Americans to adopt Russian children. During a news conference in Paris on Thursday, Mr Trump defended his son, saying he was merely attempting to collect opposition research and that "most people would have taken that meeting".
Since he was elected, President Trump has been dogged by allegations that Russia tried to sabotage Mrs Clinton's campaign to help him win. "Zero happened," Mr Trump said.
He has rejected any knowledge of this and Russia has also repeatedly denied interfering. Who is Rinat Akhmetshin?
During a news conference in Paris, Mr Trump defended his son, saying he was merely attempting to collect opposition research and that "most people would have taken that meeting". Mr Akhmetshin told the AP he served in a Soviet military unit that was part of counterintelligence, but was never formally trained as a spy.
"Nothing happened from the meeting. Zero happened," Mr Trump insisted. In court papers filed with the US District Court in Washington DC, a mining company accused him of organising a hack on the company's private records as part of an alleged smear campaign.
What do we know about Rinat Akhmetshin? International Mineral Resources (IMR) hired a private investigator to follow Mr Akhmetshin to London.
He told the AP he served in a Soviet military unit that was part of counterintelligence, but was never formally trained as a spy. The Russian-American was overheard bragging about arranging the cyber-attack on IMR's computer system, according to court documents.
But in court papers filed with the US District Court in Washington, DC, a mining company accused him of organising a hack on the company's private records as part of an alleged smear campaign against the firm by Russian oligarch Andrey Melinchenko. Mr Akhmetshin denied the allegations, and the case was later dropped.
International Mineral Resources (IMR) hired a private investigator to follow Mr Akhmetshin to London, where he allegedly heard the Russian-American brag about arranging the hack of IMR's computer system, according to court documents. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the Kremlin knows nothing about Mr Akhmetshin, the AP reported.
Mr Akhmetshin denied the allegations, but admitted to distributing a hard-drive with data on IMR's owners that he said was open source information. Why was Akhmetshin at the meeting?
The allegations were later withdrawn. Mr Akhmetshin told the AP he had only learned of the Trump Tower meeting on the same day he accompanied Ms Veselnitskaya to the Manhattan skyscraper, adding that he showed up in jeans and a t-shirt.
Why was he at the meeting? He said he and Ms Veselnitskaya met an interpreter who also participated in the encounter.
"I never thought this would be such a big deal, to be honest," he said.
Mr Trump Jr's lawyer, Alan Futerfas, told the Hill, a Washington DC politics news outlet, that the lobbyist had been introduced during the meeting as a friend of Ms Veselnitskaya.Mr Trump Jr's lawyer, Alan Futerfas, told the Hill, a Washington DC politics news outlet, that the lobbyist had been introduced during the meeting as a friend of Ms Veselnitskaya.
The lawyer said: "Basically he helped translate because Natalia's English is not that good. The lawyer said: "He's a US citizen. All I can say is Trump Jr met him for the first time and learned his name minutes before the meeting and he was introduced as a friend."
"He's a US citizen. All I can say is Trump Jr met him for the first time and learned his name minutes before the meeting and he was introduced as a friend." The meeting was set up by Rob Goldstone, a British music publicist for Russian pop star Emin Agalarov.
Mr Futerfas denied the lobbyist worked for the Russian government.
"I never thought this would be such a big deal, to be honest," Mr Akhmetshin told the AP.
The meeting at Trump Tower was set up by Rob Goldstone, a British music publicist for Russian pop star Emin Agalarov.
Mr Agalarov worked with Donald Trump Snr on staging the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow in 2013.Mr Agalarov worked with Donald Trump Snr on staging the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow in 2013.
Mr Goldstone emailed Mr Trump Jr to advise him that "two people" would attend the meeting to provide information that is "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr Trump". What was the meeting about?
Ms Veselnitskaya earlier this week told the New York Times she had been joined by a translator, without naming the person. Emails show that Mr Goldstone promised Mr Trump Jr that Ms Veselnitskaya would share damaging information at the face-to-face about Mrs Clinton, Mr Trump's Democratic party rival for the White House.
Mr Trump Jr said it later became apparent that Ms Veselnitskaya wanted to discuss a suspended programme for Americans to adopt Russian children.
But Mr Akhmetshin told the AP that Ms Veselnitskaya told Mr Trump Jr she had details of what she believed were illicit funds being funnelled to the Democratic National Committee.
"This could be a good issue to expose how the DNC is accepting bad money," he said he recalled her saying.
According to Mr Akhmetshin, Mr Trump Jr asked her if she had evidence to prove the claim, but the lawyer said the Trump campaign would need to do more research.
The president's son appeared to lose interest, said Mr Akhmetshin.
"They couldn't wait for the meeting to end," he added.