Trump's son explains meeting with Russian lawyer

President Trump's son met with a Russian female lawyer during the 2016 election to dig up unfavorable information about candidate Hillary Clinton.

Donald Trump Jr., walks out of the room during a break in a closed-door meeting with the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, Washington DC on September 7 to clarify suspicions of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. Photo: Reuters.

"Given that they possess information regarding their qualifications, abilities, and fitness to be a presidential candidate, I believe I should at least hear from them," Donald Trump Jr., son of US President Donald Trump, said in a written statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 7, according to Reuters.

Trump Jr. said it was important to investigate the “fitness” of Hillary Clinton, his opponent in the 2016 election. Trump Jr. will be the first member of President Trump’s family to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The hearing is not public.

Previously, US media reported that Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, and Paul Manafort, chairman of the 2016 election campaign, had met with lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya. Ms. Veselnitskaya was described as having ties to the Kremlin and holding information that was detrimental to Clinton.

Trump Jr. said the meeting took place at Trump Tower, New York, at the request of an acquaintance at the 2013 Miss Universe pageant that Trump hosted in Russia. Trump Jr. was informed before the meeting that it was "part of an effort by the Russian government to help Trump get elected."

Meanwhile, Mark Corallo, a spokesman for President Trump's legal team, said Mr. Trump was not present at the Veselnitskaya meeting in 2016 and did not know about the event.

For its part, the Kremlin said it was unaware of lawyer Veselnitskaya and her meeting with Mr. Trump's son in 2016.

Accusations of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election have cast a shadow over Mr. Trump’s tenure since taking office. The US intelligence community concluded that Russia helped Mr. Trump enter the White House. Several US congressional committees and special prosecutor Robert Mueller are investigating Moscow’s alleged collusion with Mr. Trump’s campaign team.

According to VNE