Friday, 29th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search
Breaking News:

Russian lawyer ‘ready’ to meet US Congress over Trump Jr meeting

The Russian lawyer at the heart of the scandal over a meeting with President Donald Trump's eldest son claimed Wednesday she is ready to testify to the US Congress.

A picture taken on November 8, 2016 shows Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya speaking during an interview in Moscow. The bombshell revelation that President Donald Trump’s oldest son Don Jr. met with a Kremlin-tied Russian lawyer hawking damaging material on Hillary Clinton has taken suspicions of election collusion with Moscow to a new level. / AFP PHOTO / Kommersant Photo / Yury MARTYANOV / Russia OUT

The Russian lawyer at the heart of the scandal over a meeting with President Donald Trump’s eldest son claimed Wednesday she is ready to testify to the US Congress.

Lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya attended a meeting with Donald Trump Jr during the election campaign in June 2016 at which it appears he expected to get incriminating information from the Russian government on his father’s rival Hillary Clinton.

Trump Jr had been told by email that a “Russian government attorney” would provide damaging details. Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and son-in-law Jared Kushner also attended.

Veselnitskaya has rejected claims that she was working on behalf of the Russian government, while Trump Jr insists that no sensitive information was passed on.

In an interview with the Kremlin-controlled RT television channel, Veselnitskaya said she was “ready” to speak to the US Congress about the meeting “if my security can be assured”.

The firestorm around the meeting is the latest chapter in the scandal over possible ties between the Trump campaign and Moscow.

US intelligence agencies have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of approving a hacking and influence campaign to sway the November 2016 vote, allegations rejected by the Kremlin.

Trump’s administration is currently under investigation by both Congress and the FBI over any possible collusion.

0 Comments