The Russian lawyer who attended the Trump Tower meeting that is a focus of the special counsel’s investigation was charged with obstructing an unrelated tax-fraud case.
The Russian lawyer who attended the Trump Tower meeting that is a focus of the special counsel’s investigation into possible collusion was charged with obstructing an unrelated tax-fraud case, federal prosecutors in New York said Tuesday.
Natalya Veselnitskaya was indicted on one count of obstruction of justice after prosecutors said she teamed up with a senior Russian prosecutor and submitted deceptive declarations in a civil proceeding involving a Russian tax refund fraud scheme.
The indictment, which is unrelated to Russian election interference and brought by the Manhattan U. S. attorney, illustrates Veselnitskaya’s close ties to the Russian government, which she has denied. And it renews questions about the circumstances of the 2016 Trump Tower meeting, which also was attended by Donald Trump Jr. and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Trump Jr. has acknowledged that he met with Veselnitskaya because he had been told she could offer damaging information about Democrat Hillary Clinton from the Russian government. But Trump Jr. and Kushner said the meeting amounted to nothing and mostly involved Russia’s ban on American adoptions in response to U. S. sanctions.
Veselnitskaya has previously denied acting on behalf of Russian officials when she met with the Trump team, telling Congress she operates “independently of any government bodies.”
Special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia during the presidential campaign, has focused on the Trump Tower meeting and called some participants before a federal grand jury.
