The Senate Judiciary Committee is requesting information from the Departments of State and Homeland Security about a Russian lawyer that met with President Trump’s eldest son last year.
The Latest on the ongoing investigations into possible collusion between Trump campaign associates and Russia (all times local) :
9: 30 p.m.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is requesting information from the Departments of State and Homeland Security about a Russian lawyer who met with President Trump’s eldest son last year.
Donald Trump Jr. has acknowledged the meeting with Natalia Veselnitskaya and posted a 2016 email exchange to Twitter on Tuesday that showed he was involved in setting up the meeting.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, wrote the departments to ask how Veselnitskaya was allowed to enter the United States. Grassley said that according to court documents, she was denied a visa to stay past January 2016, six months before the New York meeting.
The letter is part of a larger investigation Grassley has led into the Foreign Agent Registration Act. Grassley has expressed concerns that the law is not enforced.
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8: 50 p.m.
President Donald Trump has sent out an encouraging message on Twitter to his son, who had a harrowing Tuesday after releasing a chain of emails about his meeting with a Russian lawyer.
„My son, Donald, will be interviewed by @seanhannity tonight at 10: 00 P. M. He is a great person who loves our country!“
Trump Jr. was on the hot seat all day after releasing details of communications that led to his meeting with a Russian lawyer with hopes of obtaining compromising information on Hillary Clinton.
Emails show that Trump Jr. had been told by music promoter Rob Goldstone that a Russian government attorney wanted to share information on Clinton as „part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.“
Trump had said little all day about the latest news about his son, but released a statement shared at the afternoon White House briefing: „My son is a high quality person and I applaud his transparency.“
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7: 40 p.m.
In retrospect, maybe he would have done things differently.
That’s the message from Donald Trump Jr. following revelations that he met with a Russian lawyer with hopes of obtaining compromising information on Hillary Clinton.
The president’s oldest son is responding to the news in an interview with Fox News Channel personality Sean Hannity.
Emails show that Trump Jr. had been told that by music promoter Rob Goldstone that a Russian government attorney wanted to share information on Clinton as „part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.“
Trump Jr. says the meeting „went nowhere, “ but says: „In retrospect I probably would have done things a little differently.“
The channel released excerpts from the interview before its 10 p.m. air time
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7: 30 p.m.
Donald Trump Jr. says he never told his father about a meeting he had with a Russian lawyer who promised him compromising information on rival Hillary Clinton.
The president’s oldest son tells Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity that, „It was just a nothing. There was nothing to tell.“
The person who arranged the meeting had told Trump Jr. that the lawyer had compromising information that was „part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.“
Trump Jr. tells Hannity that he thought the information could prove useful.
He says: „Someone sent me an email. I can’t help what someone sends me, “ adding: „I read it, I responded accordingly.“
He says that no useful information was shared and that the meeting ended up being a waste of time.
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5: 40 p.m.
The top Democrat on a House oversight committee is requesting that President Donald Trump’s eldest son, his son-in-law and his former campaign chairman turn over a wide array of documents regarding a meeting they had with a Russian lawyer who they were told had damaging information about Hillary Clinton.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., says in a letter that he’s concerned that the decision to take the June 9,2016, meeting raises questions about their „respect for the very principles that our democracy has been founded upon.“ Cummings addressed the letter to Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort.
Cummings request came just hours after Trump Jr. released emails showing he eagerly accepted help from what was described to him as a Russian government effort to aid his father’s campaign.
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3: 55 p.m.
A Russian lawyer who met with Donald Trump Jr. during the 2016 presidential campaign insists she had no compromising information on Hillary Clinton to offer — in contrast to what the email exchange released by Trump’s eldest son suggests.
Asked if she had compromising information on Hillary Clinton, Natalia Veselnitskaya told reporters Tuesday it is „not true“ and Trump Jr. „was told so.“
„I never had compromising information and could not have had, “ she says, adding that she does „not represent anyone other than myself.“
The lawyer insists she was „offered to meet with Trump Jr.“ in a „private setting not connected to the fact that he is the son of the presidential candidate.“
The lawyer also claims she was not even sure that Donald Trump had already won the Republican nomination by then.
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2: 30 p.m.
President Donald Trump says he his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is „a high-quality person, “ and he applauds „his transparency.“
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders read a brief statement from the president Tuesday in response to revelations that Trump Jr. agreed to hear damaging information on Hillary Clinton as part of the Russian government’s effort to help his father.
Trump Jr. posted his emails with publicist Rob Goldstone on Twitter Tuesday. The emails with Goldstone show that Trump Jr. was told that the Russian government had information that could „incriminate“ Clinton and her dealings with Russia.
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2 p.m.
The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee says emails by President Donald Trump’s eldest son show that a congressional investigation into Russian election meddling is „all that more important.“
On Tuesday, Donald Trump Jr. released an email exchange in which he showed interest in what was described as a Russian government effort to aid his father’s campaign with damaging information about Hillary Clinton.
Virginia Sen. Mark Warner dismissed that Trump Jr.’s eager acceptance of help could just be naiveté: He said: „Lying is not a rookie mistake.“
Warner also noted that Trump said in the exchange that the information could be good „especially later in the summer, “ and that Clinton’s hacked emails were released around that time.
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1: 10 p.m.
Republican senators are downplaying revelations that the president’s son agreed to hear damaging information on Hillary Clinton as part of the Russian government’s effort to help his father.
Senior Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah calls the matter „overblown, “ describing Donald Trump Jr. as „a very nice young man.“
Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina appeared at a news conference with seven other GOP senators, insisting that Republicans should not be „distracted“ by the latest reports on Russia and instead stay focused on their agenda. None of the other attendees at the press conference responded to a question on the new emails released by Trump Jr.
Sen. David Perdue of Georgia says several congressional committees are already looking at the matter.
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1: 05 p.m.
Hillary Clinton’s former campaign manager says the U. S. is facing a „serious national security crisis.“
Robby Mook was responding to the latest revelation that Trump’s eldest son met with a Russian lawyer after being promised damaging information on Clinton supplied by the Kremlin.
He told The Associated Press Tuesday: „They called us liars; They called us disgusting for suggesting Russians were behind this. Then they met the Russians and talked about information about Hillary Clinton.“
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1 p.m.
Vice President Mike Pence’s office says the vice president was not aware of a meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian attorney who purportedly had dirt on then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Pence’s spokesman Marc Lotter said Tuesday in a statement that the vice president wasn’t focused „on stories about the campaign, especially those pertaining to the time before he joined the campaign.“
Pence was named President Donald Trump’s running mate in mid-July 2016, several weeks after the June meeting involving the president’s son.
Pence’s office says the vice president is „working every day to advance the president’s agenda.“
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12: 45 p.m.
A senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee says emails released Tuesday by Donald Trump Jr.
