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Kremlin has no information on Russian lawyer who met with Trump's son

Donald Trump Jr. confirmed to New York Times that the meeting with the Russian attorney had taken place at the Trump Tower

Donald Trump Jr. AP Photo/Matt York

Donald Trump Jr.

© AP Photo/Matt York

MOSCOW, July 10. /TASS/. The Kremlin has no information about lawyer Natalya Veselnitskaya, with whom Donald Trump Jr. met in 2016, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"No, we don’t know who she is as we obviously cannot track all the Russian lawyers in the country and abroad," he said when asked to comment on media reports saying that Veselnitskaya could coordinate her activities with the Russian authorities.

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The New York Times earlier published an article claiming that in June 2016, then presidential candidate Donald Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner and campaign chairman Paul Manafort had held a meeting with the Russian lawyer who allegedly had connections to the Russian authorities. According to the New York Times, some people linked to the Russian ruling circles, as well as with a number of state companies, are among Natalya Veselnitskaya’s clients.

Donald Trump Jr. later confirmed to New York Times that the meeting had taken place at the Trump Tower. According to him, the parties "discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago and was since ended by the Russian government." He added that he "was asked to attend the meeting by an acquaintance, but was not told the name of the person I would be meeting with beforehand."

Meanwhile, according to the New York Times’ sources, Donald Trump Jr. agreed to the meeting as he had been promised some "information that individuals connected to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee and supporting Mrs. Clinton."

The New York Times claims that Veselnitskaya’s activities earlier drew the FBI’s attention. According to the New York Times, Trump’s campaign members did not immediately report the meeting, but Manafort and Kushner recently disclosed it in confidential government documents.

Trump and his team members have been repeatedly rejecting allegations about having any illegal ties with Russia. They believe that these allegations are only aimed at delegitimizing the Trump presidency. Russia’s authorities have also more than once refuted reports about Moscow’s alleged meddling in the US presidential election.

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