WASHINGTON (AFP) – A US Senate committee released thousands of documents on Wednesday (May 16) from its probe into a meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr and Russians who had promised incriminating material on Hillary Clinton.
Trump Jr, in testimony released by the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee, says he did not tell his father ahead of time about the meeting with a Kremlin-connected lawyer five months ahead of the November presidential vote.
The June 9, 2016 meeting with Natalia Veselnitskaya was also attended by then-Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
It has fuelled speculation about possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and is believed to be of interest to special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian meddling in the election.
Trump has repeatedly denied his campaign colluded with Russia to get him elected and has denounced Mueller’s investigation as a “witch hunt.”
The Trump Tower meeting was arranged by a music promoter, Rob Goldstone, who reached out to Trump Jr saying he had “official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father.”
Trump Jr responded “I love it” when first offered the political “dirt” on Democratic presidential nominee Clinton.