A small inner circle of Donald Trump’s confidants – including his son Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort – met with a Russian lawyer connected to the Kremlin two weeks after Trump won the Republican presidential nomination, the New York Times reported Saturday.
Supporters and surrogates of Trump’s campaign are reported to have met with Russian officials during the presidential campaign, but the Times report marks the first time members of the president’s inner circle, including family members, have been said to have met with Russian nationals during the presidential campaign.
According to the Times, representatives for both Donald J. Trump Jr. and Kushner confirmed the June 9, 2016, meeting at Trump Tower. In a statement to the Times, Trump Jr. said the meeting was about an adoption program.
The statement did not address if campaign issues were also discussed.
The news comes just one day after Trump’s first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which he is said to have discussed the issue of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Once again, Putin reportedly denied that any involvement.
The Times reported Kushner, Trump Jr. and Manafort met with attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya, who was reportedly working against the Magnitsky Act, a US law that would blacklist Russian human rights abusers. She is also married to a former deputy transportation minister and has represented Russian-owned state businesses.
The Times reported she had previously drawn the attention of the FBI.
“It was a short introductory meeting,” Trump Jr. said in his statement to the Times. “I asked Jared and Paul to stop by. We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families year sago and was since ended by the Russian government, but it was not a campaign issue at the time and there was no follow up.”
Previous reports have confirmed that Kushner also met with Russian officials after the election, including Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. He is expected to testify about his contacts with Russians during and after the campaign during a closed door session with the Senate Intelligence Committee later this month.
