A Russian lawyer has alleged that Donald Trump Jr. seemed to suggest a U.S. law sanctioning Russians could be reviewed if the campaign received incriminating evidence against Hillary Clinton’s campaign and if his father was elected president.
A Russian lawyer has alleged that in 2016, Donald Trump Jr. seemed to suggest a U.S. law sanctioning Russians could be reviewed if the campaign received incriminating evidence against Hillary Clinton's campaign and if his father was elected president.
According to Bloomberg which first broke the story, Natalia Veselnitskaya has recalled Trump Jr. as saying about the law, "Looking ahead, if we come to power, we can return to this issue and think what to do about it. I understand our side may have messed up, but it'll take a long time to get to the bottom of it."
They were reportedly talking about the Magnitsky Act which targets the assets of Russians accused of human rights abuses and bars their entry into the U.S., notes the New York Times.
The Atlantic notes that it is a law that Russian President Vladimir Putin has opposed so vigorously that his government decided to stop all Russian adoptions by American families in retaliation.
Bloomberg also says Veselnitskaya admitted to meeting with Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign manager, in June 2016 to persuade them against the act and to talk about tax violations by Democratic supporters.
However, a lack of documentation about the latter issue reportedly contributed to the meeting's failure.
The president's son has denied that anything came of the 20-minute session but Newsweek says there's an ongoing investigation concerning the meeting.
Meanwhile, Manafort was recently indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller.
As for Veselnitskaya, she reportedly told a Russian news network in July that she was willing to testify before the U.S. Senate about the interaction.
