WASHINGTON — Donald Trump Jr. told Congress that he does not remember discussing with his father the infamous 2016 meeting with Russians at Trump Tower before news of it broke last year, according to testimony released Wednesday.
"Obviously he's aware of it now because he's read it, it's been in the papers, but that's the extent of my knowledge of his knowledge of it," the president's son told the Senate Judiciary Committee during closed door testimony in September.
Asked whether he spoke with his father at Trump Tower immediately after the meeting ended, the president's son responded, "No. I wouldn't have wasted his time with it."
Trump Jr. also told the committee that he did not know if his father was involved in the drafting of a statement about the meeting in July 2017 that critics have said was misleading.
"I never spoke to my father about it," he told the committee.
The June 9, 2016, meeting is of keen interest to investigators probing Russian meddling in the presidential election and possible links to the Trump campaign.
The sitdown was requested by Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Kremlin-linked Russian lawyer who was working to overturn the Magnitsky Act, which punished Russian officials.
It was brokered and attended by Rob Goldstone, a colorful music promoter who represented Russian pop star Emin Agalarov, the son of oligarch Aras Agalarov.
Also in attendance were President Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner; former campaign chair Paul Manafort, now under indictment; Rinat Akhmetshin, a former Soviet counterintelligence officer working as a lobbyist in Washington; Anatoli Samochornov, a translator; and Ike Kaveladze, an executive at the Agalarovs' real estate company.
Goldstone told the committee that he asked for the meeting at the request of Emin Agalarov, who told him a "well-connected" lawyer had potentially "damaging information" on Hillary Clinton — and that he thought the face-to-face was a "really bad idea."
"Emin simply said that all he knew was that there was some potentially damaging information re: Hillary, which could be of interest to the Trumps," Goldstone said.
Goldstone said he concluded the lawyer, Veselnitskaya, must be politically connected and did not understand why he or his client would get involved.
"In the call at the end, [I said] that I believed it was a bad idea and that we shouldn't do it," Goldstone said.
"He said, 'It doesn't matter. You just need to get the meeting.' And then, 'I said I think this is a really bad idea,' " Goldstone added.
Trump Jr. told the committee he was skeptical that the meeting would pay off.
But, he added, "at the time, I thought I should listen to what Rob and his colleagues had to say."
"As it later turned out," he continued, "my skepticism was justified. The meeting provided no meaningful information and turned out to be not about what was represented. The meeting was instead primarily focused on Russian adoptions."
Asked whether he felt like he had been "duped" into attending the meeting organized by Goldstone under "false pretenses" to grab his attention, Trump Jr. said, "I imagine there was an element of showmanship involved."
Kaveladze, the real estate executive, told the Senate committee that Trump Jr. asked Veselnitskaya and Akhmetshin during the meeting "if they got anything on Hillary."The committee previously released testimony from Veselnitskaya, who has also given extensive interviews to NBC News, and from Glenn Simpson, the founder of research firm Fusion GPS, who worked with Veselnitskaya on Magnitsky act matters and who also commissioned the infamous dossier that detailed Trump's alleged Russian links.
In a statement after the testimony release, Trump Jr. said he appreciated the opportunity to assist the committee.
"The public can now see that for over five hours I answered every question asked and was candid and forthright with the Committee," he said.
Ken Dilanian, Garrett Haake, Leigh Ann Caldwell, Rebecca Shabad, Noah Levy and Benjamin Pu reported from Washington, and Tom Winter, Tracy Connor, Rich Gardella, Sarah Fitzpatrick, Courtney McGee, Anna Schecter and Kenzi Abou-Sabe reported from New York.
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