Kremlin-tied lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya has now testified in a two-and-a-half hour long interview in Moscow, adding new details into her now infamous July 2016 meeting with Donald Trump Jr. at the Trump Tower in New York City. Veselnitskaya now claims that the president’s eldest son offered to overturn the Magnitsky Act — a U.S. law named for Sergei Magnitsky, a tax accountant who died in a Moscow prison after uncovering a massive Russian tax fraud — in exchange for evidence of illegal proceeds going to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The law punishes Russian officials by prohibiting entrance into the United States as well as access to the U.S. banking system.
Veselnitskaya says that she’s willing to testify before Special Counsel Robert Mueller as to the details of her meeting with Trump Jr., which adds a whole extra layer to his “I love it” emails.
“Looking ahead, if we come to power, we can return to this issue and think what to do about it,’’ Trump Jr. said of the 2012 law, she recalled. “I understand our side may have messed up, but it’ll take a long time to get to the bottom of it,” he added, according to her.
Veselnitskaya also said Trump Jr. requested financial documents showing that money that allegedly evaded U.S. taxes had gone to Clinton’s campaign. She didn’t have any and described the 20-minute meeting as a failure.
The new allegations are notable in that this is the first time Veselnitskaya has provided on-the-record details about her meeting at the Trump Tower. A lawyer for Trump Jr. is saying his client has no comment in regards to her interview.
(Via Bloomberg)