<p>President Donald Trump&#39;s son Donald Trump Jr&nbsp;agreed to meet with a Kremlin-linked lawyer during the 2016 campaign after being promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton, the New York Times reported on Sunday (July 9), citing three advisers to the White House, Reuters reports.</p>

<p>Trump&#39;s then-campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also attended the meeting at Trump Tower on June 9, 2016, two weeks after Trump won the Republican nomination, the Times reported.</p>

<p>The Times quoted a statement from Donald Trump Jr&nbsp;in which he acknowledged meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya.</p>

<p>&quot;After pleasantries were exchanged, the woman stated that she had information that individuals connected to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee and supporting Ms&nbsp;Clinton,&quot; the Times quoted Donald Trump Jr&nbsp;as saying. Clinton was the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee.</p>

<p>The Times said Veselnitskaya then turned the conversation to the adoption of Russian children and a 2012 US&nbsp;law, known as the Magnitsky Act, blacklisting Russians linked to alleged human-rights abuses.</p>

<p>Vladimir Putin banned Americans from adopting&nbsp;Russian children because he was reportedly so outraged by Obama&#39;s passing of the Magnitsky Act. Putin also banned the former federal prosecutor,&nbsp;Indian-origin Preet Bharara, notorious for convicting Russian arms and drug dealers. Donald Trump originally asked Bharara to serve as a US attorney, then fired him in March.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><b>Changing his version</b></p>

<p>Donald Trump Jr altered his version of the story Sunday night,&nbsp;after The New York Times, citing three White House advisors and two other people with knowledge of the meeting, stated that the purpose of the meeting was for damaging information on Hillary Clinton.</p>

<p>Trump Jr claimed the information Veselnitskaya provided&nbsp;&quot;made no sense&quot; and was not &quot;meaningful&quot;.</p>

<p>Whether or not she produced any damaging information is not known, but she was expected to.</p>

<p>His full statement is here:</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">JUST IN: Donald Trump Jr. responds to reports that he met with Kremlin-linked lawyer during campaign <a href="https://t.co/5mqRX38Wio">pic.twitter.com/5mqRX38Wio</a></p>
&mdash; NBC News (@NBCNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/884164341649600512">July 9, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Three days after the meeting between Veselnitskaya&nbsp;and the Trump campaign, Julian Assange at WikiLeaks, the man the NSA, FBI and CIA claim with &quot;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/06/vladimir-putin-us-election-interference-report-donald-trump" target="_blank">high confidence</a>&quot; received hacked Clinton emails from&nbsp;Russian military intelligence, announced, &quot;We have upcoming leaks in relation to Hillary Clinton...We have emails pending publication, that is correct.&quot;</p>

<p>Assange maintains he did not receive any material from the Russians.</p>

<p>The meeting between the Trump campaign and&nbsp;Veselnitskaya&nbsp;was not <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/07/trump-campaign-leaders-met-kremlin-linked-lawyer-report.html">disclosed </a>until Jared Kushner filed an updated request for national-security clearance, after it became known that in his earlier report he failed to disclose other contacts with Russian officials. Kushner claimed it was an error. The punishment for submitting a false report, or concealing information, can be imprisonment.&nbsp;</p>

<p>President Trump was &quot;not aware of and did not attend&quot; the meeting reported by the Times, Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Trump&#39;s legal team, said in an emailed statement.</p>

<p>Here is a video of Donald Trump Jr on July 24, 2016, denying that Russia helped the Trump campaign by hacking the Democrats and releasing the emails.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">FLASHBACK: Don Jr. July 24, 2016. On the Clinton campaign&#39;s claims that the Russians were helping Trump: &quot;It&#39;s disgusitng. It&#39;s so phony.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/BSut2RwbOs">pic.twitter.com/BSut2RwbOs</a></p>
&mdash; Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) <a href="https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/884206457843068928">July 10, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>(With agency inputs)</p>


Whether she provided the damaging information is unknown, but WikiLeaks' Assange announced he possessed Clinton's hacked emails three days later

President Donald Trump's son Donald Trump Jr agreed to meet with a Kremlin-linked lawyer during the 2016 campaign after being promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton, the New York Times reported on Sunday (July 9), citing three advisers to the White House, Reuters reports. Trump's then-campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also attended the meeting at Trump Tower on June 9, 2016, two weeks after Trump won the Republican nomination, the Times reported. The Times quoted a statement from Donald Trump Jr in which he acknowledged meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya. "After pleasantries were exchanged, the woman stated that she had information that individuals connected to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee and supporting Ms Clinton," the Times quoted Donald Trump Jr as saying. Clinton was the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee. The Times said Veselnitskaya then turned the conversation to the adoption of Russian children and a 2012 US law, known as the Magnitsky Act, blacklisting Russians linked to alleged human-rights abuses. Vladimir Putin banned Americans from adopting Russian children because he was reportedly so outraged by Obama's passing of the Magnitsky Act. Putin also banned the former federal prosecutor, Indian-origin Preet Bharara, notorious for convicting Russian arms and drug dealers. Donald Trump originally asked Bharara to serve as a US attorney, then fired him in March. Changing his version Donald Trump Jr altered his version of the story Sunday night, after The New York Times, citing three White House advisors and two other people with knowledge of the meeting, stated that the purpose of the meeting was for damaging information on Hillary Clinton. Trump Jr claimed the information Veselnitskaya provided "made no sense" and was not "meaningful". Whether or not she produced any damaging information is not known, but she was expected to. His full statement is here: JUST IN: Donald Trump Jr. responds to reports that he met with Kremlin-linked lawyer during campaign pic.twitter.com/5mqRX38Wio — NBC News (@NBCNews) July 9, 2017 × Three days after the meeting between Veselnitskaya and the Trump campaign, Julian Assange at WikiLeaks, the man the NSA, FBI and CIA claim with "high confidence" received hacked Clinton emails from Russian military intelligence, announced, "We have upcoming leaks in relation to Hillary Clinton...We have emails pending publication, that is correct." Assange maintains he did not receive any material from the Russians. The meeting between the Trump campaign and Veselnitskaya was not disclosed until Jared Kushner filed an updated request for national-security clearance, after it became known that in his earlier report he failed to disclose other contacts with Russian officials. Kushner claimed it was an error. The punishment for submitting a false report, or concealing information, can be imprisonment. President Trump was "not aware of and did not attend" the meeting reported by the Times, Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Trump's legal team, said in an emailed statement. Here is a video of Donald Trump Jr on July 24, 2016, denying that Russia helped the Trump campaign by hacking the Democrats and releasing the emails. FLASHBACK: Don Jr. July 24, 2016. On the Clinton campaign's claims that the Russians were helping Trump: "It's disgusitng. It's so phony." pic.twitter.com/BSut2RwbOs — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 10, 2017 × (With agency inputs)

Trump Jr met Kremlin-linked lawyer who promised damaging info on Clinton during election

<p>Ex-prosecutor Preet Bharara told ABC news that he was fired after refusing to pick up Donald Trump&#39;s&nbsp;phone calls.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Former US Attorney <a href="https://twitter.com/PreetBharara">@PreetBharara</a> recounts &quot;very unusual&quot; calls with Trump: &quot;There has to be some kind of arms-length relationship.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/eviG27YT53">pic.twitter.com/eviG27YT53</a></p>
&mdash; ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABCPolitics/status/873893311353823232">June 11, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Bharara watched the Comey testimony and said&nbsp;he feels &quot;there is absolutely&nbsp;evidence to begin a case&quot; of&nbsp;obstruction of justice against&nbsp;the US president.</p>

<p>&quot;I think it&#39;s very important for all sorts of armchair speculators in the law to be clear that no one knows right now whether there is a&nbsp;<em>provable</em>&nbsp;case for obstruction. It&#39;s also true, I think, from based on what I see as a third party and out of government that there&#39;s no basis to say there&#39;s&nbsp;<em>no&nbsp;</em>obstruction.&quot;</p>

<p><strong>Why Bharara says he&nbsp;was fired</strong></p>

<p>Bharara&nbsp;says that President Trump&nbsp;tried to &quot;cultivate a relationship&quot; with him.&nbsp;Trump had asked him to stay on as&nbsp;the chief federal law enforcement officer, where Bharara&nbsp;had&nbsp;jurisdiction to investigate business interests in New York. Trump&#39;s business empire is based in New York.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Trump made&nbsp;two phone calls to Bharara while president-elect, &quot;sensibly, just to shoot the breeze&quot;, Bharara says,&nbsp;then a final call after he became president. Bharara says he didn&#39;t return this call, then he was fired.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Watch the above clip and watch Bharara&nbsp;describe how he thought the president&#39;s conduct was inappropriate.</p>

<p>Bharara&#39;s statement comes days after ex-FBI Director James Comey testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee, where he told lawmakers that he believed Trump was trying to pressure him to drop the investigation into the former head of national security Michael&nbsp;Flynn, which was a part of&nbsp;the probe into Russia&#39;s efforts to interfere in the 2016 US election.</p>

<p>Comey says Trump asked for &quot;loyalty&quot;, and instead Comey said he would give the president&nbsp;&quot;honest loyalty&quot;. Trump later fired Comey.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Preet Bharara wouldn't take the president's phone call, trying to keep an 'arms-length' relationship, then Trump fired him

Ex-prosecutor Preet Bharara told ABC news that he was fired after refusing to pick up Donald Trump's phone calls. Former US Attorney @PreetBharara recounts "very unusual" calls with Trump: "There has to be some kind of arms-length relationship." pic.twitter.com/eviG27YT53 — ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) June 11, 2017 × Bharara watched the Comey testimony and said he feels "there is absolutely evidence to begin a case" of obstruction of justice against the US president. "I think it's very important for all sorts of armchair speculators in the law to be clear that no one knows right now whether there is a provable case for obstruction. It's also true, I think, from based on what I see as a third party and out of government that there's no basis to say there's no obstruction." Why Bharara says he was fired Bharara says that President Trump tried to "cultivate a relationship" with him. Trump had asked him to stay on as the chief federal law enforcement officer, where Bharara had jurisdiction to investigate business interests in New York. Trump's business empire is based in New York. Trump made two phone calls to Bharara while president-elect, "sensibly, just to shoot the breeze", Bharara says, then a final call after he became president. Bharara says he didn't return this call, then he was fired. Watch the above clip and watch Bharara describe how he thought the president's conduct was inappropriate. Bharara's statement comes days after ex-FBI Director James Comey testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee, where he told lawmakers that he believed Trump was trying to pressure him to drop the investigation into the former head of national security Michael Flynn, which was a part of the probe into Russia's efforts to interfere in the 2016 US election. Comey says Trump asked for "loyalty", and instead Comey said he would give the president "honest loyalty". Trump later fired Comey.

'Absolute evidence' to start obstruction of justice case against Trump: Ex-prosecutor Preet Bharara

<p>Ex-prosecutor Preet Bharara told ABC News today that he was fired after refusing to pick up Donald Trump&#39;s&nbsp;phone calls.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Former US Attorney <a href="https://twitter.com/PreetBharara">@PreetBharara</a> recounts &quot;very unusual&quot; calls with Trump: &quot;There has to be some kind of arms-length relationship.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/eviG27YT53">pic.twitter.com/eviG27YT53</a></p>
&mdash; ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABCPolitics/status/873893311353823232">June 11, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Bharara&nbsp;says that President Trump&nbsp;tried to &quot;cultivate a relationship&quot; with him.&nbsp;Trump had asked him to stay on as&nbsp;the chief federal law enforcement officer, where Bharara&nbsp;had&nbsp;jurisdiction to investigate business interests in New York. Trump&#39;s business empire is based in New York.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Trump made&nbsp;two phone calls to Bharara while president-elect, &quot;sensibly, just to shoot the breeze&quot;, Bharara says,&nbsp;then a final call after he became president. Bharara says he didn&#39;t return this call, then he was fired.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Watch the above clip and watch Bharara&nbsp;describe how he thought the president&#39;s conduct was inappropriate.</p>

<p>Bharara&#39;s statement comes days after ex-FBI Director James Comey testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee, where he told lawmakers that he believed Trump was trying to pressure him to drop the investigation into the former head of national security Michael&nbsp;Flynn, which was a part of&nbsp;the probe into Russia&#39;s efforts to interfere in the 2016 US election.</p>

<p>Comey says Trump asked for &quot;loyalty&quot;, and instead Comey said he would give the president&nbsp;&quot;honest loyalty&quot;.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Trump fired Comey.</p>


Preet Bharara wanted to keep an 'arms-length relationship' with the President. Then, apparently for this, he got sacked

Ex-prosecutor Preet Bharara told ABC News today that he was fired after refusing to pick up Donald Trump's phone calls. Former US Attorney @PreetBharara recounts "very unusual" calls with Trump: "There has to be some kind of arms-length relationship." pic.twitter.com/eviG27YT53 — ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) June 11, 2017 × Bharara says that President Trump tried to "cultivate a relationship" with him. Trump had asked him to stay on as the chief federal law enforcement officer, where Bharara had jurisdiction to investigate business interests in New York. Trump's business empire is based in New York. Trump made two phone calls to Bharara while president-elect, "sensibly, just to shoot the breeze", Bharara says, then a final call after he became president. Bharara says he didn't return this call, then he was fired. Watch the above clip and watch Bharara describe how he thought the president's conduct was inappropriate. Bharara's statement comes days after ex-FBI Director James Comey testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee, where he told lawmakers that he believed Trump was trying to pressure him to drop the investigation into the former head of national security Michael Flynn, which was a part of the probe into Russia's efforts to interfere in the 2016 US election. Comey says Trump asked for "loyalty", and instead Comey said he would give the president "honest loyalty". Trump fired Comey.

Ex-prosecutor wouldn't take Trump's phone call, fired next day

<p>High-profile New York prosecutor Preet Bharara -- who was among the federal attorneys asked to resign by the White House -- was fired Saturday, he announced on Twitter.<br />
<br />
US President Donald Trump&#39;s&nbsp;administration on Friday demanded the resignations of 46 US prosecutors appointed during the two terms of his predecessor Barack Obama.<br />
<br />
Bharara was included in the group asked to leave, even though he said he had met with Trump before the Republican took office and had been asked to stay on.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
The federal attorney&#39;s firing capped a standoff with the Trump administration that started when Bharara refused the White House order to resign.<br />
<br />
&quot;I did not resign. Moments ago I was fired,&quot; Bharara tweeted Saturday using his recently created personal account.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
&quot;Being the US Attorney in SDNY (Southern District of New York) will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life.&quot;<br />
<br />
Presidents often order political appointees from the previous administration to resign when they take office, but the abrupt nature of the move caught some by surprise -- especially given that so many were asked to leave at one time.<br />
<br />
The Southern District of New York, the high profile post to which Obama appointed Bharara in 2009, includes the Manhattan and Bronx boroughs as well as neighboring areas just north of the city.<br />
<br />
Bharara rose to prominence after overseeing a number of insider trading and public corruption cases.<br />
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Time magazine famously lauded the prosecutor on its cover as the man who is &quot;busting Wall Street.&quot;<br />
<br />
(AFP)</p>

<p><br />
&nbsp;</p>


Preet Bharara was among the 46 US prosecutors -- appointed during the terms of Barack Obama -- who were asked to quit

High-profile New York prosecutor Preet Bharara -- who was among the federal attorneys asked to resign by the White House -- was fired Saturday, he announced on Twitter. US President Donald Trump's administration on Friday demanded the resignations of 46 US prosecutors appointed during the two terms of his predecessor Barack Obama. Bharara was included in the group asked to leave, even though he said he had met with Trump before the Republican took office and had been asked to stay on. The federal attorney's firing capped a standoff with the Trump administration that started when Bharara refused the White House order to resign. "I did not resign. Moments ago I was fired," Bharara tweeted Saturday using his recently created personal account. "Being the US Attorney in SDNY (Southern District of New York) will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life." Presidents often order political appointees from the previous administration to resign when they take office, but the abrupt nature of the move caught some by surprise -- especially given that so many were asked to leave at one time. The Southern District of New York, the high profile post to which Obama appointed Bharara in 2009, includes the Manhattan and Bronx boroughs as well as neighboring areas just north of the city. Bharara rose to prominence after overseeing a number of insider trading and public corruption cases. Time magazine famously lauded the prosecutor on its cover as the man who is "busting Wall Street." (AFP)

Trump fires prominent Indian-American US prosecutor Preet Bharara

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Trump Jr met Kremlin-linked lawyer who promised damaging info on Clinton during election

'Absolute evidence' to start obstruction of justice case against Trump: Ex-prosecutor Preet Bharara

Ex-prosecutor wouldn't take Trump's phone call, fired next day

Trump fires prominent Indian-American US prosecutor Preet Bharara