Don Trump Jr. Says He Attended Russian Trump Tower Meeting To Determine Hillary's "Fitness" For Presidency

Don Trump Jr.

The eldest son of Donald Trump gave hours of testimony to Senate investigators today regarding his June 2016 meeting with a "Russian government attorney" regarding information about his father's opponent, Hillary Clinton.

From the New York Times:

Donald Trump Jr. told Senate investigators on Thursday that he set up a June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer because he was intrigued that she might have damaging information about Hillary Clinton, saying it was important to learn about Mrs. Clinton’s “fitness” to be president.

But nothing came of the Trump Tower meeting, he said, and he was adamant that he never colluded with the Russian government’s campaign to disrupt last year’s presidential election.

In a prepared statement during an interview with Senate Judiciary Committee investigators, the younger Mr. Trump said he was initially conflicted when he heard that the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, might have damaging information about Mrs. Clinton. Despite his interest, he said, he always intended to consult with his own lawyers about the propriety of using any information that Ms. Veselnitskaya, who has ties to the Kremlin, gave him at the meeting.

Don Jr. initially told the media that he attended the meeting to talk about Russian adoptions.

Shortly after Don Jr.'s testimony, Sen. Chris Coons send the media the specific statute that addresses lying to Congress.

I'm guessing that's a not-so-subtle hint he didn't believe Uday?

👀 After Don Jr. testimony to Senate Judiciary Cmte, Sen. Chris Coons' office sends out statute on giving false statements to Congress pic.twitter.com/OUdKXMBfqm

— Andrew Desiderio (@desiderioDC) September 7, 2017

Statement today has legal weight - lying to congress is a crime. https://t.co/CY3jXFAnnR

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) September 7, 2017