Senate

Trump Jr.: I’m ‘happy’ to speak with Senate Intelligence Committee

Donald Trump Jr. on Monday said he’s “happy” to speak to the Senate Intelligence Committee about a meeting he attended last year with a Russian lawyer who promised to provide comprising information about then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

“Happy to work with the committee to pass on what I know,” Trump Jr. tweeted Monday.

{mosads}Trump Jr. was responding to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who called on him to speak with the panel about the meeting, which took place during the 2016 presidential campaign.

It was reported Sunday by The New York Times that Trump Jr., along with then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort and President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, met with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, who promised to provide comprising information on Clinton at the meeting. 

Trump Jr. said in a statement to The Times on Sunday that he had met with Veselnitskaya, who has reported ties with the Kremlin, at the request of an acquaintance, but denied that he received any information on Clinton.

“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,” Trump Jr. said. “Her statements were vague, ambiguous and made no sense. No details or supporting information was provided or even offered. It quickly became clear that she had no meaningful information.”

He said they then talked about American adoptions of Russian children.

“It became clear to me that this was the true agenda all along and that the claims of potentially helpful information were a pretext for the meeting.” Trump Jr. told the paper.