7/10/2017

ETHICS/RUSSIA/TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “President Donald Trump’s eldest son arranged a June 2016 meeting between top campaign aides and a Russian lawyer who has been linked to the Kremlin after being told she ‘might have information helpful to the campaign.’
In a statement Sunday, Donald Trump Jr. said he didn’t know the lawyer’s name before the meeting, and said they were set up by an ‘acquaintance’ from the 2013 Miss Universe pageant. The meeting, in New York City, was also attended by Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, and Paul Manafort, President Trump’s campaign chairman at the time. The younger Mr. Trump said he told Messrs. Kushner and Manafort ‘nothing of the substance’ of the meeting beforehand.
Mr. Manafort resigned about two months later amid reports of his connection to pro-Russian political forces in Ukraine. Investigators are currently examining whether Mr. Manafort’s work for foreign interests violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act and related laws. Mr. Manafort’s spokesman has said he is taking the ‘appropriate steps’ to respond to guidance from federal authorities about his FARA disclosures.”

-Rebecca Ballhaus, “Trump Jr. Met Russian Lawyer Who Claimed to Have Information on Hillary Clinton,” The Wall Street Journal online, July 10, 2017 09:45am