ETHICS/RUSSIA: “A lawyer for President Donald Trump said Sunday that no laws were broken when the president’s eldest son agreed to a meeting in June 2016 to hear what was described as a Russian government offer of allegedly damaging information about Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Jay Sekulow appeared on all five major Sunday morning news programs to defend the president following a week in which Mr. Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., offered varying accounts of the meeting.
The meeting included a Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and a U.S. lobbyist who had served in the Soviet military, Rinat Akhmetshin. Others attending included the Trump campaign manager at the time, Paul Manafort, and Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who is now a senior White House adviser.
Democrats and some Republicans have said the meeting showed that the Trump campaign knew about the Russian government’s desire to influence the election on Mr. Trump’s behalf. Mr. Trump and his son have said the meeting was short and that nothing came of it.”
-Nick Timiraos, “Lawyer for President Says No Laws Broken When Trump Jr. Agreed to Meeting,” The Wall Street Journal online, July 16, 2017 02:45pm