Russia says Donald Trump Jr's meeting reports 'making a mountain out of a molehill'
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Version 0 of 1. Russia’s foreign minister has dismissed the row over Donald Trump Jr’s meetings with a Russian lawyer, suggesting media reports of the matter are “making a mountain out of a molehill”. Sergei Lavrov said it was preposterous that the US President’s son be blamed for meeting a lawyer who said she may be able to get damaging information about Hillary Clinton during the election campaign. Mr Trump Jr released a cache of emails on Twitter yesterday where he revealed he had arranged a meeting with a “Russian government lawyer” who said she had information about Ms Clinton as part of a government effort to help Mr Trump Snr win the White House. Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for Mr Trump Jr, said the controversy was “much ado about nothing”. He said the meeting, which happened between May and June 2016, “came to nothing” and stressed “his father knew nothing about it”. “The bottom line is that Don, Jr did nothing wrong. I have been representing people in investigatory matters for almost 30 years, and I see nothing here”, he added. Speaking at a news conference in Belgium, Mr Lavrov offered his support to Mr Trump Jr, demanding “at least one fact” from journalists that proved Moscow had tried to interfere with the election. He said: "I learned with surprise that a Russian lawyer, a woman, is being blamed and Trump's son is being blamed for meeting. For me, this is wild. "Because when any person speaks to a lawyer, what problem or threat could there be? I didn't know about this, I learned about it from television." He dismissed the media attention, saying "It's amazing that serious people are making a mountain out of a molehill." But this is the latest link found between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, which critics say is further evidence the former colluded with, or were at least aware, of Moscow’s attempts to undermine the electoral process. Former National Security Adviser General Michael Flynn is currently the subject of two different investigations into claims he discussed government matters with the Russian ambassador before Mr Trump took office. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was also forced to recuse himself from overseeing the Justice Department’s investigation into the matter after it was alleged that he had misled the Senate over his own interactions with the Russians during his confirmation hearing. |